OPINIONS and QUERIES
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COMBATING EXCESSIVELY LOW HAULAGE RATES.
The Edator, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[4313] Sir,—I am local secretary of the Barnsley and District Branch of the Yorkshire Stage Carriage Operators Association (Goods Section). We have about 300 members, and I should like to do a little missionary work amongst them by distributing to each a copy of your Tables of Operating Costs in brochure form. When you hear of some of the small operators taking building bricks a distance of five and six miles in a 30-cwt, lorry for 7s. per 1,000, as I did yesterday, it seems to me that it would be a kindness to present them with a copy of your Tables. If, therefore, you would care to send me a supply I should be glad to let our members have a copy.
I may say that I enjoy reading the articles by " S.T.R." and I agree with his conclusions re municipal haulage rates. In fact, I was told the other day that a local urban district council only a few miles from Barnsley paid only 21s. per day for a 30-cwt. lorry and driver.
On page 432 of the issue of TheCommercial Motor dated May 11, it is mentioned that Bexhill Corporation has accepted a tender for motor haulage at very low prices. I am at a loss to know how it is done.
Barnsley. F. SCOR AFL HIRE CHARGES FOR CONTRACT CARRIAGES. The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[4314] Sir,—I would be pleased if you would answer the following queries which may be of some assistance to your readers operating in isolated districts :—What limitations, if any, does the Road Traffic Act place on advertising in the interior of a public-service vehicle?
I had occasion recently to quote for the conveyance of 16 football players to a place 15 miles away. The job was, of course, for a contract carriage, and obviously the vehicle called for was a 20-seater. I quoted £2 for the use of the vehicle as a whole.
A rival operator, however, quoted 2s. per seat and obtained the job. On the day of the match 20 players and members turned up, so the figure paid for the bus was £2, exactly the sum I had asked. It is apparent that the revenue of the bus at 2s. per seat could have been anything from 2s. to £2.
As I have lost several jobs through quoting for my vehicle as a whole I would like your opinion on the matter. The question seems to depend on the interpretation placed on par. c, sub sec. 1, sec. 61, R.T.A. and the words, At or for a fixed or agreed rate or sum."
B40
"Fixed or agreed sum" has only one interpretation, but, as regards "fixed or agreed•rate," does that mean "rate per seat," "rate per mile," or "rate per vehicle "?
The general impression up here is that a contract carriage is hired out for a certain definite sum irrespec tive of the number of seats occupied. E. WINC OTT. Oban.
[We are not aware ot any restriction with regard to advertising in the interior of a public service vehicle. The question which you raise regarding the expression "at or for fixed or agreed rate or sum" in section 61 (1) (c) of the Read Traffic Act is not free from doubt, but it appears to cover a definite sum for the use of the vehicle, a sum calculated according to the mileage, or a sum calculated according to the number of persons carded. The essentid point is that the sum charged must entitle the hirer to the use of the whole vehicle, We, therefore, do not consider that it is illegal for the prospective hirer to quote a rate " per seat."—En.] CARRYING HEAVY LOADS THROUGH LONDON.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[43151 Sir,—I am a regular reader of your paper, but pass each number to my friends, and, therefore, I have no details of regulations issued in connection with• the carriage of heavy loads.
I wish to know if there are restrictions on passing through London and over bridges with a 9-10-ton steam tractor and trailer, with an average laden weight of 24 tons, and used principally for carrying cranes and bulky machinery for excavators. The information is urgently required. C. W. FITCH. Buckhurst Hill.
[Unless your trailer has at least four axles, and the width ot the trailer does, not exceed 7 ft. 6 ins., you cannot use it with a total weight of 24 tons, except by complying with the provisions of the Motor Vehicle (Authorization of Special Types) Order, 1931, under which you must give four clear days' notice to every highway authority and to every bridge authority responsible for the maintenance and repair of any road or bridge over which it is proposed that the vehicle shall pass. The notice must specify the type of vehicle or vehicles to be used, the nature, dimensions and weight of the load to be carried, the route proposed to be followed, and the date and time of the journey. It must also contain an indemnity to the highway authority or bridge authority in respect of any damage caused to any such road or bridge by reason of the construction of the vehicle or the weight transmitted to the road surface not being in accordance with the requirements of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulation, 1931. The requirements as to having four men in charge, and giving four days' notice to the police, which are also contained in the Special Types of Vehicles Order, apply only where the vehicle or the load are more than 8 ft. in overall width. As the weight unladen of your machine exceeds 74 tons but does not exceed 111. tons it is a light locomotive under the Road Traffic Act and not a motor tractor. It may draw not more than three trailers, but the total weight of the trailers must not exceed 40 tons unless the vehicle be used in accordance with the Special Types of Vehicles Order. In any case the axle weight of any one axle of the trailer must not exceed 61 tons. If your trailer has four axles the minimum laden weight might be 26 tons, that is to say, 61 tons on each axle, if it were drawn by your machine, which, as we have stated, is a light locomotive. There is a special provision in force in London with regard to exceptional loads, namely, the London Traffic (Reversing in Streets, Advertising in Streets and Exceptional Loads) Regulations, 1928. These apply to the principal streets in London, and provide that between the hours of 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. no person shall in any street to which the Regulations apply use any vehicle loaded with any article which exceeds 36 ft. in length, or which projects more than 8 ft. 6 ins, beyond the rearmost part of the vehicle (excluding the tailboard, if any), or use any vehicle with a load which exceeds 8 ft. 6 ins, in width overall. The Commissioner of Police of the City of London or the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has power to give permission to use vehicles which do not comply with the terms of those Regulations. It is
difficult to. advise you definitely without baying more information with regard to the construction of your machine and trailer, and you will appreciate that in view of the urgency of this letter reaching you so soon as possible we have been unable to go into the position more fully.—ED.] FACILITATING THE OVERTAKING OF HEAVY VEHICLES.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
r43161 Sir,—Apart from speed, how many road accidents are caused by the difficulties of passing heavy commercial vehicles?
Would it not add greatly to the safety of the roads if all commercial houses were to put on the backs of their vehicles a request similar to that which appears on Mobiloil lorries, namely, "We desire our driver to give motorists the courtesy of the road. Please sound your horn "?
Many concerns, in addition to the Vacuum Oil Co., Ltd., already do this. If it became the general practice, it would, I believe, increase the comfort and convenience of the private driver and save many an accident.
J. HENDERSON STEWART, M.P. House of Commons.