How Road Dwarfs Rail in Goods Transport
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LATEST SURVEY REPORT SHOWS VARIETY AND EXTENT OF ROAD FREIGHT From our Political Correspondent COAL is king of the transport set-up \--• in Britain. It accounts for a fifth of total tonnage carried, and a quarter of total ton mileage travelled, by all forms of transport. In 1962 the amount of coal and coke transported exceeded 300m. tons. About 150m. tons were carried by road, about 145m, by the railways, and more than 20m. by coastal shipping.
This further evidence-if evidence were needed-of coal's major contribution to the economy was revealed this week, when the Ministry of Transport published Part 11 of its giant final report on the 1962 survey of road goods transport.
The figures show that, in terms of tonnage, coal, crude minerals mainly used in the building and construction industries, and foodstuffs are easily the main commodities transported in Britain. Together they share equally some threefifths of the entire total.
Way behind these giants trail the other big groups of commodities. Finished building materials account for 8 per cent , of tonnage (6 per cent of ton mileage), petroleum and its products 6 per cent of tonnage (11 per cent of ton mileage), and iron and steel products 3 per cerit of tonnage (5 per cent of ton mileage). After that, transport is fragmented among countless other commodities.
How does road -transport fare in the share it takes of all this business? In 1962 it had only about half of the giant coal trade, but it dominated the other heights, carrying 97 per cent of the 280m.ton foodstuffs trade, more than ninetenths of the crude materials for the construction industries, and the lion's share of finished building materials.
It did not have the same hold on the petroleum sector, where coastal shipping was well ahead, but it was ahead in the movement of iron and steel products, and was the main carrier of all other goods, with the exception of ores, scrap and lime.
The picture shows that road haulage directs its largest concerted effort towards serving the building industry, the feeding of the nation and the movement of coal from merchant to household. It dwarfs the railways in the total amounts carried and the distances covered.
Although there is specialization, particularly among B and Contract A vehicles, the road haulage industry has a significant hold on every sector in the wide range which it serves. Thus, the report concludes, " road transport is not
heavily dependent on any breach of economic activity ".
The report, which contains a small amount of information from the railways, shows that rail is almost entirely concerned with the long-distance carriage of fuel, crude materials and manufactured industrial materials. Coastal shipping, pipelines and inland waterways are primarily concerned with carrying fuel over long or medium distances.
Road haulage in the A and B sectors, carries industrial materials, foodstuffs and crude materials mainly, but is also important in the carriage of manufactured goods. C transport serves the distributive trades for food and fuel, and outside them is employed for carrying crude and finished building materials, food, and manufactured goods, mainly over short distances.
The report studies the fact that some goods can enter the transport pattern several times before they reach their destination.
Those which require • little transport I rom point of production or entry to the consumer include coal, crude minerals, ores, cereals, cement, oilseeds and live animals. Even so, many of these products need a second handling.
Materials like flour, animal foods, fertilizers, petroleum products and suchlike all require a second handling. Raw foodstuffs, timber, beverages, etc„ all require at
least three separate handlings, and might enter the transport picture several times before they are consumed.
Mixed Loads
'faking the various sectors of the road haulageindustry, the report says that, as might be expected, significant quantities of all types of goods are carried by Alicensed vehicles, so that no single commodityexcept perhaps iron anti steel products accounts for a sizeable share of all their work measured in ton-miles.
One feature Of Alicensed work is the number of mixed loads carried. Generally, foodstuffs, serni-finished products and manufactures tend to he more important than fuel and crude materials in this class of transport.
The tables show that the movement of live animals, oils and fats, fertilizers, textile fibres and wastes, chemical and plastics and furniture removals, as well as iron and steel products, are also important to A-licence trade.
In the case of Contract Aand B-licence work there is greater specialization on particular types of goods. Two commodities, coal and crude minerals, formed 27 per cent of the ton mileage and 40 per cent of total tonnage carried by Contract A vehicles in 1962, while in the case of B-licensed vehicles the shares were 45 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.
Thus both these categories are mainly engaged in the carriage of crude minerals for the construction and allied industries, fuel, and materials for building. But they are not alike in other respects. B vehicles_are commonly used for the carriage of live animals and dairy produce, whereas Contract A vehicles carry chemicals, iron and steel products and manufactures. Lime, however, is important to both.
The range of goods carried under C licences is vast and heavy, but only a few commodities account for more than five per cent of the total ton mileage. Generally speaking, food, building minerals and building materials are the most important goods carried in transport on own account. Dairy produce, beverages, petroleum and laundry mostly goes in these " C " vehicles. Taken in total, C licence vehicles carry the bulk of tonnages moved by road. Their share varies from about threequarters of all the foodstuffs carried and about 80 per cent of the petroleum products, down to about 40 per cent of the iron and steel products and fertilizers.
In terms of tonnage, C vehicles carried 59 per cent of the total carried by road during 1962. A and B had 17 per cent each, and contract A the remaining 7 per cent. In terms of ton mileage, however, the figures showed the expected difference. As C-licence hauls were shorter, their total fell to 49 per cent The A-licence share rose to 31 per cent, and Contract A and B had 10 per cent each.
According to the survey, 26 per cent of road freight is carried in spring, 25 per cent in summer, 25 per cent in autumn and 24 per cent in winter.
The figures in this latest survey give the broad comparison between road and rail. In 1962, it is estimated that road carried 1,248,000,000 tons of goods against rail's 231,400,000. In ton miles, road's figure was 33,617,000,000 and rairs 16,100,000,000.
NEW LORRY PARK TEES-SIDE'S first official municipal 1 lorry car park opened last week at Newport, nr. Middlesbrough. It accommodates nearly 150 vehicles and is surrounded by a high, wire fence. Lit up at night, it has a watchman on duty from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. and the charge is 6s. 6d. for 24 hours. Although no security man is there during the day, the park can still be used by drivers.