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01L-ENGI NED IN EIRE GOODS VEHICLES WITH reference to the

14th February 1947
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Keywords : Pram, Taxicab, Delivery, Bus, Dairy, Milk

concluding instalment of the " article on Eire's transport system, by Mr. A. F. Taylor, in your issue dated January 24, some of his statements are highly controversial, and I would like to see a reply by some mightier pen than mine on the question of the treatment of the lorry owners in these special scheduled areas.

I would like to • correct one statement. Mr. Taylor says that the '60 new A.E.C. Matadors, with a few exceptions, are the first oil-engined goads vehicles to be used in Eire. To mention only two users—S. and A. G. Davis, Ltd., of Enniscorthy, has been running Fodens for some years, whilst D. H. Haskins and Son, of Wicklow, have been operating a fleet of vehicles with Perkins PG. engines and now run a fleet of Thornycrofts.

There are approximately 12 Foden, 22 Dennis, 38 Thornycroft, to say nothing of numerous Leyland, Vulcan, Commer and Seddon oil-engined goods

carrying vehicles in Eire. W. F. POOLE (Jar.). Rathgar,

IRISH HAULIERS EXTENDED OPERATIONS

MIGHT I point out that in Mr. Ashley F. Taylor's 1" interesting article on :C.I.E. activities there is one rather sweeping statement? The majority of private hauliers operate, as stated, withip a radius of 15 to 20 miles of the bigger towns, but in a number of cases licences granted under the Road Transport Act of 1933 permit operations over several counties. There are still about 100 hauliers who can run anywhere in the Twenty-six Counties, and 14 of these are entitled to carry all types of general merchandise, the remainder being licensed under the Act for specified traffic such as livestock, household furniture and personal luggage, newspapers and periodicals, etc. As the writer says, transport in Eire is far from being a national monopoly.

IRISH TRANSPORT MAN.

WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS OF THE ELECTRIC PRAM?

TOUR article, "Delivering the Goods by Pram," in your issue dated January 17, presents the merits of this class of electric " vehicle " but does not mention its limitations.

It is obvious that for several -applications the pram may .prove economic, but there arc other factors to be taken into account before deciding upon the use of the pram merely because operating costs are low under present conditions. Before the war the production and utilization of the pram were almost negligible. Its increased use has been brought about by the trading restrictions, zoning and concentration of deliveries introduced compulsorily during the war. • With the gradual but inevitable easing of restrictions and rationing, tradesmen will need to extend their radius of operation far beyond that afforded by the pram, in order to compete for their customers and give the early delivery demanded.

With a literally door-to-door delivery the pram may well prove advantageous, for the roundsman with a van would be handicapped by having to be constantly driving a few yards or, alternatively, walking long distances. With easier trading conditions, however, there will be a return to the pre-war method of a large number of different tradesmen delivering in one area, and the deliveries will no longer be door-to-door. This applies particularly to the milk industry.

Considering the milk industry, at some future date a greatly increased quantity of milk will have to be delivered daily, together with other dairy produce. Before the war at least one large London dairy retailed from its milk vans, in addition to dairy produce, cakes, biscuits, jams, tinned fruits, tea and coffee—in fact, almost everything stocked by a dairy shop. It would not appear that the pram is very suitable for handling this class of business.

In many cases, due to its limitations of range and payload capacity, the pram has to be fed from other types of van, thus introducing additional complications and duplication of transport and service organization.

There is also the question of reducing the fatigue of the roundsman and providing weather protection. The recent strike by roundsmen of a big West Country dairy because they objected to the hardships of operating a pram illustrates this point.

It is well, therefore, to consider whether the pram will provide for future transport requirements, and it may be found that as a long-term policy it will be advantageous to invest in standard types of electric or petrol vans. D. SWATTON. London, N.W.6.

A PROBLEM IN VEHICLE LICENSING AND FUEL

IN our fleet of taxicabs and private-hire cars there is a lvehicle which we want to employ for private purposes in connection-with our business, abd to enable us to do this legally we taxed it on the horse-power basis, so that we can employ it both for these purposes and as a hackney carriage. This procedure, however, does not seem to satisfy our divisional petroleum officer. His contention is that in cases of this sort a reduction must be made in the supplementary allocation of fuel for private-hire purposes, pro rata to the basic ration.

This means that whilst paying an additional £5 for the licence, we are expected to give up a considerable quantity of petrol per annum, thus incurring a penalty which is contrary to our conception of justice. B.C. Bury St. Edmunds.

[Your suggestion appears to be that you should be able to use your hire car for private purposes, whilst retaining the fuel allowance.as if it were employed for its whole time as a hire car. We cannot, in all fairness, agree with. this view, because it would be unjust to those people who have to adhere to the basic ration when they use their cars solely for private purposes, although you probably know that others employing such cars for business and essential duties can receive "E " coupons. It might, therefore, be possible for you to claim for such essential coupons if your car be used for other than private purposes, although not during that time on hire work. This would, however, complicate the position, as it might be difficult for you to prove the appropriate use for the two purposes.—Ea.)

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