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NEWS of the WEEK

12th May 1939, Page 26
12th May 1939
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SEPARATE COMMERCIAL SHOW IN PARIS THIS YEAR.

FOR a number of years past the 1. Paris commercial-vehicle show has been combined with the annual private-car salon and this combination has not been altogether a happy one for the " heavy brigade." Manufacturers have now asked for a separate show again and next autumn will see a welcome return to the old idea. The car show will be held from October 5 tc 15, and the industrial salon from October 21 to 31.

One of the most striking features of the latter will probably be exhibits indicating the great progress made of late, in France, in the improvement and popularization of gas-producers. According to statistics just issued by the French Office Nationale des Carburants, there are nearly 8,000 gasdriven vehicles now in circulation. Army lorries and tractors make up by far the greater proportion of this total.

R.I.A. Calls for Accelerated Road Works.

WiESPREAD efforts to accelerate tt output of agreed road-improvement works are being made by the Roads Improvement Association, the 52nd annual report of which has just been issued. Road schemes, totalling over £104,000,000 (towards which the Road Fund is committed to provide over £65,000,000) have been approved by the Ministry of Transport, under the five-year road programme promised by the Government in 1935, but the volume actually carried out during the past four years is very small—due. primarily, to the insufficient resources of the Road Fund. The routine which

s24 has to be followed before approved schemes can be started has also restricted output, but the Association reports an improvement in this respect.

The necessary preliminaries have now been completed for a sufficient number of urgent schemes to permit work being commenced as rapidly as money is made available. Progress now depends upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Association approached him early in the year to urge that an additional £10,000,000 should be allocated to the Road Fund in the Budget of 1939-40. These efforts were partially successful, and the Fund is to have an additional £2,000,000 during the ensuing year.

Damaged-road Appeal Succeeds.

• IN a King's Bench Divisional Court, Ion Tuesday, John William Tunni

cliffe. lorry driver, successfully appealed against a decision of magistrates at Newton-le-Willows (Lancashire), on January 26, ordering him to pay £20 19s. which had been expended on the repair of the highway at Haydock. The driver had been sued by Mr. Roger Pickup, of Maghull, for the highway authority, the case being that Tunnicliffe's lorry, with its load of cotton, caught fire and damaged the surface of the road. No negligence or wilful act was alleged and the driver claimed that the onus was on the prosecutor to prove that the damage arose from a wilful act. The magistrates, however, held that no such onus was on Mr. Pickup and made the order.

Counsel contended, on Tunnicliffe's behalf, that there was no evidence to show that he caused the damage and Lord Hewart remarked that the driver was quite innocent. ALNESS REPORT NOT TO BE PIGEON-HOLED.

DURING a debate on the Lords' Accident Report, which is dealt with on our Parliamentary page, serious criticisms were levelled at the Ministry of Transport. This Department, however, was defended by Earl De La Warr, who replied for the Government.

He opened by saying that few of their Lordships seemed to like the Ministry of Transport. They should, however, take comfort from the fact that, whereas in 1930 one person was killed for every 350 vehicles, to-day it was one person for every 460 vehicles, a decrease of very nearly 33 per cent.

With regard to the alleged inadequacy of the road system, during the past 20 years no less than £1,000,000,000 had been spent on improvements. He defended the Ministry against the charge of neglect of trunk roads since they had been taken over. He testified to the progress that had been made in the instruction of children and the encouraging figures with regard to accidents among children, and said that already the Government had not been inactive in respect of a number of recommendations by the Committee.

That relating to a road-safety research board merited careful consideration, as did the autobahnen proposal.

Referring to the Lancashire experiment, he said it was to be continued to September. From then local authorities would receive a 50 per cent. grant on their expenditure.

The report was receiving the serious consideration of the Minister and the fear that it was going to find its way into a pigeon-hole from which it would not appear was unfounded. The motion was agreed to. '

POSITION OF RETAILERS' VEHICLES IN WARTIME.

r_ROI7PING of small commercial

l'ans, to facilitate organization in case of a national emergency, has left many retailers in a quandary. Many who do not own commercial vans do own pri% ate cars, and to elucidate the position as to whether private cars can be used for business purposes during wartime, the National Federation of Credit Traders is to interview the Ministry of Transport.

Cattle Should Not Walk, Says Mr. Riches.

WIEN Mr. Henry Riches, Northern Scotland Licensing Authority, at Elgin last week, granted Mr. William Laing, haulier, Grantown, permission to vary his licence so that he might carry li.estock from farms in the area to the two railway stations at Grantown, working within a radius of 1.5 miles from Grantown, he remarked that it was not safe to walk cattle and sheep on the roads in the late evening or early morning. He felt it was reasonable for hauliers to ask for extra vehicles.

New Government Plan Creates Demand for Tractors.

1-INE of,the immediate results ofthe Ministry of Agriculture' S plansfor increasing the fertility of the land has been a keen demand for tractors and power-driven implements. It is recognized that the ploughing of 250,000 acres of pasture and rough grazings that may be involved can only he successfully accomplished, even under peacetime conditions, by the use of tractors.

The Ford Motor Co., •Ltd., Dagenham, is benefiting from this demand, and it is interesting to recall that, in 1917, at the height of the German submarine campaign, the Ford organization, in response to an urgent appeal from the War Cabinet, produced 5,000 Ford son tractop in less than three months.

Standard For Braking Efficiency " Ridiculous "?

TI I AT the standard of efficiency was ridiculous and there was no case to a use et was the submission of the defence, at Thingoe Petty• Sessions, Bury St. Edmund's, when Mr. John Wyatt. haulage contractor, Diss, was summoned for using a lorry with the braking system not in good and efficient working order. The brakes had been tested by a " decelerometer."

The prosecution said that the instrument showed the lorry to travel 80 ft. from 20 m.p.h. with the foot brake on fan eft) ieney of 16 per cent.), whereas, when the distance was measured, it was found to be 96 ft., which meant that the instrument showed a time lag, in favour of the vehicle, of 16 ft. The hand brake failed to. register. In submitting that there was no case to answer, the defence described the instrument as having neither authority nor certificate. It was stated that the

lorry and the load of about 5,000 bricks weighed about 14 tons, and that its length was about 30 ft. To reach the necessary 50 per cent. standard of efficiency for four-wheel brakes, the lorry was required to pull up in 20.8 ft.—less than its own length, and at the same scale as would be adopted for a much smaller vehicle. A tine of £5 was imposed, and recognizances, in the event of an appeal, were fixed at £30.

Britain's Sales in New Zealand.

RETI-RaiS lately to hand show that 6,030 new commercial . vehicles were sold in New Zealand during last year, 01 the total, 1,460 (or 24.2 per cent.) were British, the remainder being American or Canadian: Of the Brit•ish vehicles, Eedfords led with 944, followed by Morris and MorrisCommercial with 300 and then Leyland with 74.

Karrier's Municipal, Popularity. ,

NOT long ago Karrier Motors, Ltd., Luton, reported that over 500 municipal authorities were operating different types of vehicle and appliance from its municipal range. We now learn that the figure is approaching the 600 mark, and the large number of repeat orders which the company is receiviiig points to the success • which Karrier products are achieving in the municipal field.

LORRY DRIVER FINED FOR SLOW DRIVING.

BECAUSE he was "ambling " through the Mersey Tunnel at 15 m.p.h., instead of at least 20 m.p.h., Gwylym Roberts, Madeira Hill, Wrexham, a lorry driver, was fined El at Birkenhead Police Court, last Friday. The offence consisted in the lorry travelling on the fast lane at less than the minimum speed. Mr. H. A. Fry, prosecuting for the Mersey Tunnel Joint Committee, said that hundreds of complaints had been received of lorries going slow in the fast lanes and the committee had at last decided to

take action. •

" It is better that I was travelling slow than fast," said defendant when he-was pulled up.

To Distribute Hardy Spicer Products.

WE learn that Edmunds, Walker and

Co., Ltd., Edwalaco House, The Broadway, West Hendon, London, N.W.9, has been appointed a service distributor for Hardy Spicer needlebearing universal joints and flexible couplings. Stocks are now available at all the company's branches (London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol, Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, etc.), and traders will be able to rely on prompt satisfaction of their requirements.

NEW FORD TRACTOR.

FROM America, it is announced that the Ford Motor Co. is to begin the immediate manufacture, on a massproduction basis, of a new farm tractor incorporating the principle invented by Mr. Harry Ferguson, of Belfast, Ireland, Many of our readers will know that this principle embodies an hydraulic lift, which maintains the plough or other implement at a constant level, as it is drawn forward by the tractor.

New Pirelli Depot in Jersey.

SO as to give improved service facilities in meeting the demand for its tyres in the Channel Islands: Pirelli, Ltd., of Burton-on-Trent, announces the opening of a new depot at Devonshire Lane, Jersey.

Mr. S. J. Le Boutillier, a native of Jersey, who has had long experience in the motor and tyre industries, is in charge of the depot, under the supervision of Mr. S. G. Wood, manager of the company's Southampton branch. A comprehensive stock of Pirelli covers and tubes for commercial vehicles is being maintained.

Return-load Hauliers Criticized. -

WHEN. Young's Express Deliveries, W Ltd., Glasgaw, applied on Monday to the Southern Scotland Licensing Authority, sitting at Edinburgh, for power to add 15 vehicles to its fleet, representing a total tonnage of 744, Mr. Robert L. Young, general manager, criticized those hauliers who carried customers' goods in one direction and then dependea on clearing houses supplying them with a return load.

This bulk traffic," he said, "is passing between Glasgow and towns in England at as cheap a rate as 15s. per ton. This cut-throat competition does not exist in the parcels traffic, because carriers generally are not able to handle the traffic, having no facilities at either end for collection or delivery. The only flaw, in our otherwise unassailable position, is a shortage of vehicles."

Objections to the application were lodged by the London, Midland and Scottish and London and NorthEastern railway companies and the hearing was adjourned.

Glas gow, was fined 10s., with the option of---seven days' imprisonment, at Clydebank (Dumbartonshire) Police Court on a charge of failing to produce and keep a record of his working hours. Accused at first tendered a plea of not guilty, but when the ProcuratorFiscal, Mr. G. J. Miller, asked for the case to be adjourned for a week, Mongay said he would plead guilty, as he could not bring witnesses without paralysing the business,

e26 Mr. Miller said that when stopped by the police and asked to produce his logsheet, accused could not do so. The explanation given was that the logsheet had been left in the pocket of his dungarees which had been sent to the laundry. Later in the day, however, accused approached the police and said that he had found the log-sheet in the lining of his cap, and it was entered up to date.

The inference, said the Fiscal, was that accused had the log-sheet in his possession when challenged by the police, and had later taken the opportunity to remedy the lack of entries. Accused's statement was that he had been upset at being stopped by the police, and in throwing' his cap off angrily, as he drove off, he saw the logsheet sticking inside the lining !

aVhen Bailie Waterson imposed the fine with the option of seven days' imprisonment, accused said he could not pay and would serve the sentence, A.R.O. Record Luncheon.

nVER 900 people will attend the %-/A.R.O. luncheon on Monday next at Grosvenor House. This represents an increase of more than 100 over last year's figure. The guests will number 260, and include 80 M.P.s and five Traffic Commissioners,

Death of H.F.

WLlearn with regret of the death Mr. H. Newton, secretary to the joint concerns of Ernest Lake, Ltd.. and Harvey. Frost and Co., Ltd. Ile had been associated with the Bishop's Stortford enterprise of Mr. Ernest Lake since 1923.

Stockton Ring Road to be Completpd.

QTOCKTON ring road, parts of a-) which were built some years ago, is to be completed at an estimated cost of £181,000, towards which grants are being made from the Road Fund. The new road is on the west side of Stockton and will enable traffic between Doncaster and Sunderland to avoid the existing narrow and tortuous road through the centre of the town. The ring mad will be over 3i miles long and will include dual carriageways, cycle tracks and footpaths.

A Tyre that Cost Over g77.

IN these days of high mileages and I ow-priced tyres it may, to some people, appear somewhat surprising to hear that a tyre for commercial use can cost nearly £80. The tyre service department of Car Mart, Ltd., at Welsh Harp, London, N.W., has recently supplied Howard Farrow, Ltd., the contracting concern, with an 18.00-24 16-ply Firestone cover for use on a Tournier scraper, and the tyre, which is over 5 ft. in height, cost £72 2s., the tube for it costing £5 7s. 6d. PERSONAL PARS.

Ms. P. TURNER has been appointed service manager of Leyland Motors, Ltd., and he will have as his assistant MR. T. R. Nicsroiss, from the South of England service depot.

It was announced at the luncheon of the London and Home Counties Haulage Contractors Association that MR. R. P. BAILEY, the secretary for over 20 years, would retire in a few months. His successor will be the present assistant secretary, Mr. G. W. QUICK SMITH, F.C.I.S.

MR. WILLIAM YOUNG, of Messrs. Young Windows, Wishaw, recently ielt for New York, where he intends to arrange for an increase in the production of the American factory, in order to cope with the increasing demand ler the company's products in the U.S.A. On the return journey he will be visiting Canada, and he expects to be back in this 'country towards the end of June.

MR. J. PICKLES, works manager 'at the headquarters factory of Leyland Motors, Ltd.; has resigned for reasous of health. He has had a long association with the company and, prior to his appointment as works manager in 1936, held the position of assistant works manager for a number of years. During his 26 years with the Leyland organization he held several appointments connected with the progress section of the production departments.

MR. G. Fixes', service manager of Leyland Motors, Ltd., has been appointed works manager of the company. He was formerly at the Kingston branch of the Leyland organization, being transferred to the headquarters factory in 1928 to take up the appointment of progress superintendent—a position which he held until he became service manager in 1931.

Holdsworth and Hanson to Answer Appeal.

ON May 16-18, and, if necessary, May 19, at 10.30 a.m., the Appeal Tribunal will hear the appeal of the London and North-Eastern Railway Co. against the grant of an A-licence variation to Holdsworth and Hanson (Leeds), Ltd. (trading as Messrs. Grimshaw and Evans, 34, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, 2). The grant was made by the Yorkshire Licensing Authority and the appeal will be heard at the Assize Court, York.

Buyers' Guide to Goods Chassis. IN our Buyers' Guide to Goods I Chassis, published in OUT issue dated May 5, the chassis weight of the Sentinel H.S.G. model •A5Y4 was given as 57.75 cwt. The correct weight is 47.75 cwt. SAFETY RECORDS OF BREWERYLORRY DRIVERS.

LAST Saturday, when 52 commercialvehicle drivers employed by Steward and Patteson, Ltd., the wellknown Norwich brewery contern, received National " Safety First " awards, there were 21 recipients of gold medals for 10 years' driving without responsibility for mishap. The presentations were made by Mr. Charles Finch, chairman of the directors, in the company's imposing new garage in Ea track Street.

Mr. Finch mentioned that the company had been affiliated to the National " Safety First " Association for 10 years, and looked upon it as an excellent institution, tending not only to make drivers careful but to make them proud of good records.

'The company's fleet consists largely of Thornyeroft vehicles, the .ages of which range from a few months to '23 years, the latter comprising three 4-ton lorries which have been in continuous service since 1916. Some of the concern's latest Trusty and Sturdy vehicles of this make are shown in an accompanying picture.

Shipping Guide For Hauliers.

THE following is the number of ships arriving at the London docks, wharves and jetties named. from May 12 to 20 inclusive:—aDocKs: King George. V. 6; Royal Albert, 12; Royal Victoria, 6; Surrey Commercial, 9; East India, 1; West India, 4; South-West 'India, 2; Tilbury, 11; Tilbury Stage, 3; MillwaLl, 6; London, 1._ WitaRvEs: Hayes, 11; Butler's, 2: Royal Canal, I.

Fordeon Fleet on Tour.

DUR1NG the summer a fleet of FordL./son and Thames commercial vehicles will tour England. . The convoy will consist of eight special-type vehicles, ranging Irom the Utilecon conversion of the Fordson 5-cwt. van to a furniture van based on a Thames 3-ton chassis. The Utilecon is of metal construction and can he converted from a van to a roomy four-seater ,car, and

vice versa, in 80 seconds. On the 10-cwt. chassis are two special bodies-a builders truck with drop sides and a ISO cubic ft. laundry van. Next comes Ihe Fordson 15-cwt van, which is available with a four or an eightcylindered engine.

In the Thames range (forward-control vehicles of 25-cwt. capacity and over) there are two van bodies—one of 210 cubic ft. on the 25-cwt. chassis and the other of $40 cubic ft, on the 2-ton chassis. Based on the Thames 3-ton chassis is a 1,000 cubic ft. furniture van and a hydraulic tipper with a 4 cubic val. all-steel body and Anthony 7-in. hoist.

Shall We Have " Fizz'" Fuel?

AccunDin..to our French contemporary, Poids Lourd, a scientist in Maud has succeeded in " brightening up the ideas " of commercial alcohol to such an extent that it behaves lihe No. .1 petrol when

vaporized Professor Kling, director of the Warsaw Institute of Chemistry, obtains this result by dissolving gas (of a noLuir unstated) at a considerable pressure in the commercial alcohol. The cost of such fuel is far lower than that of second-grade petrol and it is stated that the FOlish Government has now talani an active interest.

There is usually some snag in these new f UCIS, however, and this fuel, which Professor Kling has baptized

" seems • no exception. A " sparkling fuel like this calls for strong, hermetic tanks, also, one would imagine, for alterations in the, supply system, between tank and carburetter.

A.E.C.s for Highland Show. • VON the first time the Associated 1Equipment Co., Ltd., is participating in the Highland and Agricultural Show and, at this year's event, which takes plae(, at Edinburgh from June 20-23, the company intends to show three representative oil-engined goods vehicles. These be a Mammoth Major eight-wheeler, a Mammoth Minor six-wheeler and a Monarch fourwheelet, A Weight-saving Body.

WIT it an article in our issue for last neck, en titled " Weight Saving Puts Money in the Operator's Pocket," we published a picture of a Commer iLN.5 hydraulic tipper, in which a spec al it re i niuntLalloy underframe was ustql. It should have been stated that the hody and cab of this vehicle were manufactured by Wilsdon and Co., the commercial bodybuilding concern, of Park Road, Solihull.

MUST BE CARRIED BY ROAD, SAYS RAILWAY.

LAST week, at Elgin, Mr. Hector Burnett asked for a variation of an existing B licence for a 2-ton lorry, to enable him to carry, among other goods, sleepers and railway-truck bottoming, within a radius of 35 miles from Dalcross. He Stated that the wood was for the London and NorthEastern Railway Co., which insisted that it had to be carried by rciad to Elgin, which was the terminus of the railway. There was a London, Midland and Scottish station at Dalcross..

Mr. Riches (Northern Scotland Licensing Authority) said: " So the L.N.E.R. do not patronize the L.M.S., but insist, instead, on the wood being carried to its own particular station by road, Perhaps it is that the cost of transport is cheaper by road than by rail,"

Questioned by Mr. Dalrneyer (for the L.N.E.R.), applicant. said he did not

know definitely the conditions of the contract which the 'wood merchants, for 'whom he carried, had with the company. Mr. Riches granted a variation.

More New Vehicles in Eire.

STATISTICS for March show a substantial increase in the number of new commercial vehicles registered in Eire, as compared with the same month last year. Although the number of goods vehicles fell from 133 to 101, the total of all commercial vehicles increased from 169 to 179, The most popular makes last March were as follow :—Fordson (86), Bedford (21), Leyland (20), Morris (11) and Dodge (8).

Checks on Weight in Northumberland.

DURING the past quarter 78 vehicles were examined and weighed by Northumberland County Council, and 10 were overloaded. Two cautions were issued and three prosecutions taken; 210 vehicles were re-weighed for checking purposes and 65 found to be in excess.

New Fisher-Renwick Transport Depot.

11' is learnt that Fisher Renwick Manchester-London Steamers, Ltd., is to erect a road-transport depot, offices and showroom, at premises in Chester Road, Stretford.

HAULAGE ASSOCIATION'S JUBILEE LUNCHEON.

THE jubilee luncheon of the London and Home Counties Haulage Contractors Associationtook place on Tuesday. The chairman was Mr. J. H. Turner, O. B.E. , M. Inst .T. , president.

Mr. E. Brown, M.G., Minister of Labour, congratulated the Association on its jubilee. He referred to the power of the organizations on each side, i.e., employers and employees, as leading to mutual respect, but he called for a single association.

Mr. Turner complained of the 35year-old Order referring to back-axle weights, and said that it was not intended that this should be handed on to posterity.

Mr. James Paterson, M.C., gave the toast of the vests, responses being made by Lord Stamp and Mr. Ernest Bevin. We refer to the remarks of the former in an Editorial.

Mr. Bevin said that the Association was one of those which had tried to do something. Parliament was not unkind to the industry. The licensing scheme had improved the value of businesses, and there was now legal protection for constructive effort. No drivers in the world were more cautious, polite, skilled and of greater integrity than those on the commercial side here.

Major Crawfurd at "600" Vehicle Inspection.

THE advancement of road transport. upon which, in the long run, must depend the movement of men and goods, was promoted by those operators who organized schemes to encourage their employees in maintaining vehicle fitness. So said, in effect, Major Crawfurd, President of Assodated Road Operators, last Saturday, during the annual vehicle inspection and distribution of awards, held at its Wood Lane (London) depot, by George Cohen, Sons and Co., Ltd., at which he was chief guest.

There was no other country in the world, he continued, where men maintained and tended their machines so well as in this country, and he hoped. that events such as this might, ultimately, lead to a nation-wide rodeo such as the truck rodeo held in America, for which entries were received from all the United States.

Concluding, he remarked that Tennyson must have had the George Cohen fleet in mind when he wrote, " Scammell to right of them, Albion to left of them, Commer in front of them fired and thundered; stormed at by Pratts and Shell, boldly they drove and well, noble 600! "

During the past 12 months, the fleet of the George Cohen concern and its associated companies has materially increased in magnitude, and there were paraded on Saturday no fewer than 60 o2S vehicles of some 10 different makes.

Judging, as in the past, was done by Mr. Pollitzer, of Messrs. Beck and Pollitzer, and the winners of the first, second and two third prizes, respectively, were two Albions, a Beardmore and a Fordson. Mrs. Felix Levy presented the awards, together with eight consolation prizes and 73 National " Safety First" medals and certificates. SPECIAL BADGE FOR GROUPED VEHICLES.

AS a means for identifying the owners of goods vehicles who have joined the Groups under the National Defence Transport Scheme, . the Minister of Transport has approved the design and issue of a special badge, of which we give an illustration. The badge measures 6 ins. by 4 ins., and is suitable for display on vehicles or shop windows.

An initial supply is being distributed immediately to Group Organizer's by the Traffic Commissioners. Further copies can be readily obtained.

We are informed by the Westinghouse Brake and Signal Co., Ltd., 82, York Way, King's Cross, London, N.1, that the address of its Northern representative for metal rectifiers, Mr. W. E. Wilkins, B.Sc., A.M.I.E.E., will, in future, be Agden Lame Farm, Agden, Lyrnm, Warrington..

MERSEY TUNNEL AND HEIGHT OF LOADS.

The question of electric ray and signalling arrangements at the Mersey Tunnel entrance has been engaging the attention of the Liverpool and North Wales Divisional Committee of the C.M.U.A. The maximum permissible height for loads in the tunnel, in ordinary circumstances, is 13 ft. 6 ins., and when a vehicle in excess of that height passes a certain point an electric ray is broken, which causes a bell to ring and, at the same time, a signal is brought into operation. As the result of a recent prosecution, in which a driver employed by a member was involved, it seems that some alteration in the present system may be desirable.

Sad Lack of Road Progress.

According to the Road Fund Report for 1937-1938, there are only 274 miles of dual carriagewayson M.O.T. trunk roads and only 189 miles of such carriageways in the whole country. There are still over 9,000 levelcrossings in Great Britain and approximately 200 level-crossings in Greater London alone. At the present rate of progress it will take over 200 years to eliminate these danger spots.

Such observations were contained in £30 a speech given by Mr. Gaston Vincent, of the B.R.F., at the luncheon of the National Hardware Association on Wednesday.

Traffic, he pointed out, had doubled since 1930 and at the present rate of growth would again be doubled within the next 15 years. Yet since 1910 new road construction had amounted to less than 24 per cent.

Another "Freedom of Choice" Resolution.

Following an address by a B.R.F. representative, the Margate Ind Birchington Chambers of Commerce have passed the following resolution:— That this Chamber of Commerce considers that if the railway ratesrestrictions are to be removed, then, in order that the most efficient and economic transport service may be available for the trader, the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933, should simultaneously be amended ,so that renewal of A and B licences may be granted automatically to those licensees who have complied with conditions.

This Chamber considers that:—(a) The road haulier should be given greater security of tenure, and (b) the trader should be given the choice of the means for transport he prefers. WHEN OWNERS SUFFER FOR DRIVERS' OFFENCES.

" Our submission is that if an owner can show that he has exercised diligence in seeing that his drivers comply with regulations, by examining sheets at the termination of the day's work, it should be deemed sufficient,declared Mr. L. H. Fearis in moving a resolution regarding the Goods Vehicles (Keeping of Records) Regulations at the quarterly conference of the National Federation of Grocers and Provision Dealers' Associations, hell at Gloucester recently.

Mr. Herman Kent, secretary of the Federation, said they realized from the Licensing Authorities' reports how necessary those logs were, but it was the contention of the Federation that the real offenders should be brought before the courts and punished. A resolution calling upon the Fcleration to take appropriate action was referred to the Federation Parliamentary Committee.

Waiting Regulations—Complaint of Unfairness.

The B.R.F. and the Motor Legislation Committee have once again pointed out that the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee, which haelbeen selected by the Ministry of Transport, to hear evidence on the proposed London Traffic Waiting Regulations, cannot be an impartial body. For the past 12 years this committee has been urging the Minister to bring regulations of this kind into force and it must, therefore. be prejudiced.

Wage Laws Should be Universal.

Speaking at the fourth annual dinner of the Cambridge Sub-area of A.R.O. at Cambridge, Mr. R. W. Sewill said. in respect of wages, that C-licence holders should pay the same wages as hauliers, or wages that were fair and governed by some union or board. Representatives of the Licensing Authority, the railways, the Cambridge Bench and the National Farmers' Union, also the Chief Constable of Cambridge, were among those present as guests. UNJUST CRITICISM OF GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT.

Taking the chair at an A.R.O. meeting at New Cross last week, Mr. McDowall apologized for the absence of Mr. Sewill, who was working on the wages question, but had asked Mr. Kinder to come in his place.

Mr. Kinder said that so far as the Association was concerned, when the railway companies launched their " square deal " campaign, it could have assumed an attitude of complete indifference, in view of their previous behaviour-but it did not do this. Instead, it took the, more sensible view, and agreed to sit down quietly with some of the railway representatives, and come to some agreement whereby road and rail could work amicably together. The time had come when the railways must be brought into any solution of the rates problem.

This agreement had brought a great deal of criticism, *perhaps in some measure justified, but the greatest criticism was of the " gentleman's agreement " with the railways. It was thought by some people that the rail ways should have honoured this agreement immediately a definite understanding was reached. Instead, they said that this would come into force so soon as the Bill *as ratified by Parliament.

Road Model at Safety First Congress.

The 13.R.P_ has been invited to exhibit its large working model of a modern road system at the National Safety First Congress at Caxton Hall from Weclnesday, May 17-Friday, May 19. The model will be on view in the Grand Hall, and a representative of the Federation will be in attendance to answer any questions raised.

As there will be representatives of every class of road user at this congress, it will be particularly interesting to note the reactions of those who are dubious of the views of the Alness Report on the Prevention of Road Accidents that if" road defects were removed there would, in the opinion of the Committee, be a substantial reduction in the number of accidents," and, further, that "the present road system is inadequate and out of date."

LIVERPOOL C.M.U.A. LICENSING SCHEME.

Liverpool District and North Wales Division of the C.M.U.A. has adopted a revised rate of subscription for membership of the goods-vehicle licensing scheme. The subscription for the period within which the member's A or B licence falls due for regrant will remain as before-namely, 22 2s. for the first vehicle, plus 7s. 6d. for each additional vehicle and/or trailer proposed to be specified on the licence.

With regard to the subsequent currency-period of a licence, however (e.g., the rssmaining three years of a four-year licence or the remaining four years of a five-year licence, according to the currency period of the licence granted), the annual subscription to the scheme shall be at the reduced rate of £1 is. for the first vehicle, plus 3s. 9d. for each additional vehicle and/or trailer specified or sought to be specified in the licence.

The maximum subscription payable is 214 14s, per licence, for the year in which the application is made, and 2.9 9s. in subsequent years.

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