Allison Stays
Page 68
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DID Mr. Hubert Hull, president of the Transport Tribunal, read "Is Licensing Losing its Teeth?" in Tire Commercial Motor on December 6? I suspect that he did and that the following recent statement by him is his reply:— " We are not prepared to resile one inch from our decision in Allison. If a customer previously had his transport needs met by contract-A or C-licensing arrangements and now wishes to change his form of transport, he is perfectly entitled to do so and can quite properly support an application for an A licence with the traffic formerly carried by the other means."
So the back door to haulage is to remain open and no one can do anything about it.
Asking for Trouble
DUT the Tribunal's mind is nor closed on the question of
their power to make decisions and the president recently hinted that he would like to see it challenged in the High Court. He was referring to section 15(14) of the 1933 Act, which says: "The Tribunal shall have power to make such order as it thinks fit on an appeal and the decision of the Tribunal on an appeal shall be final and shall he binding on the Licensing Authority.**
Mr. Hull was considering the possibility of deciding in an appeal to make a suspended order to lie on the table for three months. The invitation to litigation fell on deaf ears, for 1 understand that counsel on both sides accepted the Tribunal's power. Having regard to the cost of High Court actions their decision was hardly surprising.
0.B.E. in the
CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. N. T. O'Reilly. chairman of the finance committee of the Road Haulage Association. on his award of the O.B.E. in the New Year Honours. His is one of the shrewdest brains in the R.H.A. and his speeches at the Association's annual conferences are always enlivening and pungent. He is an accountant by profession and became well known in haulage in 1947 when, as a sub-area secretary of the R.H.A.. he initiated a petition against nationalization. In 1951 he stood unsuccessfully as Conservative candidate for Carlisle. on whose city council he had served for some time. But Parliament's loss is the R.H.A.'s gain. Mr; O'Reilly is one of a handful of potential national chairmen.
First in the Field
I SUPPOSE it was inevitable that the first haulage company I to use an electric computer should be American. McLean Trading Co., Winston-Salem, N.C., .U.S.A., have the honour of doing so. They have ordered an IBM "Tape 650" data processing system, six of which were completed last year at the Greenock factory of IBM United Kingdom, Ltd. McLean's have more than 2,000 vehicles based at 44 points along the eastern seaboard and in the Middle West. The electronic brain will enable them to predict requirements for transport by various industries at the peak seasons, as well as calculating revenue and costs and doing a hundred-and-one
other statistical jobs. am told that the machine cars perform as many as 78,000 additions and subtractions a minute and will make decisions at the rate of 138,000 a minute.
It sounds to me as though Licensing Authorities are on the way out. It may not be long before hauliers submit their applications to Ernie.
Brothers in Arms
I AM glad to sec Mr. Frank Coyle, in the January issue of the Transport and General Workers Record, supporting operators by hammering at the Government for the remission of the fuel tax. He points out that if the duty were removed there would be three important results. (1) People would be encouraged to use public transport more, and danger and congestion on the road would be relieved. (2) Operators would not need to cut off-peak services, which would improve working conditions by reducing split duties and would alleviate the costly wastage of staff. (3) Fares might be stabilized. I hope the Union will continue in this vein if a Socialist Government is returned at the next election—assuming, of course, that the new Chancellor does not see the light before that unhappy day.
Home-made in Colour
ENCOURAGED by the success of its first film, "A Day in .1--4 the Country," which had 50 public showings in Lancashire Westmorland and Cumberland, the Ribble film unit is now making a second 30-minute film in colour of a Lakeland tour. The green duffle coats worn by its "stars "—Miss Shiela Young, secretary to Mr. A. Farish, Carlisle superintendent, and Miss Margaret Tears, from Carlisle inquiry office—give the new film its title.
In a B.B.C. broadcast last week the film industry was described as " boom or bust." This comment is capable of more than one interpretation, but Ribble Motor Services are entirely concerned with booming tours.
Not Today, Thank You
MOBODY wants to be a dustman. Glasgow Cleansing
14 Department's turnover of staff last year exceeded the total number employed. Of 2,856 who left. 888 stayed with the department for less than a week and 722 less than a month. The total staff was 2,800.
But there was one bright spot. The sale of salvage brought in £187,890.