Out to kill private haulage
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"I AM sure that the Minister's proposals have the sole object of eliminating substantial elements of the private sector of the professional road haulage industry". This view of Mrs. Castle's plans for quantity licensing was put to the Sussex section of the Institute of Transport in Brighton on Monday by Mr. Noel Wynn, a national vice-chairman of the RHA.
Mr. Wynn, presenting a paper on the future of private road haulage, said that transfer of freight to the railways, denial of choice to the trader and the creation of a free-for-all among what was left in road transport would reduce the efficiency of private haulage and effectively destroy it. Rates would be depressed, standards lowered and eventually reputable hauliers would be forced out of business, he thought. the private sector of haulage should be allowed to survive, said Mr. Wynn, if only to act as a spur to the railways—which had consistently failed to match promise with performance.
Mr. Wynn thought long-distance operators would not wait until "the appointed day" and then fade quietly from the scene. Investment in haulage would be restricted, so that possibly more traffic would be thrown on to the railways than they could cope with.