Soul Searching
Page 55
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ALLEGED lack of introspection on the part of manufacturers is apparently blamed by the Minister of Transport for his proposal to place more difficulties than ever in the way of carriers of abnormal loads. The allegations are described as a widespread feeling which has found expression both inside and outside Parliament. It is based on the admitted fact that the movement of such loads by road is relatively cheap and easy.
As a result, the Minister's memorandum continues, consignors "do not ask themselves" a number of questions that presumably should at once come to their minds, In the interest of other road users, could they without undue expense use rail or sea transport as an alternative? Co,uld the load to be moved be reduced in size and weight for transport by simple dismantling.' Could it be redesigned? Could there be some change in i he arrangements for reassembly at the destination?
Widespread Interests T[ must be flattering to be one. of the consignors, and to have such a widespread interest taken in the questions he does not ask himself. I cannot pretend to satisfy that interest. My acquaintance with Machinery manufacturers, steelmasters, and to on, is desultory. For a description of their inmost feelings, I should have to rely mainly upon the researches of the novelists and dramatists.
The industrial magnate is a favourable character in books and plays, and he, generally has one or. two things on his mind, none of them of much help in the present inquiry. He either worries about whether his wife --who is generally younger and invariably much more beautiful—returns his affection with the same intensity, or else he ruminates that he would be leading a happier and richer life (richer in the spiritual sense, of course) as a reader in Sanskrit at oneeof the older universities, or as a philosopher on a remote mountain top contemplating the ineffable.
Stock Tycoon On the evidence of these refined-sentiments, he should be capable of thinking of the interests of other road users whenever he has an Outsize load to be carried. It should be remembered, however, that the stock tycoon character does not seem to let his domestic troubles or hwarted highbrow yearnings affect his work.
The manufacturer in real life is not likely to resemble closely his counterpart in fiction or drama, but he does no doubt. from time to time consider the issues raised in the Minister's memorandum. His attitude must be that the interests of other road users are not his primary concern. When he makes one of his enormous and indivisible pieces of equipment, it is because a construction made up of several separate parts would not be so efficient. When he chooses the method,of transport, it is with an eye to safe and certain transit as well as to economy.
He is naturally concerned to know that the transport arrangements are in order. With this in view, he calls his haulier into consultation at an 'early stage, which may be several years before the date planned for delivery. The haulier -advises whether the job is possible. He declares that he has the necessary vehicles and other
equipment, or will have them when the time arrives. He plans a route with roads and bridges capable of carrying the load, and makes sure that obstructions can be circumvented or even temporarily removed.
Later, the carrier will have to notify the local authorities and the police all the way along, the route, and he will have to give indemnities against poSsible damage. in making his .plans, he will have in mind avoiding large centres of population where this can be done, travelling by night when he can safely do so, or over the week-end, and in other ways reducing to an unavoidable minimum the congestion and inconvenience that his gigantic burden is to some extent bound to cause.
Inquiry Into Ethics In all these matters the manufacturer may take a personal interest. It is too much to expect him to conduct an inquiry into the ethics of the journey. Like any other customer, he employs a 'haulier with the appropriate licence for the job, and there his moral responsibility should end. In these enlightened and publicity-minded days, it is almost certain that the manufacturer does ask himself the quesfions that the Minister of Transport poses. The answer must be that the load requires to be moved in one piece, and by road, and that the responsibility for providing a proper road system does not lie with the Manufacturer. •
He may even feel disposed to ask a few questions himself. There are no figures, or the Minister has given none, to show the extent to which the passage of an outsize load interferes with the convenience of other road users. There are often alternative routes that will allow other, traffic to gete past, and over much of the itinerary the road may not:be otherwise very busy. Any motorist or other driver who is held up is entitled to feel indignant, but the volume of his protest may. be out of all proportion to the general inconvenience.
Grid or Plan During the war, the Ministry. of Transport prepared a grid or plan a routes to he made suitable 'as soon as possible for the movement of abnormal loads. In particular, many of the bridges Were to be strengthened, or even reconstructed. The work has made little progress, and the manufacturer would be justified in asking why.
Most curious of the Minister's proposals is one that would, in effect, add another layer to the licensing system. At present, the haulier must fight in the traffic court for his licence, and he has been given some little extra help from the provisions of the Transport Act, 1953. Once he has the licence, he is freeto carry within its terms as much traffic as he pleases. It has never before; been suggested that the customer shoUld also require a licence in order to have his goods carried., The Minister would now like the heavy manufacturer to prove need before the Licensing Authority whenever he has a load which would need a clearance of more than 12 ft. across, or which would require for its transport a vehicle or vehicles exceeding a_ total of 60 ft. in length.