Ferrymasters ask for eight A artics
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• An application by Ferrymasters Ltd. for eight new articulated vehicles on A licence was adjourned by Mr. A. H. Jolliffe, the North Western deputy LA, in Preston last week, There were eight objectors.
Outlining the case, Mr. E. M. Heins, a director of the applicant company, said that the nature of its business was door-to-door through traffic. Ferrymasters did not want to establish a domestic haulage service within Great Britain. The company's work was divided into three sections: trade to and from • the Continent and Scandinavia, trade between Ireland and Great Britain and a trans-atlantic service. Mr. J. S. Lawton, for one of the objectors, said that trade between Ireland and Great Britain was, in his opinion. domestic..
Mr. Heins said that the nature of Ferrymasters' operation meant a vehicle carrying to a port in Harwich one day, Felixstowe the next and Preston the next. Units were interchangeable with trailers, and a trailer which started the journey in Britain could end it in Europe.
For a company. said Mr. Heins, which was known for its personal door-to-door service, sub-contracting had become a worrying factor. About am a year was spent on subcontractors and this was considered far too large. The application was made, however, not to reduce sub-contracting but to keep it from rising even higher.
Answering questions from Mr. J. A. Backhouse, for seven of the objectors, Mr. Heins said that his company now had 47 vehicles on A licence and seven of these were working from, but not based at, Preston. The company had been in Preston for 18 months and vehicles had to be detached in rotation from other ports to maintain the service in the North West.
Mr. Hains said that in the last 10 months 10 vehicles had been granted A licences at Felixstowe, without opposition, and there were still three to be taken up on the licence held in Hull.
Mr. Backhouse said that he thought these 13 vehicles plus the eight being asked for were equivalent to one grant of 21 vehicles as they could be used anywhere in the country.
In answer to Mr. Lawton, Mr. Hains said his company could not produce figures of its British haulage work as each job was accounted as a complete through-journey. When asked whether or not the Continental part of the Ferrymasters organization was paid, Mr. Hains said it was.
Mr. Lawton then pointed out that producing figures of the company's work in Britain was just a matter of taking the balance which was left on the invoice. Both advocates for the objectors asked that, when the case is continued, figures required and the actual licences held should be presented.
Two customer witnesses were called by the applicant company. Mr. W. W. Chambers of John Mackintosh and Sons Ltd., and Mr. R. C. Sayers of ICI (Agricultural Division) Ltd.; expressed their difficulty, prior to the arrival of Ferrymasters, in obtaining the right type of vehicle at the right time.