Railways and Road Carrying.
Page 10
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More encouraging than ever is the outlook at the present ime for the road vehicle industry. With the advent of aeveral new and large carrying companies in Lancashire, whose operations will carry them well into the camp of one railway company in particular, traders may look in the near future for some interestingcontracts for road carriage. On the other hand, six railway companies have deposited Bills in Parliament asking for powers to develop goods and passenger traffic by road vehicles, whether to or from any of
their stations or otherwise. Their attitude has changed somewhat since the time—not many years back—when the manager of a leading company said, in court, that cartage did not pay, and that railway managers would be glad to do without it. They are now determined to make a strong bid for all they can ret, and one cannot blame them for fair competition, but it may not be inadvisable to strike a warning note in respect of these developments.
The extensions of powers which are sought place no limit upon the charges which the companies may make, and it is obvious that, if they acquire a carrying monopoly in the districts they serve, the traders in those and other districts will suffer, First of all it is a very debatable point whether railway companies should be allowed, without suitable restrictions, to extend their functions as carriers to those appertaining to competitive cartage irrespective of any carriage on rails. The early Acts of Parliament governing railways certainly did not contemplate "door to door" carriage, hut carriage on rails only, from point to point, the trader to perform his own cartage to or from the station or terminal point on the railway. For many years they have had in force " collected and delivered " rates, and these rates, by a dexterous manipulation, have actually been made to include a small sum for being " ready to cart "! If the railway companies now acquire power to extend their cartage services indefinitely, the ultimate result to individual team and self-propelled vehicle owners may easily be foreseen. There will not, on the other hand, be any limitation to the road-carrying companies which are about to cater for short-distance traffic in Lancashire, and, in particular, that traffic which is attracted to and by the Ship Canal, The possibilities in this direction are enormous, and the advantage of sending good by steam lorry, from a distance of 20 to 25 11111C!+, ex works to ship, or vice versa, at cheaper rates and with less handling than by rail, should meet with no uncertain response from traders. One cannot accept any blame for proposing to poach on the railway companies' supposed preserves, while decrying their attempts to extend their cartage arangements : to help themselves " is the natural inclime ion and opportunity of the trader, after the inantyears cf pefusals of help by the railway companies.
Another promising feature of motor haulage is the rumour that the colliery owners are about to begin a system of direct deliveries of coal, from the pit mouth to consumers, by steam lorry. It is a matter for wonder that this system, which is working in some parts, has not made more rapid strides. Steam tip-wagons can work economically in these direct deliveries, by the saying in carriage, loss by handling on rails, cartage at destination end, and commission. Taking a bird's-eye view of, for example, the Lancashire coalfields, it appears ridiculous to-day, with our possibilities of haul age, for the owners to have to load trucks on the railway, have them hauled from to 25 miles, unloaded by spade to cart, and eventually delivered to the consumer : in the out, case three or four days are occupied; in the other, as many hours. The fact is, that we have become so use.cl to the " door to door " collection in one town and deliversin another by the railway companies, that it has become a natural course for a man to send a ton of _goods to the station for a m-mile rail journey and delivery, instead of carting it all the way by tits lorry, which, perhaps, remains idle the rest of the day, In Mgt a railway authority nointed out that : " The railway managers are always saying that the increased cost of terminal handling and terminal accommoda tion more than counterbalances any economies which have
been effected in actual haulage. Where the distance is short, and where the article tarried is such that a considerable amount of handling is required, cartage throughout, which saves two handlings, must always remain cheaper." This feat, to-day, more than at that period, forms a potent. argument in favour of road haulage. Add to this the fact that the North-Western Company has overE,20,000,000 of capital invested in its line from Liverpool to London, and that, in 1887, the actual expenditure for terminals at 18 or its stations amounted to -£470,017, an average of £20, 112 per station, or -/,2,176 per station per month, and the trader will see what is paid for superfluous handling of his goods. Let us look at the matter another way. The company named handles, roughly, at one of its Manchester stations, 2,000 tons each night.. If 20 per cent. be taken as an estimate of local short-distance traffic, and if this were diverted to road carriage by motor lorries, what a potent factor It would form for the reduction of railway rates? One finds, nowadays, the curious probability that a large portion of the principal traffics, for which the railway companies are .caterbig, will be driven back again on to the highways. As a keen observer of transit of goods for 20 years, there is in the .4.,mind of the writer just a soupcon of fear that the commercial motor is being •left behind for the moment while the rush for passenger motors is in the air, If there are any makers whose consciences prick them on this score, a careful perusal of the Board of Trade returns of the railway goods traffic, a large proportion of which is waiting to be tapped, is recommended, Figures may not always be reliable in proving such an important point as the one wider notice, but it is on figures that the foundation of any argument, at least, must be laid. The followino example is, therefore, worth careful consideration. The Class I rate— a low one—from Manchester to Blackburn, a little more than 22 miles, is 9s. 7d. per ton, collected and delivered. We have, accordingly, the following analysis to consider :
Manchester to Blackburn ... gs. 7d. per ton.
Less maximum terminals per ton for station and other ser
vices .•• ••• 45' id. Less two cartages, included
in the rate ... ... 2S. 6d. 6s. 7d. per ton, Balance for conveyance along the rails 3s. od. per Ion.
This is an easy day's work for a steam lorry : an out and return 4-ton load makes one's mouth water, whilst the above railway practice shows nearly 70 per cent, of the whole rate to be devoted to cartage and terminals. This example, too, may be taken as a fair average between any two similar points, and it should surely be obvious to the commercial mind that enterprise in the direction of road haulage would, taken in the right spirit, revolutionise the whole of the goods carrying business of Great Britain.
The Bills, to which reference has been made, have been deposited in the House of Commons by the L. and S. W. Railway, the L.B. and S.C. Railway, the G. and S.W. Railway, the Wirral Railway, the Mersey Railway, and the Alexandra Dock (Newport) Railway. They will come on for reading during the present Session, and the writer has no hesitation in affirming that this action forms a serious menace to the trader generally, and to the individual team or steam-lorry owner in particular. The powers sought are wide and general, and it must not be forgotten that a railway company, if it receives payment for a too-mile haul, is in the position of beingable, for such tune as may be necessary,. to oust the local team or steam-lorry owner, by offering: to perform cartage for nothing, at either end, until it acquires a monopOly. Determined opposition should, therefore, be arranged in the House, as the railway companies are endeavouringto add to their existent huge monopolies the establishment of further standing opposition to private enterprise. No manufacturer or trader should hesitate to write to his local Parliamentary representatives, to ask them to vote for proper safeguards when the measures come up in the House. The powers sought are as follow :– -" To provide and use omnibuses and other road vehicles in connection with or extension of their system or otherwise in any district to which their system has access, for the conveyance of goods and passengers whether to and from any of their stations or .otherwise."
PHILIP KERSHAW..