NEWS of the WEEK
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GOODS VEHICLES REACH A PEAK IN NOVEMBER.
AT the end of November, 1988, the number of licences current in respect of goods vehicles was 483,865, this being the highest figure yet
recorded. In the case of hackney vehicles, .75.003 licences were current, as compared with 73,540 at the end of November, 1937, Leyland's Good Report.
THE report of Leyland Motors, Ltd., for the year ended September 30, 1938, shows a balance on appropriation account of £325.850, after making provision for taxation and contingencies and after transferring £100,000 to general reserve. As already intimated in our columns, a dividend of 25 per cent, less tax is to be paid on the ordinary shares.
New Body Types for 10-cwt. Fordson.
TWO additions are announced to the range of special body types available on Fordson chassis, one, in the form of a laundry van, and the other a builder's truck, designed for the 10-cwt. model. The laundry van has interior dimensions of 6 ft. 8 ins. length, 5 ft. width and 5 ft. 4 ins. height, and provides the generous capacity of 180 cubic ft.
The body is sturdily built on a framework of five bearers, the sides being armoured-ply on ash frames. In standard form the rear is protected by two full-length weather sheets,. but roller shutters can be fitted if required. The cab is totally enclosed and there is a partition behind the seat, fitted with a sliding door, which can be locked.
B12 The builder's truck provides an interior body length of 6 It. 6 ins, and is 5 ft. wide, whilst the detachable sides and tailboard are 1 ft. 6 ins, in height. Hoops and sheets are available, and a 2-in. by 2i-in. gantry can be fitted.
It will be recalled that the Fordson 10-cwt. chassis is powered with a fourcylindered engine of 10 h.p. It is of the semi-forward-control type, the engine being offset.
The price of the laundry van body is £50, with extra for roller shutters at the rear. The builder's-truck body is priced at £36, hoops and sheets costing £4 10s. extra, and the gantry £2 extra. Chassis price is £132 10s.
News of German Show.
A RRANGEMENTS are 411 in hand /-1 for the holding of the annual German International Motor Exhibition, which will include a commercial section, in Berlin from February 17 to March 5.
More Progress in Wages Legislation.
THE Minister of Labour has now set up the Wages Board for the East Midland, West 'Midland and Eastern Areas. Two more remain to be constituted.
Big Yorkshire Road Schemes.
WEST RIDING (Yorkshire) County W Council has been invited by the Ministry of Transport to prepare schemes and to put in band works of improvement on trunk roads, incjuding the construction of new roads, involving a total estimated expenditure of £732,137. The Ministry has also intimated that, over an extended period, the county council will be invited to prepare other schemes of importance.
THE SQUARE DEAL AND AGRICULTURE.
January 11 a discussion took place between the representative of the National Farmers' Union and the railway managers. The former suggested certain measures tp 'safeguard agricultural interests in the event if the railways obtaining the freedom they desire. The railways were unable to accept these suggestions in their entirety, but they promised to communicate with the Union if a measure of agreement between road interests and the railways, which might interest the Union, were reached.
Glasgow Tunnel Suggestion.
CiCOUNCILLOR James MacDougall in.....tends shortly to propose that it be remitted to Glasgow streets committee to consider and report on the need for constructing a tunnel under the Clyde, in the city, to relieve traffic congestion and serve as an air-raid shelter.
B.R.F. Evidence for the T.A.C.
AN excellent memorandum of evidence to the Transport Advisory Council on the railway claim for freedom in rate fixing has been submitted. This is a concise but comprehensive summary of the case for the road, but most of the points have already been dealt with in the columns of The Comm e cial Motor.
New Registrations Again Lower.
THE total number of new vehicles registered in November, 1938, was 33,833, the total inn:luding 5,030 goods vehicles and 490 hackney vehicles; the comparable returns for the same month of 1937 were 5,224 and 489 respectively.
Millions From Motors.
T" gross amount received in respect of payments for motor-vehicle licences issued during the year ended November 30, 1938, was £36,080,858, compared with £34,326,898 in the previous year. The average receipt in respect of a whole-year licence was £27 10s. for internal combustion and steam-driven goods vehicles, £20 16s. 6d. for electric goods vehicles, and £54 13s, 6d. in respect of motor hackneys.
Held Over From This Issue.
O(AWING to pressure on space in this 1.--iiissue, occasioned by the inclusion of the second part of our specifications of chassis on the British market, we have been forced to withhold from publication several of our regular features, including " Financial News of the Industry " and our regular contribution from our costs expert, S.T.R. In addition, the analysis of the monthly registration returns, covering the month of November, is also held over until next week.
YORKS A-LICENCE TAKE-OVER.
1'0 continue the business formerly* I carried on by West Riding Transport, Ltd., Rotherham, application has been made (in the Yorkshire Area) by Mr. J. F. Finnegan, 200, Norton Lane, Sheffield, for an A licence for 10 vehicles (25 tons 13 cwt.), three trailers and two vehicles (8 tons 17 cwt.) to be acquired.
Too Much Yarmouth Haulage?
THAT there had been a glut of haul
age facilities at Yarmouth for three or four years and it was only now that supply and demand were coming closer together, was stated by the Eastern Licensing Authority, Sir Haviland Hiley, when Chateau and Co., Ltd., applied recently for a 4-ton vehicle to replace an existing If-ton trailer. It was claimed that there would be sufficient work for the company, which had gone into voluntary, liquidation and which it was proposed to reconstruct without uneconomic competition. The application was refused.
" Potential Danger" Important in Law.
A FINDING of Sandbach (Cheshire) 2-16 justices was upset by a King's Bench Divisional Court, on Tuesday, when Superintendent G, H. Durnell, of the Cheshire police, appealed against their decision to dismiss an information against Mr. Robert .Scott, furniture
remover,. of Balham, London. Mr. Scott . was summoned for driving a motorvan along the Newcastle Road, Sandbach, at a speed that was dangerous, having, regard to all the circumstances. It was stated that he drove at speeds varying from 35 m.p.h. to 50 m.p.h. over four miles. .
• The magistrates decided • that, although the van was driven in excess of the permitted maximum speed, in view of the ty,pe of road and the situation of the test, the speed was not dangerous to the public which was, or could be expected to be, on the road. ' Allowing the appeal, Lord Hewart said if the magistrates' decision were held to be _right the Act would be robbed of a great deal of its usefulness. They seemed to have confused actual danger with potential danger and to have decided that to find the driver guilty they must also find that there was actual danger. They had not correctly appreciated the law.
Restoration of Private Haulage Enterprise Called For.
ATa. special meeting of the Belfast Chamber of Trade, on Tuesday, it was decided to submit a scheme to the Parliamentary joint Committee of Northern Ireland embodying proposals for the immediate reorganization of the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board on the model of the former Belfast Omnibus Co. and Catherwoocl undertakings, the future activities • of the Board to be confined to light parcels and passenger traffic. The scheme further proposes the restoration of road haulage by private enterprise, within limits, subject to fair conditions of wages and employment, and that the. Belfast Municipal system be free to develop along its own lines.
Other features of the scheme state that road haulage by private. enterprise should be safeguarded, that farmers should have the right to provide transport for their products and supplies, and that the State should not he responsible for any subsidy, or any scheme of amalgamation of road and rail transport.
New Fordmin Utility Vehicle.
pERTAIN classes of operator of corn mercial motors will be interested in the introduction of a new Ford V8 " 30 " car, in that its chassis is the basis of the Ford son " commercial
utility " vehicle. Novel features include a new hydraulic braking system, a heavier crankshaft, and an instrument to indicate battery condi tion. The price of the new Utility model, complete, is 2825.
Standardized Lorries in France.
ACCORDING to a report from Paris, the French Ministry of Public Works is interesting itself in a scheme for the setting-up of plans for the series construction of two standardized models of lorry chassis, of 4-ton and 6-ton capacity, in different factories in France.
It is also reported that drawings are being prepared for a standardized form of agricultural tractor. In order to encourage the use of the projected " national " vehicles, it is suggested that purchasers be allowed some concession on motor taxes, PERSONAL PARS.
MR. W, HARDS, of W. Hards Transport, 6, Brackenbury Road, London, W.6, has been appointed a director of Truro Engine Works, Ltd., of Hammersmith. This concern specializes in oil-engine repairs and electric welding.
MR. R. CooPER, commercial sales manager of the Triplex Safety Glass Co., Ltd., has undergone an operation for appendicitis, and is likely to be away from business for some time. We are glad to know that he is making satisfactory progress.
Having regard to the present state of his health, SIR JOHN MAXWELL, Chairman of the Northern Traffic Commissioners, is cancelling his social activities for the first six months of this year. Accordingly, he will not be able to receive, with Lady Maxwell, the Burns Club Dinner guests at Newcastle on Tuesday next.
MR. JOHN MeEvoY has been appointed managing director of the Irish-American Oil Co., Ltd., Dublin, in succession to MR. T. F. LAURIE, now general sales manager of the AngloAmerican Oil Co., Ltd, Mr. McEvoy, who joined the company in 1902, was appointed assistant manager to the Dublin branch in 1921 and, in 1923, became manager of the Dublin branch area. In 1932, Mr. McEvoy became a member of the Board of the company.
" National Omnibus " Profit Higher.
I N 1938, the National Omnibus and Transport Co., Ltd., made a profit of 2127,872, compared with 2109,506 for 1937. The dividend on the preference shares took .217,500, and a dividend of 8 per cent., tax free, is recommended for payment on the ordinary shares; it will absorb 2100,000. General reserve receives 210,000 and, after these disbursements, 230,815 remains to be carried forward as against 230,443 brought into the accounts.
Rosyth Developments as Justification for Licence.
DEVELOPMENTS at H.M. Dockyard at Rosyth were urged as a reason for granting a licence, at a sitting of the Northern Scotland Licensing Authority at Dunfermline, last week. Application was made by Cowan and Co„ Inverkeithing, for an 'A 'licence for a tractor and two 11-ton trailers, On behalf of the applicant, an agent said his client was responsible for the collection and delivery of goods from lnverkeithing railway station. It served both Inverkeithing and Rosyth, and the work was done by horse-drawn vehicles. There was now a demand for more rapid service owing to considerable developments at Rosyth Dockyard.
Mr. Henry Riches, the Licensing Authority, said he was not prepared to grant an A licence, but he would grant a B licence. .