A Bouquet for the Haulage
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Industry
ONE of the virtues of road transport was that it was organized in units small enough to enable the trader to get into prompt touch with men who could make decisions. Mr. R. R. J.
Plummer, A.M.Inst.T., transport officer of Turners Asbestos Cement Co., Ltd., presented this bouquet in an address on "A Trader's View on Present-day Road Transport," before the Merseyside branch of the Industrial Transport Association.
When dealing with railway and shipping companies, difficulty arose as to the level on which the trader should direct a request or inquiry, continued the speaker. With road transport, the trader met the man who would make the delivery and could give him any special instruction. In a comment on conditions of carriage, Mr: Plummer said that there appeared to be no golden mean between the haulier with no conditions and the
haulier with conditions that were not just, reasonable, or good business. The railways were far in advance in this resp-ect. "Will it ever be possible for the local R.H.A. to agree with the Liverpool stevedores where responsibility begins and ends with materials delivered on the quays?" asked Mr. Plummer.
Loading bays were the subject of comment in the discussion which followed. Mr. J. Berge thought that these were the responsibility of traders, although they sometimes caused headaches for the hauliers. The chairman, Mr. Billington, referred to a, new factory at Speke which had been built around the transport and dispatch departments, so that there would be central feed and rapid dispatch.