2,250 Tons a Year by • Long-distance Lorries
Page 44
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
I F the 20,000 long-distance lorries now under free enterprise were taken over by the State, again the standard of operation would not be nearly as high. This was forecast last week by Mr. A. E. Drain, chairman of the Metropolitan and South Eastern Area of the Road Haulage Association, when he spoke at the Brighton Sub-area's annual dinner.
'These vehicles are doing a remarkably good job of work," he declared. "An inquiry the Association made not very long ago shows that, on average, each vehicle travels something over 40,000 miles in a year and carries 2,250 tons of goods for a distance of 140 miles.
"As the average carrying capacity was about 11 tons, the lorries annually con• veyed over 200 times their own capacity. This showed that in the hands of a skilled operator a long-distance lorry was a highly efficient instrument.
"It is certain that at no time during the period of nationalization were the vehicles under State ownership operated at anything approaching the same standard. There can, therefore, be no justification on the grounds of common sense or economics for taking these vehicles out of the hands of their present owners and returning them to the nationalized organization that operated them so much less successfully on the previous occasion," he said.
BELFAST BUSMEN STOP WORK FOR A DAY OUSANDS of people had to walk to work in Belfast last Saturday when the city's 1,900 busmen staged an unofficial strike. An official of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union said he understood the crews had no intention of repeating the stoppage.
The strike came about after a number of crews had been warned about arriving ahead of schedule at their destinations. They complained that too close a watch was being kept •on their running times and demanded that the outside opera tional superintendent should be withdrawn Services operated by the Ulster Transport Authority were threatened on the same day—there had been a one-day strike the previous Saturday—but after discussions between the management and the union a second stoppage was called off. The dispute was over the managements order that a particular union notice should not be displayed on their notice boards.
B.T.C. TO CLOSE TRAMWAY?
DURING the next two months the British Transport Commission arc expected to seek authority to close the Grimsby-Immingham tramway. This was disclosed last week by Mr. J. T. Roberts. secretary of Grimsby Chamber of Commerce.
He pointed out that objectors would probably have a chance to make representations to the Transport Tribunal.