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Time for one voice

12th October 1973
Page 21
Page 21, 12th October 1973 — Time for one voice
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Keywords : Logistics, Transport

The Socialists want to nationalize, the Liberals want to paralyse and the Tories want to "de-juggernize". Road transport operators should now be in no doubt that they are in the sights of all three main political parties, and to judge from several major speeches this week transport men are beginning to realize that they must close ranks if they are to repel some of the more outrageous policies. At both local and national level, there is a crying need for a non-political but more "politically" conscious voice speaking for transport --and without partisan bias.

And this means operators, managers, engineers, trade associations, manufacturers and professional bodies: the new CT president rightly said this week that this 18,000-member body had been silent for too long on transport matters of national importance.

RHA chairman John Wells gave a lead this week when he attacked the buck-passing exemplified by the Canterbury hgv ban on A2 and invited "aggrieved" authorities to join the Association in its fight for adequate roads. Transport men can see better than some of the politicians who are paid to see — the serious troubles which lie ahead if plans are not made now to cope with the vast increase in goods movement which the economy will demand in the next few years.

To get this across to thbse in power, and more immediately to those who will put them there at the next General Election, needs a single powerful voice rather than a discordant chorus of individual themes. This is an issue on which there need be no disagreement between road and rail; the fact is, we shall need a great increase in total transport facilities — especially to compete on reasonable terms with Continental fellow-members of the EEC who operate on internal lines of communication. This "total transportation" approach is already being prompted in the USA by the railways and the American Trucking Associa tions one of whose executives suggested in London this week that a sure way to convince the doubters was to ask them to look at the expansion of the past 25 years and then visualize the growth i.) the next 25.

Tags

Organisations: EEC
People: John Wells
Locations: Canterbury, London

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