Round-table Talks by S.T.R.
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OITR costs expert, S.T.R., paid a visit to Bridgwater last week, and at the Malt Shovel Hotel in that town addressed a meeting of local members of the Western Area of Associated Road Operators.
Perhaps the words " addressed " and " meeting" are too stilted in their application to what .may be, in fact, niore tccurately described as a friendly gathering ofi. local hauliers, met together, partly to hear what S.T.R. had to say about costs of operation and fair rates for haulage, and partly to give a welcome to a representative of The Commercial Motor.
Instead of the usual formal arrangement of platform and rows of chairs, there were two large tables, around which those present sat. S.T.R., the chairman—Mr. J. 1'. Grimstead—the secretaries of the Bridgwater and Taunton Sub-areas, and the local organizer sat together, but only as part of the crowd at one of the two tables, . not apart, or in semi-state. This arrangement is good, for, whilst it does not in any way interfere with the rendering of the address, it does conduce to a discussion which is more general in character, being shared by a bigger proportion of the audience.
S.T.R. 's new scheme, too, of displaying typical figures for costs and charges on posters, was greatly appreciated. The meeting was a pronounced success, and the discussion was lively.
The lecturer's theme was given special point when the local hon. secretary, Mr. E. W. C. Saunders, said that some two or three years ago he himself had occasion to ask S.T.R.'s advice about a -proposed contract for haulage. Acting on it, he allowed the contract to go to a competitor who quoted a rate lower than that recommended as a minimum by S.T.R. That competitor had since been compelled to go out of business!