The Danger of Uncertainty
Page 35
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ALTHOUGH certain doubts have been dispelled by the publication of the Road and Rail Traffic Bill and the, regrettably few, modifications which have been effected in some of its clauses, whilst the provisions of the Budget were not quite so drastic as had appeared possible, there still exists a great amount of uncertainty regarding the future, and this is doing much harm to the commercialvehicle industry, by holding up orders which would, otherwise, certainly have been placed almost immediately, as some of these have 'already been delayed for many months, pending the result of the fight following the Salter Conference Report.
At present, it is generally considered quite safe to purchase vehicles for replacement purposes, but it is impossible to say with any degree of assurance what will eventually be done in the case of vehicles which are bought as additional tonnage to that utilized at "any ' time during the year beginning on April 1, 1932, and ending on March 31, 193.3. Although licences may be automatically granted for the highest tonnage during this period, any addition will be subject to investigation by the licensing authority, not, as so many people think, at the conclusion of the period of the licence—two years in the case of " A " licences and one year for the " B " class—but so soon as the officials are able to get into their stride.
We receive scores of letters upon this subject, and these show clearly that road transport would, if permitted, continue to expand in a manner satisfactory to operators and manufacturers. Such expansion may eventually be permitted, but we have before us the drastic example of the restriction of the iiublic-service vehicle, which has resulted in a most serious diminution in its numbers.
Actually, the additional taxation of goods vehicles is not, in our opinion, of anything like such great importance as this threat of curtailment of road transport, and the problem is one to which trade and industry should give the most serious consideration.