OPINIONS and QUERIES
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DO HAULIERS ENCOURAGE NATIONALIZATION MOVE?
WAS very interested in the editorial comments in your issue dated July 13, as to who should service commercial motor vehicles, for the definite fact is that the haulage industry, for some reason or other, has not-yet discontinued the 20-year-old inclination to cut its own throat.
The sum value of most of the deliberationsof its organizations appears to represent a gratuitous contribution to those who argue in favour of national control— and, from my personal experience,-they are increasing in strength and number.
Of all the chuckle-headed industries, that of road haulage is the finest example. Its house of disorder has provoked restrictive legislation before .now, and should it continue to parade soiled linen in the back yard, there will, undoubtedly, be further legislation, if not complete control.
Nationalization will come as inevitably aS the flowers in spring, but the swiftness of its approach will depend
entirely on necessity. • (Major) E. H. B. PALMER. London, S.W.11.
. ROAD TRANSPORT SHORTAGE HELPED BY COMMISSIONER • WE shall be pleased to learn where news editors receive " the information that transport is in short supply. There is a continual and increasing scarcity of essential commodities, and nearly always the explanation is given that shortage of transport is the main reason for this state of affairs.
We read of hundreds of tons of potatoes being allowed to rot or to be used as pig food less than 25 miles from London, whilst housewives queue continuously for a
meagre and. insufficient ration. Fish is allowed to go rotten, food of every description is scarce, houses are
becoming an eyer-increasing problem. Nearly always we are told that insufficiency of transport is the root cause of the trouble.
We are haulage contractors in a small way, owning three 10-ton lorries. All through the war we worked like slaves. We helped to build aerodromes when they were the country's primary need ; we worked day and night helping to build the floating docks for the invasion. Latterly we cleared bomb debris for local councils and hauled flour for the Ministry of Food.
We were working 100 per cent, when, suddenly, we were informed by the Regional Transport Commissioner that our vehicles were no longer necessary, as there was
now a sufficiency of tra-nsport for present needs. Our fuel ration was stopped; and the renewal of our haulage
licence was refused.. -When we protested and showed evidence that our vehicles were required, we were informed that our licence was granted as a war-time defence measure, and as the emergency no longer existed, our vehicles were now redundant: At the same time an attempt was made to replace our vehicles by those belonging to another transport concern.
Although our haulage licence dates only from.1042, we have been in the trade for over 17 years. We know the job and we know the requirements of transport users..
• Yet, because we were born a few years too late,-we did not have a parent-from whom we could inherit the business; had to begin in the hard way, from the bottom, Ci21 d save for years to obtain a start. We are now told, in
effect, that road transport is a closed industry to all except those who were in it before 1939.
Is this a policy of free enterprise, of the sweeping away of restrictions which strangle the small trader and prevent him from earning his livelihood in the manner in which he is most capable?
Our former local M.P., of whOm we are ardent supporters, has heard our case and is rightfully indignant, but his methods of approach were unavoidably slow and tortuous. We re-quire immediate action if we are to avoid being forced out of business.
Can you imagine a more incongruous state of affairs than a firm of haulage contractors, with more work on their hands than theif Vehicles can cope. with, being .forced to sell up and close down because of unbelievably stupid bureaucratic control, whilst at the same time queues for necessary commodities are forming all over the country, and the newspapers tell the people that one of the main reasons for the shortages is insufficiency of
tranSport? LIBERTY. London, N.
IS ROAD TRANSPORT IN A MUDDLE?
MMANY of the things that Mr. Herbert Morrison men"itioned in his _election campaign are in need ot's,, re-organization, but I., as a Liberal, cannot agree to the methods which are to be adopted if his party gains control.
Amongst other things, Mr. Morrison said that trailsport is in a muddle. It certainly is how, but before this war no sane person could truthfully say such a thing about road transport.
Maybe the railways are in a muddle, but road transport is never so in ordinary times.
The public should be told that under, private enterprise it ...ean get deliveries of goods overnight from distant manufacturers. In fact, in-pre-war days, a baker in Liverpool could bake bread in the evening, and it would be in London in time for morning deliveries. There did not seem to be much muddle about that.
In another 20 years Mr. Morrison, or another leader in his party, will say that the small shops are in a muddle, and then our all will be gone; so hang on to road-transport and then muddle Mr. Morrison and his friends.
London, N.W.6. R,. Et.wictr.
.MOTOR COACHES WHICH
,CONQUER THE DESERT I READ with interest the article in your issue of
July 13 on the coach designed by the Nairn brothers for traversing the Syrian and Iraqi deserts. The Nairn brothers, Norman and Jerry, are two New Zealanders, who, after serving in Mesopotamia in the 1914-18 war, stayed on in the Middle East to establish a most spectacular bus service crossing two deserts joining the Mediterranean to Baghdad. During the present war they gave valuable assistance, not only with their transport organization but also by advice on transport matters.
The air-conditioned coaches, of which there are two, were built by the Budd Co., of America. These coaches were construete.d of stainless steel throughout, and the spot-welding process was used in their assembly. The Budd Co. had specialized many years before the war in this type of welded construction. The outside panels are corrugated for strength and heat radiation. Tlie airconditioning plant is capable of maintaining a tempera tore of 75 degrees F. when the ambient temperature is nearly 125 degreesThe air delivered to the interior of the coach is free from sand, and thus overcomes one of the trials of bus travel' under desert conditions. The seats allow for adjustment to suit individual tastes a feature very desirable on the all-night journey from Damascus to Baghdad.
The articulating arrangement between the tractor and semi-trailer coach consists of a pneumatic tyre placed in. the horizontal position. This takes care of the tractive effort and gives the articulating movement of a universal joint. The design takes the place of the mechanical turntable used on semi-articulated trucks, which can be described as a rather crude articulating device, W. F. SINCLAIR, .
. London Passenger Transport Board. London, S.W.1.
HOLIDAY ROAD DANGERS TO CHILDREN THE fact that over 120 children were killed in road accidents during May, gives rise to serious alarm as to what will happen' during the school holidays, unless greater precautions be taken,
Young children of between three and eight are most frequently involved in these fatalities, and parents can help by ensuring, so far as they can, that their children do not go near busy roads unless accompanied by an elder, and that they play in parks or play spaces.
Drivers should remember that children will be free from school restraints, and exorcise greater vigilance in consequence. Children are prone to dart suddenly into the road, but anticipation by drivers can prevent these natural impulses. from having serious consequences.
j. A. A. PICKARD, General Secretary. (For The Royal Society for the Prevention London, S.W.1. of Accidents.) PIONEERS OF OIL-ENGINED BUSES " EFERRING to the article on the new Crossley oil engine in the issue of " The Commercial Motor" dated July 13, the sub-heading reads, " Pioneer of oilengined passenger vehicles " ; also, at the start of the article, you state, "Crossley Motors, Ltd., put on the market the first bus to be powered by an oil engine." The facts are as follow :—On March 9, 1930 (over a year before Crossleys put an oil engine on the road), in conjunction with the late Mr. Fearnley, of Sheffield Corporation Transport, the writer put the first oil-engined bus on the road at Sheffield. The power unit was a Mercedes-Benz, and the chassis was a six-wheeled S.D. Karrier. This bus ran between Doncaster and Sheffield. A few days later, actually on March 15, 1930, Barton Transport, Ltd., of Nottingham, phi on a 'Gardnerengined bus—a single-decker with a Gardner 4L2 engine. This also was most successful. On September 27, 1930. Leeds Corporation Transport pit into service a D.D. bus with a Gardner 61.2 oil engine. Manchester and Sheffield lso, very soon after, used D.D..,buses ,with Gardner oil engines of the same type.
Having been intimately connected with the pioneering of oil-engined vehicles in this country right from the. start, and knowing the above statements to be .perfectly correct. I hope that you will agree to give credit where credit is due. W. H. GODDARD. Leeds, 11.
[Our correspondent is correct in that Crossley Motors, Ltd.,
did not put the first oil-engined bus on the roads in this country, but the company was responsible for producing the first British oil-erigined bus as a complete entity, This means, of course, that it was entirely of Crossley
make, and not fitted with a proprietary engine.—En.]
OBSERVATIONS OF AN ENGINEER IN THE SUDAN 'CONDITIONStia in the neighbourhood of Barakat, ‘-,Anglo-Egypn Sudan, .are appalling. In the dry season, motor vehicles are smothered with dust as fine as powder, which persists in getting into every possible joint. The roads are deeply rutted with innumerable potholes left by the heavy rains, which occur from August to September.
Time after time I have been told that American vehicles are the only types for that country. Chevrolet and Ford are the two most popular makes. However, despite this, Commer lorries appear to have a very good reputation, their suspension being one of their best features; in fact, they are said to excel all others in this respect. Most of the vehicles are 3-tormers, but there is a fair number of 5-tonners, whilst the Government is operating a good many Italian vehicles of Fiat and O.M. makes, powered by oil engines and carrying 10 ,tons. These were retrieved following the campaign in Eritrea, and have largely been converted to bilks for the natives.
While at Port Said, on my Way out, I was astounded at an advertisement I read in the "Cairo Gazette." This concerned a light car, said to be in good condition, which was priced at £300, but the seller offered to take half that price if the vehicle was sold without tyres.
Barakat. CLIFFORD CARR, Assistant Engineer, Sudan Plantation Syndicate,.
AN EXHIBITION EXCLUSIVE TO DAIMLER EMPLOYEES WE' notice that certain manufacturers are holding exhibitions of their war-time products for the benefit of their employees. This action has our cordial appreciation.
At the end of last summer the managing director of the Daimler Co., Ltd., Mr. George Rally, decided to arrange an exhibition of our very numerous war-time products, so that the employees and their families might have the opportunity of seeing the results of their work and skill. This exhibition was opened by the chairman, Sir Bernard Docker, and remained open until last Christmas.
It may interest readers to know that the exffibition, which was, for security reasons, confined to employees, proved extremely popular, and we ha.ve every reason to believe that it resulted in giving gteat encouragement and satisfaction to all concerned. F. G. COUCH. Coventry.
A COMPARISON OF OPERATING COSTS voU will remember that a few weeks ago I was in communication with you regarding rates for the
haulage of stone-ware pipes. I am now pleased to inform you that these negotiations are proceedipg in a most Satisfactory manner. I have based my costs on " The CoMmercial Motor" Tables of Operating Costs issued in 1944;
The Ministry of War Transport, however, advised me that I was a little low, but when I had taken into con'sideration the increases that had, occurred during the past 12 months, it could agree that my figures were almost identical with those that the Ministry had prepared, no doubt from controlled undertakings and hired.
vehicle operators, •
thought that you would be pleased to know this, as. it does 'appear that your figures are comparable with those prepared by the Ministry.
Exeter. HAULAGE DIRECTOR.