N EWS of the WEEK
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MR. BURGIN REVIEWS TRANSPORT PROBLEMS.
SPEAKING at a luncheon at the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Mr. Burgin referred to the tremendous task of attending to the mobility of the nation. In London alone 9.000,000 people wish to go to business, to lunch or home all at the same time. The prospect of widening some of London's main arteries was repellent because of the cost and inconvenience. He suggested that there was a big excess of transport facilities and he was not prepared to see the Ministry' act merely as a referee between competing claims.
Referring to the railways' slogan, "A square deal now means a lot to you," he said that with all his knowledge of syntax he could not find a satisfactory explanation of the phrase. He.showed himself distinctly pro-railway, by saying that' the railways were the iron backbone c,f the country, essential in peace and war, and using a home-produced fuel, whilst road transport was running mostly onimported fuel which would certainly be rationed in emergency.
Continuous growth presented the greatest problems, but at any mention of restriction on cars, Viscount Nuffield and Lord Austin would say : "I-low dare you spoil our prospects! " There must be some, limitation on everyone's freedom, but if he instituted a nowaiting order, every shop concerned would write to him about the damage caused. To carry out the advice on modifying London contained in the Bressey Report would cost £300,000,000.
Good Advice Offered at Priestley Dinner. •
A T the second annual dinner given by
Jack Priestley (1937), Ltd., and held at Warrington on January 18, there were 121 guests representing some 000 commercial vehicles. After the loyal toast, proposed by Mr. R. G. Foden, Mr. jack Priestley said road transport needed all help possible, in view of the tremendous opposition it was experiencing.
Mr. W. Foden, managing director of Fodens, Ltd., thanked Mr. Whieldon, who had given the toast " Our Manufacturers," and emphasized the need for all operators to join one or other of the associations to help fight unfair opposition.
Mr. A. W. Evans, of Commer Cars, Ltd., said he hardly knew what the future was to be for the lighter-type vehicle. It would be rosy if the unladen weight of the 30 m.p.h. class could be raised to 3 tons Mr. E. F. 13. Topham referred to road transport as the backbone of the nation, which, properly organized, played a great part in peace as well as in war. It was vital that operators should treat the present situation as a fight for the existence of road transport, and should A28 join the associations. Operators should get busy with their local M.P.s, and set every conceivable machine going to fight in the cause of road transport.
The Industry's Invalids.
Mr. A. A. Liardet, general manager of Leyland Motors, Ltd., is progressing favourably following an attack of' bronchitis.
Mr. R. Bragg, of Commer Cars, Ltd., has been ordered to rest for a few days.
Captain J. S. Irving, of Bendix, Ltd., has recovered, from an operation and resumed his duties.
Fire7engines Not Exempt From Road AN important decision was given by the Belfast Resident Magistrate, Mr. J. H. Campbell,. last week, when he held that the driver of a fire-engine was subject to the same law as an ordinary citizen. He said he did not feel bound by any instruction issued by a commissioner of police. The case was one in which a fire-engine driver was prosecuted for dangerous driving. The prosecution was the result of an accident at traffic lights, when the fireengine collided with a private car and one of the men on the engine was thrown off and killed.
The defence admitted that the defendant drove against the red lights, but relied on the fact that the fire chief and commissioner of police had given instructions that where an engine, on the way to a fire, could go against the red light with safety, it should do so, the bell being sounded continuously. It was pointed out that a few minutes delay on the part of the engine might mean the loss of life.
The driver of the fire-engine was fined £3.
Last week, in a paragraph dealing with a Hauliers' Co-operative Group, we referred to Mr. -H. T. Lennard as being the legal adviser. A. Saunders and Son, Harpenden, Ltd., which leads the Group, has asked us to point out that this gentleman is not a legal adviser in the strict professional sense, but the adviser to. and representative of, the Group's licensees in the Traffic Courts.
OFFICIAL NATIONAL SERVICE EXEMPTIONS.
ALMOST half of the effective man pcwer of this country is exempted from volunteering for national service, because their work is already of national importance. The reserve list is most comprehensive and should be
carefully studied. In a great many occupations, however, exemption applies only above a certain age.
Drivers oi coaches, buses and -heavy vehicles are all exempted ; those of road locomotives, traction engines and-steam engines (above 25 years), and of road rollers, steam rollers and' motor rollers (30) ; engineers (mostly 25 years) ; garage and bus workers (30) ; sheet-iron, metal workers and tinsmiths (Main grades all ages, others 23 to 35) ; vehicle builders and repairers (main grades all ages, 'others 23 to 25) .; warehousemen (25 to '35) ; welders (foremen, gas and electric nands all' ages, others 23) ; • works managers , and assistants, -factory. and departmental managers (25).
Dealing with Trailers and Semi-trailers.
THE next issue of.The Commercial Motor will be devoted, to a considerable extent, to various aspects of haulage by trailer and semi-trailer. The subject will be dealt with from the technical and operative angles.
A-licence Refusals Mean More C Licences.
THAT a refusal to grant, or to up
hold the granting of, an A licence did not, in any way, prevent competition, was a submission made on behalr of F. G. Hillier (Slough), Ltd., of Cippenham, Slough, .at a sitting of the Appeal, Tribunal in London last week.
For the Great Western Railway Co., which was appealing against the grant of an A licence to this company, it was Said that, not only had the operator changed the districts to and from which it carried, but that there was a material change in the nature of the goods so carried, which meant that, from being non-competitive, it was now highly competitive with the railway.
The point submitted on behalf of the operator was that refusal to grant an A licence simply meant an increase in C licensees, the result being more Corn petition and greater traffic congestion.
The major portion of the applicant's business had been concerned with the carrying of biscuits in the South of England, but at the time-of the application for renewal of the licence, it wa.-; confined mainly to haulage work for the British Battery Co., Ltd.
On the two issues (1) was there a material change in the nature of the business and (2) was need proved, the Tribunal allowed the appeal, the order to stand over until March I, to allow the operatcir to make a fresh -application. No order as to costs was made.
LORRY DRIVER ASKED TO GUESS SPEED.
FOLLOWING a long hearing, the magistrates at the brworth Petty Sessions dismissed two summonses recently because they felt, on the evidence, it was not safe to convict. Mr,. Archibald Chas. Godfree, Mendlesham, was summoned for driving a lorry with inefficient brakes, and Mr. Harry James Thorpe and Mr. George Edward Thorpe, contractors, Mendlesham, were summoned for permitting the offence.
After an accident at Pakenharn, the police, finding that the lorry had no speedometer, conducted a brake test by asking the driver to apply the brakes when he thought he was travelling at 15 m.p.h. Later, when one of the owners tested the driver's judgment of speed in a lorry with a speedometer, in each case the driver estimated incorrectly, and in the defence it was submitted that the test by the police lacked the accuracy which a Court of Justice should require.
Choice Of Rear-axle Ratios for 25-cwf. Fordson.
THE Fordson 25-cwt. chassis, with four-cylindered engine, is now available with a choice of rear-axle ratios. The standard ratio is 5.14 to I, List a lower ratio, 6.83 to 1, can be supplied if expressly required for -particular conditions.
Transport in the Highlands Needs State Aid.
Q TATE aid, as the only method of ,-.)improving and cheapening transport in the Highlands, was advocated by Mr. J. M. Bannerman, prospective Liberal candidate for Argyll, in an address at Edinburgh, last week. The steady decay of the two basic industries —agriculture and fishing—in the Highlands was, he said, in the main attributable to the lack of cheap and rapid transport facilities to and from the markets. It was evident to-day that if the basic industries were to be . revived that could not be done by the unaided efforts of the people.