OPINIONS and
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UERIES
POLICE DISCOURAGE PARKING FOR SHORT PERIODS
LIKE many others, I am still at sea as to the future
of the road-transport industry, although I have drawn certain conclusions. Each week, after reading " The Commercial Motor," I hold a silent memorial service for the industry. It seems that things are going to be made as uncomfortable as they can be (not that they have ever been too comfortable).
• Now there appears to be an intensified effort on the part of the police to move lorries from their parking places, although whether any distinct instructions have been issued to them on this matter I do not know.
A few days ago a driver was told that he could not park his vehicle in a side street for a few minutes while making a change-over with another driver. He was told that he must put it in a garage; yet there were no garages available in the vicinity large enough to take the many vehicles that might require to use them for this or other purposes..
This particular driver asked where he could park for the short period, and the policeman pointed to a plot of private ground which would. cost probably at least £16 a week to hire. Finally, the officer said that he did not know where the man could park, but he could not do so in the road.
What is to be done in such cases? Are the drivers to .run around the houses wasting fuel and rubber and creating overtime, or must the operators go to the expense of building special garages if they can obtain the necessary permission and materials to do so?
London, N. E.R.
UNITY IN THE INDUSTRY NOW IN SIGHT
FOR years the Scottish Carriers' and Haulage Contractors' Association has been seeking unity in the industry, and it was very nearly achieved when certain associations in Scotland amalgamated. The reasons why the S.C. and H.C.A. refused to amalgamate were simple, but nevertheless important. Briefly they were:—
(1) That there should be one national association of Aand B-licence holders.
(2)' That there should be one national association of C-licence holders.
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(3) That there should be one national association of public service vehicle operators.
(4) That these bodies should combine to form a national federation; and . (A) That each of those four bodiewsheuld be staffed, both at headquarters and in the areas, by full-time officials.
Those were the reasons why the Scottish Carriers' Association has retained its separate identity, with affiliation to the A.R.O. Now that the Report to the Con-, stituent Organizations on the Reorganization of the Industry has been received, thr above conditions are fully met in every respect and at the general meeting of Association members held on Wednesday, March 24, the following resolution was unanimously carried:—
(a) That the Association approves in principle of the proposals contained therein. • and (b) Authorizes the board of directors to complete the arrangements necessary to give effect thereto.
It would be impossible for this Scottish' Association, which has built up Sc) strong a link in Scotland, ,to become amalgamated with "any other Scottish body not fulfilling the above conditions, so that amalgamation in Scotland can take place only through the medium (if the Conference, the proposals of which are sound and in every way logical, and what in fact the road haulage industry in Scotland desires.
It is to be regretted that part-time officials of any Association, who have served so well, can no longer be embraced in the new scheme, but its their livelihood is not at stake there can be no question of hardship. industry ndustry requires specialists both to operate it and to organize it, and only the undivided attention of such men who have had the experience throughout the years can hope to steer the industry through the many difficulties which face it in the future. The organization of the industry in its present haphazard manner is now passed and we must go forward with new ideas, know
ledge and, above all, youth. HAMISII AiACDOITGALL. Glasgow, C2.
COMPARISONS OF GIANT-TYRE WASTAGE VOUR issue dated March '26 contains a reference to • L giant-tyre wastage in the U.S.A. and Great Britain. Questions upon this subject were recently asked in the House of Commons and they appeared to be put in such a way as would indicate a comparison unfavourable to this country.
It is understood that 20 per cent. of tyres submitted for repair in U.S.A. are found to be beyond repair and scrapped. Of all tyres removed in Great Britain 28 per cent. are said to be fit for retreading. This is no comparison. Before any judgment can be formed we require to know what proportion of all tyres removed in U.S.A. are retreadable.
Mien such a comparison becomes available we shall then need to consider that, in this country, vehicles have been running under war conditions for three and a half years. Vehicle maintenance has become exceedingly difficult. Overloading is usual. Excessive speeds are not uncommon. Roads are neglected. All such conditions produce forms of tyre failure which threaten the possibility of retreading.
It will not be surprising if, in such circumstances, the proportion of removed tyres found to be retreadable fails, in the future, substantially to exceed the current figure.
London, N.W.I. H. L. KENWARD.
• COMMENTS ON WORKS CANTEENS
WHY is the National Joint Industrial Council for the Industrial Catering Trade perturbed at the so-called mischievous attacks on works canteens? It might do some of the members of this Council good to adopt the Premier's principle, and see for .themselves, instead of frying to appear indignant as though inefficiency could never occur. • These attacks are not mischievous; .a.fleast they are, from 'my experience, right in some cases. If a canteen carrying on ordinary business fails to satisfy its customers, the trade is lost, but, apparently, this is not so with large catering concerns. If they fail to satisfy their customers in Works and factories, the faults
are too often covered up. . •
My view is that there. are too many large concerns dabbling in the factory catering business, and often the first thought is profit—and not a small one at that. Belore the war, such concerns would not have considered this class of work, and have done so only becaUse their public-trade is dwindling away through rationing
and they feel that they must not be left out or the picture.
There is concrete evidence of dissatisfaction. Only a few days ago a large meeting was held outside an aircraft factory, when those present threatened to boycott the canteen if things were not put in order. A lorry driver who had had his dinner there said the meal was awful, and that the tea was little but water. I might add that it takes a lot to shake up a lorry driver, who has had to stand the catering racket for years. At the same time we must not throw the whole blame on to the Government or on to the N.J.I.C. It should be placed upon those who are actually responsible and are being paid to supervise such places.
London, N.12. , R. ELWICK THE LATE MR. A. R. FEARNLEY WAS A PIONEER OF THE OILER
WITH sincere regret I read recently of the death of " Mr. A. R. Fearnley, formerly general manager of the Sheffield Corporation Transport Department. . Mr. Fearnley was a great transport man, and Sheffield owes its fine system mostly to him. British road transport is the poorer by his passing. He was always ready to listen to anything new and progressive, and if possible help with what facilities he could bring to bear.
Thus in 1929 I went to see him about the'possibility of converting a bus to oil power. He was keenly interested, and we had many long discussions as to how it could be done. Finally, he decided that he would take a chance and allow me toget him a Mercedes Benz six-cylindered 80 h.p. oil engine to fit into a Karrier six-wheeled single-decker.
Eventually it was decided to send the stripped chassis over to Stuttgart to have the engine fitted. When the chassis came back the body was put on and the bus was put on the Sheffield-Doncaster route. It ran most successfully on this route for some years. Mr. Fearnley was highly pleased with the results, which were extremely satisfactory.
This was the first oil-engined bus to run in regular passenger service in this country—early in 1930.
Leeds, I. W. H. GODDARD.
WHY THOSE TOTALITARIAN TACTICS?
I CANNOT help but be amused by " Patriot's " letter A published in your issue dated March 19. Apparently he is connected with an A-licence undertaking which is in danger of being annihilated by the "bigger business" of which he writes. The injustice of such an act has obviously left its mark on "Patriot," because it affects his own interests, but he proposes that whatever injustice there musf be should be passed on to C-licence holders. No wonder he • is looking for some capable person to support dernocracy for him, he certainly could not do it him,self.
To carry on on the lines suggested by "Patriot," the time is not very far distant when one will not be able to dig one's garden while there is a gardener to be hired for the purpose—a happy thought and perhaps one that has not yet struck the imagination of the Minister of Agriculture as a means for providing work for his Department. Maybe in this Ministry they possess a greater sense of what we are fighting for than they do in the M.O.W.T.
I agree that it is time that attention should be drawn to the policy that is being carried out to the detriment of the ,community as a wholeand to Many men now in the Forces who are not in a position to keep a close watch on what is being perpetrated uhder the guise of economy. iany of these men, after fighting for those rights embodied in the Atlantic Charter, are going kr return to find that the jobs that should again be theirs no longer exist, not only that but also that their previous employers have been squeezed out of existence. This• at the time when our statesmen were drawing attention to our sense of fair play. The latest move by the 111.0.W.T., if allowed to develop in the way it intends that it. should, is going to affect thousands in the industry to-day, not all of whom will find their way into the Forces. It behoves' all who are interested to make use of the Parliamentary sysfem of which we are possessed and to write to their Members of Parliament, in order that they should be made aware of what is going on. Let the effort to obtain justice be collective. I suggest that each one who is to-day of the opinion that his living is being unnecessarily interfered with, take the trouble to pen his words and have them in the 'collecting box in time to be delivered first post on April 12. In order that the recipients be left in no doubt as to the nature of the matter he is expected to deal with, mark the envelope "Road Transport" in the top left-hand corner.
This guise of economy is all, to use a vulgarism, '.tripe." I have proof of two wagons being used on a journey of upwards of 400 miles, the total capacity of the two being 18 tons, a journey that was taken out of the hands of a C-licensee because his wagon and trailer (capacity 11 tons) were uneconomic, in spite of the fact that they could handle the load taken by the two previously mentioned. So you see that even the C-licence holder has a good case to put forward, especially. when his goods require vehicles of special
design. LET LIVE. Huyton.
TRAMS V. MOTORBUSES AND TROLLEYBUSES I OBSERVE in your Editorial comment on the question I "Could Trams Tow Lorries and Buses?" in your publication dated March 19, 1943, that you express the view that if it were not for the war you would be glad to see the last of the trams.
Why you make this sweeping condemnation is not stated,, unless you hold the popular, but entirely erroneous, idea that a tram must be simply a box on four wheels with hard uncomfortable seats and abominably slow. Mightil recommend acquaintance with the streamlined cars of Liverpool as one example of this fallacy? They are comfortable, beautifully appointed, speedy, and one can read with ease. which is more than can be said of riding on a bus travelling over an ordinary road surface.
Furthermore, in the suburbs the Liverpool trams run on their own reserved -track, entirely off the road. Surely this is to be highly commended for future development, as notwithstanding refinements of the modern bus, and I include the trolleybus, it is just another vehicle on the road and a potential hindrance to other traffic.
In another connection, you mention that the tram is on a fixed track. This, in my opinion, is more often than not a great advantage to other road users;_ one knows that a tram will not suddenly Fall in or away from the kerb, and although I have no accident statistics to guide me, yet I venture to suggest that, in proportion to numbers, the tram is probably the safest vehicle on the road and I believe that the tramway has a very important place in post-war planning and development.
One other important point which should not be lost sight of is that most municiPalities derive substantial rate contributions where trams are run.
Sutton., J. R. BRINTON.