Road Haulage Scheme Questioned
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DOES the agreement that joint working should exist between the M.o.W.T. and the haulage industry still obtain? Has any canvassing been brought to the Department's notice or is it Permitted? Have any instructions been issued to regional officers to the effect that they should seek other than Government traffic? These three questions were asked in the House last week.
Mr. Noel-Baker replied, saying that the arrangements made with the road haulage industry were still in force. It had always *been recognized, both by the Ministry and the industry, that, in order to balance loadings and so to avoid wasteful running, vehicles chartered by the Ministry must carry some commercial traffic. This had hitherto amounted to a very small percentage of the traffic handled under the scheme. The hauliers who carried for the Pool were free to obtain traffic without restriction from any sources open to them.
He was then questioned about the cost per ton carried, to the latest available date, about the administrative expenses of the fleet of loadcarrying vehicles chartered by his • Department in connection with the road haulage scheme, and about how this cost compared with similar expenses of the trade pools in various parts of the country.
The Parliamentary Secretary indicated that the approximate cost of ti e scheme, together with its apportionment between the two sides of the organization, was in course of ascertainment. He added that any such comparison as was asked for was complicated by the joint nature of the organization and by the fact that the Government paid the administrative expenses of the Hauliers' National Traffic Pool. _