Is the Compensation Speed-up a Myth?
Page 4
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Many Hauliers Still Wait for Payment After .Several Months
'WHEN Sir Cyril Hurcomb, chairman of the British Transport Commission, " said at the annual luncheon of the Road Haulage Association, on June 22, that payment of 'compensation to hauliers whose businesses had been acquired had been speeded up, was he:—
(a) Trying to assuage public opinion and quell Press criticism, or, (b) Speaking without intimate knowledge of the affairs of his own ' undertaking?
A similar statement was made later at a Press conference by Major-General G. N. Russell, chairman of the Road Haulage Executive, but there are known to be instances in which the owners of undertakings compulsorily acquired as long ago as last February have not yet received a penny in compensation.
This situation is difficult to reconcile with Sir Cyril's statement that small men, who might suffer hardship, were being offered an immediate payment on their cash option, and those who received stock were being offered stock at intervals of about a month, instead of six months.
Two Out of 60 Get VAIN)
Of a batch of upwards of 60 operators whose businesses were compulsorily taken over on various dates since last February, only two have had a cash payment of £2,000. "The Commercial Motor" is informed. The remainder have received nothing. Compensation totalling nearly £1,750,000 is involved in these acquisitions, the amounts in, individual cases ranging from a minimum of about £15,000 to af maximum of some £150,000.
"The Commercial Motor" is also informed of the case of a West Yorkshire operator whose business was taken over early in May. He had a bank overdraft of £10,000 at 5 per cent. interest, which he has not yet been able to clear, as he has had no money from the B.T.C. The compensation due to him is about £40,000, A sum of £12,500 has for some rime been agreed with the R.H.E. valuers for buildings, £12,500 for stock and £7,000 for vehicles..
Pressed for Debt News of another haFd case comes also from Yorkshire. In this instance the business was transferred in June. The operator in question is being pressed for payment • of a substantial sum by a builder for work done.
On May 27 the Road Haulage Executive was notified in writing that the case was urgent and that if prompt payment of £2,000 on account were not made, the operator might become bankrupt. On June 15 compensation of £1,320 was agreed for stock and plant, £712 for furniture, etc., and approximately, £8,250 for vehicles. On the same date the properly value was agreed at over £6,720.
When this . operator's accountant wrote to the R.H.E. in London. stating that no money had yet been paid, the Executive referred the matter back to a28
the. B.T.C. panel accountant. He told the operator's accountant that he was extremely busy and had not yet had time to examine the file, apart from which his chief assistant was on holiday.
Another Yorkshire operator's business was acquired on May 2. He had more than 30 vehicles, and "The Commercial Motor" was informed last week that the vehicle valuer had not yet even asked for an appointment.
Acquisition Too Fast As "The Commercial Motor" has already declared, the rate of acquisition is obviously too great for the Commis sion's administrative machinery. Sir Cyril Hurcomb virtually admitted this when he said at the annual luncheon of the R.H.A.: "We have indeed gone to the limits of prudence in devolving responsibility and authority in the making of these settlements."
Despite the establishment of a large and widely spread organization of valuers, accountants and lawyers for the express purpose of speeding up provisional assessments, the. Commission still cannot deal with the situation.
Although the Commission should be aware of this fact, the rate of acquisition is now being greatly speeded up— and at a time when members of the staff are on holiday and work is bound to be dislocated_ In the first 16 days of this month, 88 road haulage undertakings were taken over, representing a rate of more than five a day.
It is believed that this haste is prompted entirely by political motives, as it completely disregards the principles of equity.
The latest list of acquisitions by the B.T.C. is published on page 649 of this issue.
Output Tops 4,000 a Week in May
NEW records in the production of British commercial vehicles were established during May, when weekly production reached an all-time peak of 4,419 units, surpassing by a substantial margin the previous record of 4,163
established in March. Apart from motorbuses, trolleybuses and batteryelectric vehicles, output rose for all classes of vehicle,
During the four-week period of May, 17.678 vehicles were produced, of which 8.132 went abroad. and 9,546 came on to the home market. Production in the various classes was as follows: Under 15 cwt.. 7,746; 15 cwt. to 6 tons, 7,965; over 6 tons, 639; motorbuses and trolleybuses. 1,116; and battery-electrics (excluding prams). 212.
During the five months ended May, 85,098 vehicles were produced, of which 41,420 were for export and 43,678 for the home market. Vehicles under 15 cwt. capacity totalled 35,954; 15 cwt. to 6 tons, 3,176; over 6 tons, 3,037; motorbuses and trolleybuses, 5,907; and battery-electrics (excluding prams), 1.024,
Additional statistics published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders also show that during April production of works trucks dropped to 320. Export markets claimed 90 of them, whilst 230 went to home users. In the first four months of the year 1,477 works trucks were produced, of which 466 went overseas and 1,011 were retained for home use.