The Roadway
Page 44
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GOOD'S TRANSPORT GUIDE
Now Ready
VITE are advised by
11+1' Roadway Time Tables, Bookings a n d Publications, Ltd., of I, Warwick Street, Piccadilly Circus, London, W.1, of which company Mr. E. g. ShrapnellSmith, C.B.E., is chairman, that Nc 1 of " The Roadway Goods Transport Guide" is ready for publication. It has been decided, however, not to put the volume into general circulation until immediately after Easter, having regard to arrangements in hand for widespread publicity concerning it. Examination by us of the numerous sections of the Guide has proved highly interesting. As has been 'announced, it is to be published in conjunction with the proprietors of ,The Commercial Motor,' but we frankly acknowledge that the work of compilation has been wholly in the hands of the Roadway staff. There have been occasional consultations between us, but nothing more. We understand that the same comments apply to the other party to this publication; the Commercial Motor Users Association.
A 960-page Volume.
The present references to this 960-page volume, which is stoutly bound in stiff cloth boards, are not to be treated in any sense as a review. That will come in our issue immediately following Easter Monday—that of April 7th—but we wish to point out to supporters of this journal the advantages to them of placing orders in good time, so that they may receive copies from amongst the first batches to be dispatched.
There has. hitherto, been no representative guide to goods transport by road. Various efforts have been brought to our notice, but the comprehensiveness of none has been worthy of the industry. "The Roadway Goods Transport Guide," therefore, fills a void, and bridges a gap in transport organization which has been troublesome for years past to those with transport to give out.
Visible proof of the thousands of haulier owners of motor vehicles may daily be seen on the roads, but an authoritative collection of records eoncerning them has never before been achieved in a single volume. The amount of work in
n26 volved to secure the useful results now shown has clearly been considerable and costly. The accumulation of original lists is merely a first move, the second being to get rid of duplicate entries. Such lists as published in the past have sometimes totalled merely a few hundreds, but other suppliers, professing to furnish valuable names and addresses, have, not infrequently, tendered lists containing names largely out of date and concerning parties no longer in business.
Scrupulous Care.
The enormous comparative extension of the Roadway list, which occupies some 750 pages of the Guide, is not, by any means, its only merit. The list, as published, might have been a much larger one had not the compilers decided to exclude the names of hauliers whose active participation in the industry had not been checked by them. This checking has been a matter of great difficulty, and in numerous areas has involved tours by inspectors mounted on motorcycles, and, in other cases, the securing of the services of qualified local residents.
We drew attention, in our issue dated December 2nd last, to the need for a, reliable guide of this hind. The call for such a publication in adequate form is undeniable. The forecast that we then made of the steps which were necessary to complete the contents of the Guide have been duly observed, and we find ourselves in thorough agreement with the Rt. Hon. the Viscount Brentford, P.C., from whose Foreword we are permitted to quote the following extract :— Lord Brentford'a Foreword.
"The haulage industry, like all other trades, is suffering at the present moment from financial and commercial difficulties. Without manufacture there can be no distribution; without distribution there is no need for commercial vehicles. I am satisfied, however, that more and more suitable traffic will be diverted from the railways to the roads, and it will become more and more essential to know how and where to find t h e services required. This task the Roadway Goods Transport Guide fulfils.
"It merits a place in the office of every producer, shipper or trader. It will soon be essential to their businesses, and it will certainly be in daily and hourly use in thousands of commercial houses. I congratulate the promoters on their foresight in having undertaken the very great task of collecting in one volume such a mass of information as this one contains, upon their success in obtaining it, and upon the excellence of its presentation."
Whilst it is too late for more advertisements to be accepted, we observe that the Guide has received representative support from leading members of the motor and allied industries, and from those with haulage, warehousing and shipping interests. This, of course, is as it should be.
The Class of Buyer.
The bulk of the circulation will not be amongst motor manufacturers and traders, although the use of the Guide by them is well assured, but should be, as is forecast by Lord Brentford, amongst those who have transport to give out, viz., the producers, manufacturers and traders of the country. Ease and quickness of reference, legibility and complete reliability are the features which such concerns require in a guide of this kind.
In looking through the press proofs, it is gratifying to us to observe the extent of the contributions by the staff of The Commercial Motor, to which we may have occasion a fortnight hence to refer at somewhat greater length. Similarly, as a measure of support rendered by the Commercial Motor Users Association, there are considerable contributions from the pen of its General Secretary, Mr. P. G. Bristow, r.c.r.s., barrister-at-law, these chiefly dealing with various phases of commercial-motor law.
The volume should make a strong appeal as giving good value for money. It is priced at 25s. net, and orders should be addressed to the publisher, as above.