A Plague of Weigilt Definitions
Page 11
Page 12
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE Road Haulage Wages Act and its satellite regulation, R.H.4, have still further aggravated the complexities of life for the haulage contractor. It has added one more to the weight definitions, already too numerous, which he has to keep in mind. Hitherto he has had to give consideration to unladen weight and the specific interpretation of that term as laid down by Act of Parliament, with its references to tools and loose equipment, weight of water, fuel or accumulators used for the supply of power, etc.
He has had to think in terms of unladen weight when he is applying for a renewal of licences under the Road and Rail Traffic Act, for there it is a measure of licensed tonnage, although under the watchful eye of potential railway objectors he must beware lest, in applying foi permission to replace a vehicle already specified, the laden capacity be more than the one to be replaced, although the unladen weight be the same. He has to he careful of unladen weight if he wishes to run at 30 m.p.h. yet carry a load of 5-6 tons, for if that unladen weight, even by a pound or two, exceeds 50 cwt. his freedom to travel at that speed is immediately jeopardized, and two-thirds of his average carrying capacity will thus be lost to him.
The Road Fund tax he pays is at all times determined by unladen weight, but if he uses a 7-8tonner, a six-wheeler, an eight-wheeler or a vehicle with trailer, he must watch the gross laden weight and be careful that it does not exceed 12, 19 or 22 tons respectively. If it does he is liable to heavy penalties on that account.
Difficulties in Adjusting Wages Now, when assessing the wages of his drivers and their mates he is given another base line, another weight definition : the "normal load carried." Eliminating the quibble that, in the case of a vehicle which ordinarily runs half its weekly mileage empty, the normal load could be described as half the total load it carries, there is still a vast number of commercial-vehicle operators who, owing to the conditions under which they work, must sometimes be compelled to employ a driver one 'day on a vehicle carrying two tons and the next on one carrying six tons. In those circumstances the statutory wage of that man, theoretically, varies considerably from day to day, opening up another issue.
In the case of operators outside London there is a further complication, that if his tehicle has a carrying capacity (normal load carried) in excess of 34 tons, he must take care that the gross lader. weight does not exceed 12 tons, for in that case the wage scale comes into a higher category. Again, but for the war, we should by now have vehicles " plated " so as to indicate the limit of their gross laden weight.
On top of all this there is the harassing, and still misunderstood, problem of the demountable body, and the question as to whether its weight must be included in the computation of unladen weight (a) for assessment of Road Fund tax and (b) for the determination of its maximum speed.
Variation in Classifying Unnecessary There is almost universal agreement that this variation in the method of classifying vehicles for these several purposes is inconvenient and unnecessary. There is not, however, as yet, agreement as to the way in which these complications might best be simplified. The logical classification is on the basis of gross laden weight. Operators fear that, especially in respect of the tax and the threat of loss of licence in the event of there being frequent occasions when the gross laden weight is exceeded.
In a good many branches of the industry it is practically impossible to avoid occasional overloads. The defects of classifying according to unladen weight are, nevertheless, well known and far from being insignificant. It is the cause of overloading of light-type chassis, and is often made a means for facilitating rate cutting. Even so, there is the feeling that a change from that basis might be for the worse. Possibly the feeling is that it is better to endure the ills to which we are accustomed than to risk ethers of which we have no knowledge.
On the other hand, to take the gross laden weight of the vehicle for basis of taxation, licensing and wage scales is at once to sweep away a host of anomalies. The risk of trouble as the result of occasional overstepping of the specified weight is really small, and in any event one which is run daily by most users of maximum-load vehicles for whatever purpose they are employed. Operators of those vehicles do not find the risk a very grave one. We do, therefore, suggest that, in the inevitable after-the-war codification of rationalization of these regulations, gross laden weight be taken as the basis of classification. It should carry with it the removal, once and for all, of the anachronism which limits the speed of modern, well-built and reasonably efficiently maintained vehicles to 20 m.p.h. The present differentiation in speed limits should be abandoned.
The Spares Problem '
TrE problem of obtaining spare parts for repairs to road-transport vehicles, already a difficult one, will be aggravated in the event of invasion and the implementation of the proposal to make use of garages and repair shops to expedite repairs to Service vehicles. It would appear that some steps should be taken to organize supplies and systematize the method of making them available, as and when required, with as little delay as possible.
Probably tit best way would be to establish depots, one in each area, where all spares should be kept. All operators and repairers within a given radius of that depot should be advised to draw therefrom. Such a course is preferable to the alternative of trying to arrange for a large number of repair shops, each to hold small supplies. In the latter case, what is sure to happen is that a few of these scattered sources of supply will be drawn upon heavily, and the rest baldly at all.
Operators, too, can help manufacturers in connection with this problem by themselves ascertaining what are likely to be their requirements in respect of particular spare parts. They can do so quite easily by referring to their books and noting how many of each part have been required per annum over the period during which they have operated particular types of vehicles. A note of such requirements, with, perhaps, a percentage even, should be sent to the manufacturer concerned, so helping him to determine the extent to which he should repair and keep stocks of spares ready to meet essential demands.
Abortive Section Nine
I T is the misfortune of the road haulage industry that its hopes are so often deferred. Time and time again has it happened that the trend of the law or of new regulations has seemed to be in the direction of improvement of conditions. Just as often, or so it seems, disappointment is the only result ; the promised amendment fails to materialize, and occasionally, even, the new conditions are less favourable than the old.
Section 9 of the Road Haulage Wages Act is a case in point. During the framing of the Act, and while its provisions are being discussed and argued by the leaders and the rank and file of the industry, the impression prevailed that that clause would go a long way towards stabilizing the position of the owner-driver, particularly in that it was hoped that it would make it illegal for him to charge rates which, in their calculation, made no provision to ensure that the owner-driver allowed himself wages on the appropriate scale.
This section has had no such effect. Its application has specifically excluded cases of employment of owner-driven by tradesmen or operators of vehicles under C licences. In fact, the Act applies only in cases where hauliers are employed by clearing houses, and even then its provisions can be evaded if the clearing house pays the owner-driver employed' not less than 90 per cent. of the money earned by the clearing house.
Conditions of haulage would be improved and the problem of elevating rates to an economic level simplified, if the Section could be amended to widen the scope of its application, so that an owner-driver must have the Section in mind when assuming wages they will charge.
An outstanding example of the need for such control of owner-drivers was indicated in an article on page 365 of our issue of June 1, wherein reference was made to the benevolent attitude of the Shrewsbury Town Council towards owner-drivers in that it gives preference to them when awarding contracts for haulage. There appears to be justification for the belief that this benevolent attitude arises from the knowledge that the ownerdriver is willing to work at uneconomic rates, made possible only because the framing of Section 9 allows him to evade the provisions of the Act in so far as they apply to the wages of drivers.