a Since our company's amalgamation
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with another larger firm we are now often required to phone in for instructions outside normal working hours. There is some dispute regarding what payment should be made for this. Can you comment?
ARoad Haulage Wages Council RH 88 reads as follows: paragraph 231 "If a worker during the period between two spells of duty is required to telephone for instructions he shall be paid the wages due for one hour. Provided that this provision shall not apply when the telephone call is made immediately following a spell of duty."
2. "On each subsequent occasion, during the same period between two spells of duty, on which the worker is required to telephone for instructions he shall be paid the wages due for 4 hours. Provided that if when telephoning on any such occasion the worker is instructed to commence work within one hour of so telephoning, he shall be paid for one hour instead of the said 4 hours."
3. "The payments to be made under subparagraphs (1) and (2) of this paragraph shall be at the rate normally applicable to the worker and shall be in addition to the weekly wages otherwise due to him."
QOne reads reports containing the
terms Passenger Transport Areas, Passenger Transport Authorities and Passenger Transport Executives. Can you please distinguish between the three in detail?
AThe designation of Passenger Transport
Areas is provided for in Part II of the Transport Act 1968. Passenger Transport Areas are areas, outside Greater London, designated by the Minister, which are considered expedient for the purpose of securing the provision of a properly integrated and efficient system of public passenger transport.
Before making an order: the Minister must consult affected local authorities, including those bordering the relevant area. All affected bus operators must also be consulted.
So far four schemes have been scheduled, Merseyside, West Midlands, Tyneside, and SELNEC (South East Lancashire, North East Cheshire). Passenger Transport Authorities are responsible for general policy decisions within the framework of the legislation, and consist of local government and Ministerial appointees.
Actual work of operating transport in the area will be vested in the Passenger Transport Executives, bodies corporate, consisting of a director-general and not less than two nor more than eight other members. The directorgeneral and members will be PTA appointees.
The PTEs are charged with several responsibilities including provision of interchange facilities for the purpose of enabling passengers travelling by one means of transport to continue their journey by another.
Both PTAs and PTEs must within 12 months or such longer period as the Minister may allow from date of establishment, prepare a general statement of policy, detailing agreements with the National Bus Company, financial position etc.
Railway co-ordination is part and parcel of proposals, and some local railway services will doubtless be subsidized in efforts to move commuter traffic from congested roads at peak hours.
I am considering purchasing a small haulage business, based 40 miles from London, consisting of four vehicles. The firm's A-licence capacity is 14 tons, with a normal user, "mainly agricultural produce". The traffic is largely fruit to Midland and Northern markets from August to April, with local work during the summer. In view of the new Transport Act, the value of the A licences would seem indeterminate. Also the vehicles will have to be replaced. May I have your general comments?
AAlthough it has never been legal for
carriers' licences to be sold, before the Transport Act was passed a few weeks ago some people were prepared to assess the value of an A licence at so much per ton unladen weight. In view of the details of the new licensing arrangements included in the Act, particularly those referring to 16-ton-gross operation, it would be rash to assume that existing licences have any goodwill value. Obviously one cannot ignore the goodwill aspect of a business, but until the new pattern of licensing has been in operation for a few years we would suggest an extremely conservative approach to payments for goodwill. As the present vehicles are life expired, and also the existing work is seasonal, purchase price should largely be governed by the value of physical assets: premises, etc.
Q/ have read that air is burnt during combustion in an engine. Surely it is the fuel that burns, not the air. Can you explain?
AA Air is a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen. while petrol and diesel fuels are hydrocarbons, a hydrocarbon being a combination of hydrogen and carbon. In the combustion process, the oxygen in the air separates from the nitrogen and unites chemically with the hydrogen to form water (H20) and carbon dioxide (CO2), while the nitrogen passes through the engine into the exhaust without combining with either the hydrogen or the carbon of the fuel.
The chemical reaction between the oxygen and the fuel releases the heat from which the power of the engine is derived. If there is insufficient air for the oxygen to combine with the carbon to form carbon dioxide, it "partially" burns to form carbon monoxide.
While only the oxygen of the air reacts with the fuel (burns) during the combustion process, it is normal to say that the air is burnt. Incidentally, carbon monoxide is dan gerous because it is incomplete. It may be said to be "looking for extra oxygen" to complete itself. And if it is inhaled by a human being or other animal, it extracts oxygen from the blood to form carbon dioxide. This can cause death.
Q What is the MAA ?
AMotor Agents Association.
Qr have tried, without success, to obtain books on vehicle bodybuilding. Do you know of any?
A Bodybuilding and Drawing by J. H. 0% Braithwaite is one, This is published by the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Associa tion, 13-14 Park Place. Leeds 1, and is extensively used for reference by students. Another is: Body Engineering by S. Page. published by Chapman and Hall.