OPINIONS and Q UERIES
Page 30
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CAN THE R.H.A. PRODUCE A PLAN?
MOW that the election is over and we have had time 1 to get over tbe shock, is it not time to take stock of our position?
in its pamphlet entitled " Post-war Organization of British Transport," the Labour Party sets out its intention as follows:—" That all road haulage operating under A and B licences should be acquired by the GoVernment on behalf of the Transport Authority."
It would appear, therefore, that as the will of the people has decided that the Labour Party's policy is right, we must be prepared for nationalization.
The official statement by the leaders of our Association was, in effect: If the Labour Party get in, it is the end of individual choice, freedom of enterprise-and initiative so far as road transport is concerned. Therefore, many of us would like to ask how and when nationalization is to take place.
Perhaps the Labour Party, now that it has the power. like the people who have control of the atomic bomb, is somewhat scared of it.
The rank and file, therefore, look to the, Association lot guidance. Is it too much to expect that it will produce a plan acceptable to the Government and the operators of transport, so that it can then quote Sydney Carton and say:—
" It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done. It is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." BRISTOL HAULIER. Chi lion .
ARE SMALL HAULIERS AGAINST NATIONALIZATION?
1 WISH to give my support to the opinion expressed 1 by Mr. V. Ward in his letter in your journal dated August 17.
The small hauliers must combine against nationalization or there is little hope for them or their future.
While on the subject, what are the associations doing about the threat of nationalization? A. THOMPSON, Luton. (For Garratt and Wright, Ltd.)..
SERVICEMAN CONGRATULATES HAULIERS
1 WOULD like to express appreciation for the many 1 hours of interesting reading derived from your excellent journal. I have been a regular reader for several years and have never failed to obtain a copy.
While stationed in Brussels I took a large number of old copies to the Montgomery Club; they were gratefully received, and I imagine that they have now been well read by numerous Servicemen interested in road transpert, furthermore, they may have created potential readers amongst some who bad hitherto not paid much attention to such literature.
There are many points that I would like to discuss, but I will limit my present letter to one comment, this is my admiration for the way in which road transport has carried out its job during the war. I am now in England and am amazes), at the way hauliers have kept their vehicles. It was a pleasant change to see well-painted vehicles after the dull paintwork of W.D. machines. Let us hope that their efforts will be rewarded by permitting them continued freedom and a possible relaxation from some of the absurd restrictions placed upon road haulage in general.
L. H. LILLIOTT. MAJOR PALMER IS ADMONISHED BY TANK REGIMENT OFFICER
I REALLY feel that someone should speak up in sup1 port of the industry, when it is subjected to such scathing and vague attacks as that of Major Palmer in your issue dated July 27. Now, with a Government which, one imagines, will do everything in its power to preserve and even augment the control established over the road-haulage system during the emergency, it is hardly the time for one who obviously reads trade journals, and who, presumably, has a certain interest in the industry, to set forth the views of what one can call only a mythical body of hauliers.
For surely, in an industry which consists to a very large degree of individuals operating in a :small way, and essentially in an atmosphere of free action, no one would advocate national control—and what an undefined phrase that is! One takes it that he is referring to systems of returns in quintuplicate, and never-ending circles of responsibility, in fact, a miniature Civil Service. How many hauliers would give their support to such a cause1 Finally, would a "House of Disorder" have been able to rise so magnificently to its part in the war effort, or compete so successfully with what was virtually a nationalized body, as to force it to resort to entering the " House"? I think not. (Cner.) P. B. W. Cox, .
B.L.A. 5th Royal Tank Regt.
“WHAT WOULD YOU DO, CHUMS?"
rONCERNING the article by S.T.R., An Operator's
Rates Difficulty," in your issue dated August 10, it does seem to me that the user who can get his drivers to do 240 miles a day must live in a very rural area and must expect tyre trouble.
In this district, as in many others, an agreement was made with the sand and gravel merchants as to the rate per ton for haulage. The result has been that the county council concerned has accepted the prices quoted and the local surveyors have ordered the sand, etc., as they thought fit.
Some have employed -their own lorries or hauliers; others have passed their orders to the merchants for them to arrange delivery.
This is the result: An operator (who I will call A) did the sand hauling for the local council for many years before the war. This year the work was given by the local surveyor to another operator (B) who lived some 30 miles away. This also included the haulage of tar barrels, which work had previously been carried out by a local man (C).
A and C thought this unfair and ariproached the chairman of the sub-district of an Association to try to put things right. But B was vice-chairman of this branch of the association and nothing came of the attempt.
C then interviewed the surveyor and eventually obtained a little consignment of the work, whilst-a small part was given to the merchant.
It therefore appears that to obtain this work it is necessary to cultivate the friendship of the surveyor. I presume that .-next season the work will be given out to tender.
Should A break away from the agreed prices and quote his own rate, or quote the agreed rates and see his onetime friend take the work from his doorstep?
May I quote Syd Walker and say to your readers and S.T.R. : "What would you do, chums?
Clutton. L. G. PRITCHARD.