An Important Licensing Concession.
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IN THE columns of The Commercial Motor the question has been debated whether the owners of commercial goods vehicles are entitled to take out licences for these vehicles on the horse-power basis, instead of on the basis of unladen weight, should they so desire. It would be done on the plea that the vehicle was not used solely in the conveyance of goods. In some cases, where the horsepower is low, there is a material advantage, which would be increased in the case of a vehicle built before January 1st, 1913. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has done good worl4by taking up this question with the Ministry of Transport, and, by agreement, a case has been submitted to the Law Officers of the Crown.
In the circumstances, it is now understood that application can be made for licences for commercial goods vehicles on the horse-power basis, and, in case these are refused (the licensing authority taking advantage of Section 5, Sub-section 2, of the Roads Act, under which it can refuse to issue a licence if it is satisfied that the licence applied for is not the appropriate licence for the vehicle), the vehicles may be run without a licence until the opinion of the Law Officers is obtained.
The Fight Against Railway Control of the Roads.
AJOR-GENERAL LONG'S evidence before the Ministry of Transport Committee, appointed to inquire and report whether it is desirable that the railway companies should be granted power to work road transport independent of contact with any railway, system, is dealt with (in its memorandum form) on another page of this issue, and strikes us as having been temperate and well prepared, presenting the ease from the point of vie* of the_road transport industry with great fairness. It is a strong argument that the unlimited powers granted in 1904 to the Great Eastern and NorthEastern Railways have not been granted to later applicants because, whilst in 1904 motor haulage was very much in its infancy and its possible development was appreciated by few, since that date a vast industry has grown up, and the railway companies with extended powers could rapidly freeze out existing organizations with no resulting advantage to the public but with great disadvantage to private entezprise. Considering the advantage attaching to the transport of certain goods in certain circumstances by canal, and examining the merits of canal transport as employed on the Continent, it is easy to see that, B13 in this country, that particular industry is crippled or whittled down to the barest proportions by railway control. Granting to the railways the • unlimited powers now being claimed, there -is no reason why coastwise shipping should not be allowed to be run by them in any direction. All competition would thus be killed and the transport of the country would be in the hands of the greatest monopoly that ever held the public by the throat. In our earlier comments upon the claim of the railway -companies to these extended powers, we anticipated some of the lines of argument pursued by General Long. We fully believe that the granting of these powers would imperil the motor trade, would deprive the country of the essential mechanical transport necessary for military punposes, and leave the whole nation in the hands of one great union which could enforce the granting of its 'terms by the declaration of a. national strike—all movement being brought thereby to a standstill. We emphasize our earlier warnings that motor hauliers and owners of transport must now advance all their arguments against the granting of the powers claimed, so that the evidence shall be on the records of the Committee and shall be available for consideration when the report is prepared for presentation. It will be useless to cry out should the railway companies win by sheer default or apathy of the road transport industry.
, Illegal Loan of Lorries to Workpeople.
WHEN the decision was made to abandon a logical method of taxation of motor vehicles, by a medium which merely took account of the amount of use, and to substitute as a basis of taxation an arbitrary classification of the vehicles into groups according to their purposes, the fact was overlooked that we are an adaptable race and , that we can find more than one use for a thing. Most commercial goods vehicles are used solely for the earriage of goods; as such they are taxed on their unladen weight, on a scale which normally means cheaper taxation than if they were brought under Paragraph 6 of Schedule II of the Finance Act, 1920, and taxed according to horse-power. However, there are a number of employers who, in their desire to show consideration.for their workpeople, grant them the use of. their lorries or vans for the annual outing of the staff, no charge being made to anybody. This may occur, in the case of a given firm, once a year. Under the new law, however, this now becomes an illegal not, and it can only be made legal by the registration of the vehicle for the time being as a private vehicle (" other vehicles" covered by Paragraph 6 of the schedule •aforementioned). We doubt if this was intended by those who drafted the scheme of taxation; we doubt if they even took the likelihood of the occurrence into consideration. We should be sorry if the employees of those conearns-which are thus generous in granting the use of transport on such occasions were to suffer from an obvious defect in the law, but one must look the circumstances in the face. Most vehicles are being registered for the whole year, and, although there is provision in the Roads Act for an owner who has• paid an annual licence fee, to pay a supplementary licence fee in respect of an alteration that entails the payment of a higher rate of duty, this is likely to be expensive. In the case of a lorry weighing over 4 tons and having an engine rated at 45 h.p. the difference in the year's licence duty in respect of the use of the vehicle during one quarter (perhaps on but a single occasion) for the transport of the workpeople would be 10 guineas, which is rather a substantial tax on generosity. B14 A slight amendment to Section B Sub-section 2 of the Roads Act would meet the case. This now pernuts the use of a goods vehicle for the conveyance in the course of their employment of persons who are in the employment of the person keeping the vehicle. It could be amended to permit the occasional use of the vehicle for the conveyance of the employees of a firm on a pleasure trip where no payment passes—but here, again, the question arises as to wives, children, and sweethearts of employees. So it is not an easy problem to solve. One consideration calls for attention—the police are certain to be watchful of the use of commercial vehicles in passenger carrying during the coming months.
Where a goods vehicle is likely to be used frequently throughout a quarter or a year for the carrying of passengers in additioe to its regular employment, but is not used as a hackney vehicle, the two forms RF 4 (goods vehicles) and RF 1 (private vehicles) should be filled up, the licensing authority informed that they apply to one and the same vehicle, and the duty on the higher scale should be tendered. The licence should then be endorsed so as to show that the vehicle is registered in the two categories.
The Publicity Value of the Commercial Vehicle.
TH124, potential value of the commercial vehicle, and particularly of the motor van, as an advertieing medium, is by no means realized as much as it might be by many users. The majority consider they have done all that is necessary if they merely display their names and addresses on the bodies, often without even referring to the class of goods with which their names are associated. This may be quite satisfactory in the case of users whose names are already household words, but it does not fulfil the requirements in the case of others less well known.
The valve of advertising depends solely upon the number of potential buyers who see and are attracted —.consciously or subconsciously—by the advertisement. Thousands of people may pass a hoarding without even glancing at the notices thereon, but a moving advertisement is far more efficient, as it is likely to c,atch the eye, and when the style of the advertisement is striking and pleasant without being blatant the, eye will not only be caught but will be held and an appeal made to the mind. A sprinkling of canunercial motor vehicles on which time has been spent and ingenuity exercised in order to utilize to the full their publicity value is to be seen, but in the majority of cases much valuable space is wasted and thus one of the most important benefits which should be derived from the proper use of motor vehicles is lost. The exact style of publicity to be followed is a matter of choice. For some trades it is a question of bright pain twork and lettering; in others it may be more elaborate and take the form of bodies shaped to represent certain speeialities models of particular , goods attached to ordinary Vodies ; illuminated signs operated from the lighting dynamo, or it may be so comprehensive as to include several of these features. Whatever scheme is followed, perhaps the most important essential is that of cleanliness. A dirty vehicle with its paint-work splashed all over with mud which is palpably the result of several days' running, is far from being a good advertisement, whereas a clean well-polished machine reflects credit not only on its owners, but also upon the class of goods carried, particularly where the geods are such as to call for the exercise of scrunulous cleanliness in their handling.