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Political Commentary By JANUS

2nd May 1958, Page 98
2nd May 1958
Page 98
Page 98, 2nd May 1958 — Political Commentary By JANUS
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

In Chancery

0 WNERSHIP of the road haulage industry, Sir Brian Robertson, chairman of the British Transport Commission, has said, is "a secondary consideration, and is for the politicians to decide." No doubt the implication is unintentional that politicians are only fit for the discussion of comparative trifles, and that the important matters should be left to the people who know. Sir Brian must have meant, at the very least, that it makes no difference to the operation of the industry if it is in the hands of independent hauliers or under the control of the Commission.

It would seem that he has retreated into the Ivory Tower, and pulled up the drawbridge. He knows that he can safely leave to the politicians whatever decision has to be made on ownership, because there is no significant movement in the direction of further denationalization, either of British Road Services or of British Railways, or, in fact, of any section of the Commission.

This may be an unkind interpretation. His position precludes him from saying anything that might offend the Government or outrage the Opposition. He must be aloof. He cannot come out in favour of any method of ownership. It might ease his mind if the whole road haulage industry were in Chancery, and belonged to nobody. At any rate, he would like to think that the question of ownership is unimportant, and there is a general inclination for the thought to gather strength from the wish.

Sir Brian is right to the extent that the politicians are apparently determined to settle the question among themselves, without reference to the transport industry or to the public. He is wrong if he supposes that the question is not fundamental. Upon whichever answer prevails depend the future structure and efficiency, at any rate of road transport.

The point may not be so important with some other industries. If Sir Brian had been talking about the railways, he would be pardoned for seeing little difference between the present nationalized monopoly and the four closely associated main line companies that it superseded. At present, there are several thousand hauliers, providing a diversified and competitive service over the whole field. Public ownership of any section of road haulage must mean the creation of a monopoly where previously there was nothing of the kind.

Ample Competition

It is true that part of the industry is already part of the Commission, but there are enough long-distance hauliers outside B.R.S. to ensure ample competition. Proof of this has recently been supplied in a comparison of current B.R.S. rates with the 1952 schedules. While prices generally have risen, the published rates for nationalized road haulage have substantially fallen, at the same time as hauliers have been allowed to re-enter the long-distance field. The two events are more likely to be related than coincidental.

B.R.S. make a brave attempt to be independent. but their policy -must be subservient to that of the Commission. State ownership of road haulage would involve its transfer to B.R.S. Any suggestion that it might continue to operate independently would not work out in practice. with the Government ultimately having direct responsibility for both forms of transport. Unless there were some changes, B.R.S. would be no more than a satellite. State ownership means not only monopoly, but also what amounts to integration, whatever other name may be given to it. An inevitable by-product of State ownership in transport seems to be a frontal attack on the C-licensee. Independent hauliers contrive to remain prosperous, and have no grumble against the ancillary user, although no doubt they would be even more prosperous if he did not exist. The Commission, or so it would seem, have, not stopped complaining about him from the day they were set up.

Inevitably, Sir Brian had to keep up the pressure in his recent speech. He stressed the need for a sound, nourishing, comprehensive public haulier organization. "We have our tussles with our competitors," he said, "but the community of our interests is greater than their divergence." So much so, in fact, that he would apparently view with equanimity their total assimilation.

He was speaking to the London Rotary Club, and his next reference was to the vast amount of heavy longdistance traffic passing to and from the London area which is not carried by either the Commission or the hauliers. Sir Brian left his audience to work out who was carrying the traffic, which he described as steady and easy to carry, and which "should provide the profit to cover the less profitable services that a public haulage industry should render to the community." He would like to see much of the traffic go by public transport, "road or rail." Public transport he considered to be more economic. Moreover, public hauliers 'were expected to give a service and to take the rough with the smooth.

Declared Redundant

The latest forecast about what the Socialists propose to do in order to make good their threat of renationalization is that only selected and highly efficient haulage businesses will be taken over as and when required, and that the rest, or many of them, will be declared redundant, and presumably deprived of their licences. One reason for this manoeuvre, if it is seriously intended, may be to minimize the shock and upheaval that the road haulage industry has already had to suffer twice.

A prolonged take-over will be no smoother than the more drastic tactics of 1947 and 1953. Already, hauliers are coming up against difficulties caused by the uncertainty of their future. They would like to plan ahead in buying new vehicles and premises, and in expanding their activities. As time goes on, their confidence will wane. They will hesitate more and more about spending time, energy and money on something that the next Labour Government will take away, possibly for much less than its value.

If the Socialist policy, when it is finally determined, turns out to be one of gradual acquisition, the efficiency of the industry will deteriorate rapidly. As soon as one operator is taken over, the remainder are bound to be more concerned about running their businesses with a view to getting the best terms than with a view to pleasing their customers. Alternatively, they may divert their energies into an effort to discover the precise point between efficiency and inefficiency at which they can best hope both to avoid being taken over and to retain their licences.

It is a pity transport cannot be taken out of politics. All the same, the politicians do not make Sir Brian Robertson's mistake of supposing that the question of ownership is not fundamental. It is the one question that keeps transport obstinately anchored' to politics. Until a sensible solution is agreed, hauliers must remain in Chancery, with no control over their own future.


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