The Nation's Transport
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WHILST in this country the Government (under pressure, the source of which it is not difficult to find) is doing everything in its power to impede the growth of road transport and even to reduce its present dimensions, Germany, whith is now more highly organized than was ever formerly the case, is looking to road transport as an outstanding factor in its economic recovery.
The striking interview with Dr. Eng. Todt (who is responsible for the new German road system) which we published last week, has aroused enormous interest, and his views on the future of road and rail transport are recognized as being both logical and far sighted.
:Some people regard the railways ofe Germany as being Government controlled, but this is not the case. Many are quite independent, but all are in accord as to the value which will accrue to them from the provision of roads essentially suited to fast traffic.
• The British Road System Inadequate.
In the British Isles our road system is totally inadequate to meet modern conditions of transport ; in fact, it has advanced but little during the past 15 years. Even our latest highways are frequently intersected by other main and minor roads. The most elaborate signalling and other safety devices will, in our view, never prove an effective remedy against accidents. We complain bitterly about railway level crossings, but, in effect, every road crossing another is a level crossing. In Germany, on the other hand, every crossing on the 5,000 miles of new roads which are under construction will be unimpeded and perfectly safe, because a system of bridging is being employed.
The railway companies there are not being restricted in any way from utilizing these roads or in respect of the number of vehicles that they may purchase ; in fact, from the Government's point of view, the policy is 'the more the merrier." Employment is bound to increase, not only because of the mere building of the roadsand the activity in the factories which supply the materials, but because road transport, whilst being essentially economic in its functioning, does employ considerably rriore labour than do the railways. Yet the average lorry can carry many times the load cf a railway truck in a corresponding period.
The Motor's Advantages Largely Lost.
If. efficiency be based upon a combination of speed with the patio of laden to unladen weight, then the road vehicle scores heavily ; but, as Dr. Todt remarked, the motor has advanced far more rapidly than the road, and to obtain full advantage from it it is essential that its path should be made smoother and safer.
The members of the industry which we represent are long-suffering, but the continual harassing with pettifogging and irritating restrictions and demands is creating a wave of resentment and disgust which may have far-reaching effects When the keeping of records was mooted, we were promised that the information reauired would be of the simplest possible nature. -Now, however, the styles of form issued and the particulars called for are far more complicated than is necessary. They demand a concentration of time and energy that might well be devoted to the work which now has to be spread over such a limited number of hours. It has been the endeavour of officialdom to cram into the records every possible statement by which driver and operator can incriminate themselves.
The scheme is wholly un-British in ,its conception. It is an unwieldy weapon which is being used against all in order to trap the comparatively.. few transgressors, and it is extremely doubtful whether it will ever accomplish this end. It is rather like forcing everyone to keep a diary of his exact actions with a view to catching the burglars. Strictly to enforce the law a veritable army of inspectors or police would be required, and it may be that this will be forthcoming at the further expense of the Road Fund.
It amazes us that this nation, which is rapidly becoming more and more road-minded, should submit to the experimental follies of legislators who, it might be thought, had never travelled in a bus or private car, or depended, to any extent, upon road transport for 'their supplies of general commodities. So far as our transport is concerned, we are becoming a nation of slaves, and are regarded by our legislators as potential or actual criminals.
Reaping the Raised-speed-limit . Benefits
A RTICULATED vehicles, either on pneumatic or solid tyres, and lorries and tractors on pneumatic tyres drawing trailers similarly equipped, may now travel at 20 m.p.h., and thus no longer labour under the unfair handicap that the previous restriction upon their speed imposed. The articulated type has the big advantage of manceuvrability, and, in some cases, of easy trail ing-unit interchangeability. There seems to be no ground for regarding it as unsafe, although presumably some such thought was in the minds of past legislators.
The trailer is a great asset to economic operation, and, doubtless, the higher speeds now permissible will act as an incentive to the improvement of its brakes, upon which manufacturers are already concentrating.
It now becomes necessary, in selecting a machine of the sixor eight-wheeled type, to compare the merits of the rigid and the articulated on a somewhat different basis from that formerly the case. We have heard the opinion expressed that this raising of the speed limit would sound the death-knell of the rigid eightwheeler, but we wholly disagree. There is no more justification for this belief than for the view that the new regulation will put an end to the rigid " six." In both classes each type has its claims for suitability, but these have been put forward in this paper too often to require recapitulation now.
It is of importance, however, that manufacturers equip their chassis with engines of power sufficient to enable 'them to maintain these higher speeds on undulating roads and to reach them quickly, and with brakes of proportiopal efficiency, in order that operators may reap full benefit from this concession.