CENTRALIZED MUNICIPAL TRANSPORT.
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Varied Qualifications Required by a Transport Department Manager.
IN the organization of a municipal transport department many difficulties have to be faced, and, although the central transport department provides opportunities for valuable economies to be exercised to the advantage of the ratepayers, the position bf transport manager is no sinecure. The position demands a man of many parts, anti the difficulty has been that there have been no men trained in the school of experience to fill this position exactly. The job is a new one, and men have had to be found to combine a number of qualifications similar to those of a number of other departments, but combined in none.
It was only with the coming of the Motor vehicle that a central transport department was rendered possible, as horses had to be kept in various parts of a district to avoid waste of time in getting from point to point. Motor vehicles could be kept in a central garage, and under the direction of one man, and it was impossible for any hut the largest corporations to keep separate staffs in each department owning vehicles to carry out the repair and maintenance work required to keep a number of vehicles in running order, and in consequence the idea of the central repair shop was conceived.
Centralizing Repairs and Centralizing Transport.
From the idea of a central repair Shop to a central transport department Is not a very big step in theory, but when the matter comes to be worked out in detail there are many points which present difficulties. • Much. depends, however, on the selection of the right man for the head of the department. The transport department is a key department, coming between all other departments, and must be at the call of every chief official. If economies are to be observed, some of the Iimitatinns as well as the advantages of the scheme will have to be recognized. The object of the transport department is to carry out efficiently and economically the transport work of the municipal authority with equipment which must not be too lavish.
Departments requiring haulage work have available greater facilities than they had before the resources were piloted, but in reality this is one of the difficulties. To meet an emergency, the whole fleet of the transport department can be called in to assist one department with all the vehicles of a
type suitable for the work in hand. On' the other hand, if all the resources of the transport department are called into action by one department on a particular day, the -work of other departments, in so far as haulage is concerned, haft to be brought to a standstill, and, however advantageous it may he for the one department concerned, the other departments suffer. It is for the monger of the transport department to strike a balance between the requirements of each department, and to call for the assistance of the heads of all departments in this direction. To do so requires very careful handling of delicate situations, and, more than anything else, the manager of the transport department must necessarily be endowed with a full measure of tact.
Exacting Requirements of Heads Of Departments.
The greatest difficulty the transport manager has to face is that heads of other departments naturally consider that the work they have in hand is the most important work of the day, and it is often difficult for the transport manager to show how impossible it is to do more than make the best of existing circumstances. Much can be done by the organization of the work of the departments concerned, and here it is that the transport manager must show not only tact, but distinct ability for organization end 'arrangement. Adaptability, to circumstances and emergencies is called for, and, if a central transport department is to be a success, there must be a constant watch kept in anticipation of the unexpected happening. The work is far from humdrum, and if the transport manager allows himself to get into a groove his work cannot possibly be a success.
The Financial Side.
The second difficulty presented to the transport manager is that of making his department pay, whilst offering to the spending departments the advantage of lower haulage charges than can be secured from an outside contractor.
Co-ordination with all departments of the authority concerned is absolutely essential, and the manager should ensure that he has wide powers to control work which comes within his purview. Difficulties are certain to present themselves, and are unavoidable, but the more successful the transport manager Is in making other departments realize his position the better his work will be
assisted. Much can be done by the heads of other departments to make or mar the work of the transport department, and it is for the transport manager to use his influence to avoid the conflicts of interest which naturally arise, as, for instance, when the highways department requires the whole of his available vehicles for the transport of road material on the day a big consignment comes to hand for another department, and that also has to be handled expeditiously.
The Qualities of the Transport Chief.
To the man with tact, business abilities and the qualities of a born organizer the position presents a career which is not to be despised, but, in addition to these natural attributes, lie must have a specialized training which fits him for such a position. Mechanical knowledge is absolutely essential, or the maintenance of a fleet of vehicles as diverse as a lawn mower and a prison van or a steam wagon will be impossible, and he will go seriously wrong in his purchases if he cane( t use his mechanical knowledge in the selection of the most suitable -vehicle for a particular class of work. Furthermore, he must be capable of controlling a staff of men ranging from the unskilled labourer to the highly skilled man, in addition to being able to placate the demands of the officials equal in rank to his own. Finally, he must have a mastery of those branches of accoun*ancv which affect his own department, and have the ability to calculate costs and to justify his figures when questioned.
Everywhere there is a growing tendency to estimate at its true value the important position which transport occupies in our lives to-clay, and nowhere is this fact more clearly demonstrable than in connection with the work of a public body. Transport work needs to be highly organized. It is a section of work which cannot be carried on without loss by officials who have to spend their time in other activities. and in work which requires technical qualifiCations of an entirely different character. The organization of transport and the maintenance of a fleet is the work of an expert, and in a municipal transport department there are opportunities for congenial and comparatively well-paid employment which is not subject to fluctuations on account of bad trade.