More Road Haulage Vehicles in Scotland
Page 42
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE number of vehicles owned by independent road hauliers in Scotland went up by 2,525 last year, to
• 100,637, but those run by the British Transport Commission dropped by 74 to 2,584.
Giving these figures in its annual review of industry and employment, published last week, the Scottish Home Department said that the number of goods vehicles authorized under carriers' licences issued in Scotland increased from 100,800 at the end of 1959, to 103,200 at the end of 1960.
It pointed out that this was not to be • regarded as the number operating in Scotland, because C licences might be obtained by firms in the regions where their headquarters were situated.
The demand for ,road transport has been fully maintained and in some directions has shown expansion, particularly in connection with the major construction works now in progress," says the report. In a review of tourism during the year, the Home Department noted that there was a reduction in bus and coach passengers, and this, together with the reduction in rail passengers entering Scotland, supported the belief that more visitors entered and toured the country by car in preference to using public transport or coaches.
During the financial years 1960-61, 1,753 notices of the movement of abnormal indivisible loads were received and examined. In 377 cases amendments were made to the routes, and altogether 735 routes were issued to hauliers.
A census of road traffic carried out during a week of last August revealed that goods traffic accounted for about 25 per cent. of the total on weekdays, while on Sundays over 80 per cent. of the total traffic was by private car, and over 90 per cent, by the various classes of passenger vehicles.
Between 1954 and 1960, goods vehicle travel increased by 43 per cent., while the increase from 1959 to 1960 was 7 per cent.