Walker warns of NFA danger
Page 34
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
AFTER paying tribute to the Transport Holding Company as a sound business and commercial concern at a luncheon of the Transport Association on Tuesday, Mr. Peter Walker, Shadow Minister of Transport, said that the National Freight Authority would not be genuinely competitive and would undoubtedly buy out many hauliers after undermining their business by relentless undercutting. Hauliers should warn the public that rates would be increased after they had been bought out.
Referring to liner trains, Mr. Walker claimed that although Dr. Beeching's original concept of the services to be provided was praiseworthy, the exclusion of private hauliers from participation in the service gave British Rail and British Road Services a completely unfair advantage.
Before introducing the speaker, Mr. F. L. Jolly, the Association chairman, condemned the restrictive practice of C-licence operators of giving priority to their own vehicles at the expense of the haulier whose vehicles could thereby be kept waiting for long periods to load or unload. A demurrage system would eventually have to be introduced to cover waiting times.
After stating that the overall tax on vehicles had increased one third in the past year or two, Mr. Jolly made a plea for a system of licensing that would enable a refund to be obtained if a vehicle were immobilized for a substantial part of a month. The average tax paid on a vehicle was £250 a year.
In support of Mr. Walker's attack on the NFA, Mr. K. Beresford, immediate past chairman of the Association, said that Mrs. Castle was supporting a business that was intended to lose money. Hauliers had useful associations with the THC and liner trains were to here to stay. They were doing a wonderful job but there were many areas for which they could not provide a service.
P.A.C.B.