OPINIONS and QUERIES
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STILL MORE EXAMPLES OF THE JOINTING TRICK.
WITH regard to the " Jointing Trick Revived' article " in The Commercial Motor dated January 13, as you state, the matter wants investigating by the proper authorities. We have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with this type of supplier.
On May 24 a traveller called here stating that his concern had been making large steam packings, and that it was disposing of the cuttings at a low price.
We gave him an order for some, in my estimation about 25s. worth, signing for same. We received a very large roll of packing a few weeks after and the invoice amounted to £10 10s. After much correspondence, the supplier put the matter in the hands of a solicitor. Eventually the concern decided to take back half the
quantity.. L. HOLDEN,
For Pincushion Service and Filling Station. Wyberton.
WE were glad to see your article on the unscrupulous travellers who go around selling "jointing" material. Exactly the same experience befel us, and an order form was signed just at the busiest part of the day. Afterwards it transpired that the order had been made out by the traveller (a man) for about £14 worth ot goods instead of about £1 worth.
We have written the company concerned and called to see it on the matter, but it is obdurate and refuses to compromise in any way whatever.
We are glad you are giving publicity to this unfair method of securing orders, although we do not know whether to blame the traveller or the concern; we suspect
both. GILBEY'S TRANSPORT, LTD. Wakefield.
A DEMAND FOR THE REPEAL OF THE 1933 ACT.
T READ with interest Mr. Norman W. Small's letter m I your issue dated January 27, and I quite agree with his remarks, in particular where he says "the large number of hauliers who wait for someone else to fight their battles." It is my firm conviction that the hauliers of this country have, as a whole, no backbone to fight this great oppression, and I say this in all seriousness.
Let us look at this oppression as through the eyes of the man in the street. Supposing, for instance, that this man before he could take on a job had to obtain a licence to do so, at the same time having to pass a test and then pay for his licence, then if he contravenedthe conditions of his licence he lost his job, with little hope of getting another, what would happen? Do you think the various unions would stand for it? No Here is an Act that has been proved to be nothing but sheer persecution and is always ready to pounce upon an honest, hard-working man because he has contravened the conditions of his licence, yet there is no one to fight or who can do anything for him. ' Here and now I challenge anyone to show me where the Act has done any good since its inception. We are paying out thousands of pounds yearly to keep a lot of Licensing Authorities, clerks, examiners, etc. To what purpose? Merely to persecute us and deprive us of our just living. Wake up, the hauliers of England, and demand your rights to win a living unmolested by Government. Get together with a leader who is not afraid cif the Government and the powers that be, and make them understand that this Road and Rail Traffic Act, so far as road transport is concerned, must go, for it is crippling the industry and serving no useful
purpose. F. E. MARSH. Cambridge.
CATTLE-CARRYING RATES OF NORTHERN IRELAND BOARD.
I AM extremely obliged to Mr. Scott Hall for his article which appeared in your issue of January 13, and I was particularly interested in his interpretation of lorry rates on a head-rate basis.
It is time that serious thought was given to this problem, as it is an important section of road haulage work, and one that is liable to be set aside as being of little importance.
I do not want to appear to raise a quarrel with S.T.R., but there are one or two points in his article with which I cannot agree, and which leave me rather in the dark. If I read his scale correctly, I find that, for a distance of five miles, one head of livestock, or, alternatively, 10 sheep, could be carried for Os., and that, for the same distance, eight head of livestock, or b0 head of sheep, could be carried for 9s.
Now, in the first place, only four decent-sized-ewes will take the place of one bullock, and, therefore, for a minimum charge of 9s. he should be able to carry, roughly, only 24 sheep. I may, of course, be interpreting the scale incorrectly, and, further, he may be using a double-deck vehicle for sheep, but, even then, the figure is too high.
A further criticism I have of the scale is that the minimum charge of 6s. is too high, and the maximum for the same mileage gradation is too low. Quite frankly, Os. for one beast is an unattainable figure in Northern Ireland, and I would go so far as to say that• it would be very difficult to get it in England or Scotland.
It is very nice to hear that there is such a thing as a reasonable man, but I am afraid that to-day he is a person who emerges only from a text-book, and that the average farmer, due probably to the difficulties of the job, is one of the most unreasonable individuals in the country—and perhaps I do not blame him.
The Board's minimum charge is five miles for 3s. for one beast. It may appear to be low, but it works out something like this; A small lorry, up to 3-tons capacity, capable of carrying eight head of livestock,
will go out on a round,4within a small radius of a depot,and carry eight head? of lfvestoCkYinto the markets five or less miles away. For thatl.run he would obtain 24s., and the load may be made up of eight separate collections. It is a comruc,n,practice to get two loads before mid-day, in which case we should have earned 48s. for the morning's Work. The crew of the vehicle will then be clockedoff, -and, later in the day, when deliveries from the market commence, that crew will sign on, and the vehicle may do one or two runs. We may earn 72s., and, as the mileage is extremely low, J think that is reasonable payment.
It is borne in mind that, with regard to this cattle problem, we may be in a better position than the average cattle carrier. The Board has not a monopoly of carrying, as certain farmers still prefer to carry in their own lorries, but the fact does remain that the conditions are better. .
Looking at the other end of S.T.R.'s five-mile scale (i.e.,:the,9s. minimum), if a man has eight cattle to send into a. market five miles away, then our minimum charge is 15s., and it is quite possible (it has happened very often) that, in those circumstances, we can get three runs in the morning.
This problem of cattle rates has never before been dealt With seriously by anyone, and I welcome the views which S.T.R. has expressed. I would like to add to the thought he is giving to the matter by Sending a copy of our Cattle Scales, which apply particularly to and from Belfast. These are self-explanatory, but if any problems arise out of them, I would be very glad to answer them.
I give here just one word of explanation. If farmers can take a full lorry load, then the lorry .rates apply; in other words, for five miles he would not pay eight times 3s., but would pay 15s. for the small lorry.
• The scale should be interpreted having regard to the 'average loadings of the vehicles we use, which are Small lorry: 5 horses'; 8 cattle ; 32 sheep. 24 pigs. Medium lorry : 7 horses ; 10 cattle; 40 sheep; 30 pigs. Large lorry : 9 horses ; 12 cattle; 50 sheep ; 36 pigs. The figureS for sheep would be approximately doubled if a double-deck container were used.
One small correction, Mr. Scott Hall: I am only the assistant general manager of the Board—not the general manager.
W. E. MACVE, Assistant General Manager,.,
Belfast. Northern Ireland Road Transport Board.
[The figures which appear in the tables of rates for haulage which were published in the series of articles to which Mr. Macve refers, are based on data obtained from experienced operators. but are from 10 per cent. to 20 per cent. in excess of what those operators have found to be obtainable in actual fact. The addition has been made because, as the result of the examination of authentic figures for cost of operation and profit, the rates which are obtained are demonstrably uneconomic, in that, whilst they do show a margin of profit, that margin is insufficient. That the rates quoted are reasonably fair can be deduced by examination of the examples quoted in the articles, it being emphasized that those examples are again taken from operators' books in all except the figures for revenue, which are modified as above described. Having in mind the above qualifications and taking in order the points raised in Mr. Macve's letter, the figure of 6s., quoted as a minimum, is admittedly not attain able. It must be, however, if the business is to be conducted on an economic basis. It is surely not fair to expect a haulage contractor to work for less than a minimum profit because of the absence of "reasonable men." It is part of the haulage contractor's business to make ,these men see reason. The conditions which Mr. Macve describes and which, apparently, make it f.16 economic for him tn f,tialge.,.as. little ,cis per,beastr.do not obtain in England atricl,stherefOfe, tie rAeS he qtrotes do not apply. In i14-case..of, ab4ulier...picking up eight "beasts for a five-mile _haul, .the haulier is not. expected to pay eight times 6s.,' but only a total of Os. for the distance. In this matter ite-NOrtherd Ireland Road Transport Board is in a better position than the' English operator. DoubleLcleekers are assumed in the -case of sheep haulage, and the InajOrity of cattle-haulage vehicles is of that type.I unlit apologise for having, quite unintentionally, exalted Mr. Macve beyond his actual station.—S.T.R.] , ,• .
REGROOViNGTYRES INCREASES THEIR SAFE AND USEFUL LIFE.
I N my article on tyre regrooving (issue .dated Decem ber 30) I mentioned that regrooving does not increase the life of a tyre. Mr. -Littlewood, in-his letter. of January 6, quotes.a case from his own experience of a set of tyres wearing smooth in 10,000 miles, and, after regrooving, giving a .further 25,000 mules.
This experience, althohgh interesting, is• somewhat irrelevant to the poiht at issue, for the ultimate mileage of the said tyres would have been more or less the same whether the treads were-regrooved or not. This process, as I have said, does not add any new tread 'rubber,' and cannot, therefore, give added mileage, but it serves the
. purpose of making the tyres safe from skids for the latter part of their working lives.
Mr. William Frost, in his letter of January. 27, sums up the position very well and more or less confirms the thoughts expressed in my article. Briefly, the position is this. The " critical " stage of the tyre's life, as I'Said, is when the tread becomes smooth. This is the tithe 'when it should be either retreaded or regrooved. Retreading will give it an entirely new lease of life. f.tegroovirig, on the other hand, although it Will not increase the remaining potential mileage, will make the tyre safe until it is worn down to the breaker strip.
Birmingham, 18. L.V.B.
SALT TO MELT SNOW DAMAGING TO PLATED PARTS.
Tsnowy weather of the present winter has been a very severe test for the electro-plated parts of motor vehicles. - In towns where salt has been used to melt the snow . the test has been exceptionally se-ecere, particularly of parts like bumper bars and hub caps.'s Under"such conditions washing down as soon as possible becomes an absolute necessity, because these . particular parts are subject to abrasion from grit, which may puncture the deposit allowing the salt-and-water mixture immediately to 'start corrosion.
ERNEST R. CANNING, Chairman,
Birmingham. W. Canning and Co., Ltd.
A READER WHO KEEPS AN EYE ON TRAFFIC FIGURES.
REGARDING the popularity of the Bedford, after carrying out entirely independent and unbiased observations over a period of several months on the roads near Canterbury, I reached, after calculation, the figure of 30.1 per cent, of all traffic.
This, I think, is adequate testimony as to the appreciation of this well-known make of vehicle. Among the 11-3-ton class the Bedfords held almost a monopoly.
To sum up, may I wish every success to the GAL, which I have been taking for six years, and may its success be a good omen for the industry in general!
Tankerton. M. HANDFORD.