1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164 
An Unsatisfactory Act with Good Points
Page 100
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
By J. J. Berry, President, Northern Road Transport Owners' Association, Ltd.
ALTHOUGH the Act was badly conceived, badly drafted and, in some cases, is badly administered, it has its good points. It has been the means for putting out of business many small operators and greatly reducing the services of others, but many of these proprietors have only themSelves to blame, because they did not join an association. Being without expert advice, they presented their cases so unsatisfactorily to the Commissioners that one cannot be surprised that their applications were unsuccessful, or their operations curtailed.
The competent operator is in a much stronger position than he was before the passing of the Act. Now he has something which, provided that he observes his licence conditions, cannot be taken from him by his competitors ad which is, in fact, his charter. Nevertheless, the administration of the Act leaves much to be desired, a statement which is proved by the actions of some chairmen of Traffic Commissioners. I hope that in the near future the associations will take strong measures to bring to the notice of Parliainent this state of affairs.
As President of an Association comprising over 100 small independent public-service-vehicle proprietors, the most outstanding feature of present times is, to my mind, the lack of support given to operators by, the manufacturers, either collectively through their society, or individually.
Unless all operators join the organizations established in their various districts, and unless, all those associations co-operate with the Motor Hirers and Coach Services Association, in a few years' time there will be no independent operators left. Nationalization of the industry will be an accomplished fact.