No Operators on Traffic Committee_
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THE " anachronism " under which there is no representative of commercial road transport on the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee is mentioned in the 1952-53 report of the Traders' Road Transport
Association. The hope is expressed that the Minister of Transport will soon find it possible to amend the constitution of the Committee.'
The report points out that the only representatives of vehicle operators on the Committee are those of private-car owners and horse-drawn wagons. Membership is governed by a statute which can be amended only by another Act.
NEW SPRING FACTORY'S HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY Vi/HEN he opened the new West VY Bromwich spring factory of Messrs. Richard Berry and Son, last week, Brig. A. R. Low, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply, said that it afforded a 50 per cent. higher rate of production for a given labour force, compared with the older works in Smethwick.
The increased efficiency of the modern equipment in the factory was enormously important to Britain and the motor industry, he said. Overseas competition was a challenge to every company in this country. Healthy competition would reduce costs.
The factory had been planned after an investigation of American methods. Much of the work formerly done by hand would be performed by machines.
Laminated springs are already being made at West Bromwich. Later. a plant will be installed for producing coil springs.
N.C.B. BUILD MOBILE SURGERY
AMOBILE surgery based on an Austin chassis has been built for the National Coal Board to help to safeguard the health of some 20,000 employees in the north-western region. Whilst in Liverpool and Manchester there are sufficient numbers of employees to justify the establishment of permanent medical centres, the cost of equipping similar centres to serve the remainder of the region would be prohibitive. It was therefore decided to build a mobile unit.
The vehicle was designed to a specification drawn up by the chief medical officer of the N.C.B., Dr. G. 0. Hughes, and the transport officer, Lt.-Col. W. H. Slack. It comprises a fully equipped consulting room, which can be converted into an operating theatre, and two dressing rooms. There is a water tank beneath the floor and a stainlesssteel sink inside, together with a gas water-heater.
Fluorescent lighting is provided and the consulting room it heated by tubular radiators fed with hot water from . .
the engine and supplemented by a gas convector unit. The body is insulated. British and Continental doctors who are studying modern occupatior al health methods at Manchester University inspected the vehicle last week.