A Motor-taxation Deputation
Page 47
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Pointers from the Memorandum Prepared in Connection with a Deputation Organized by the Coal Utilization Council on the Question of the Taxation of Coal-gas-propelled and Steam -driven Vehicles
THE Coal Utilization Council recently organized a deputation to the Secretary for Mines on the question of the taxation of gas-propelled and steam vehicles. In the absence of Mr. Evan Williams, president of the Mining Association of Great Britain and of the Coal Utilization Council, the deputation was introduced by Mr. Robert Forrester, vice-president of the Coal Utilization Council, and Mr. \V. R. Gordon, the director, presented a detailed memorandum.
At the outset reference was made to theexperiments which have been conducted in the use of coal gaS as a fuel for motor vehicles and to the success which has been achieved, resulting in the opening of compressed-gas filling stations at Chesterfield and Lincoln.
Some interesting figures were quoted giving gas-consumption figures, and it was mentioned that the 32-seater bus. used on the occasion of the British Industries Fair, 1933, consumed approximately 38-40 cubic ft. of gas per mile when carrying a full load, In another instance, a converted 20 h.p. van belonging to the Birmingham Gas Department was found to use 21 cubic ft, per mile. In a recent test carried out by the Whitwood Chemical Co., Ltd., on a lorry which had been converted to run on a system using enriched coal gas, the consumption of fuel on a run of 670 miles was 9,400 cubic ft. of gas and 27 gallons of creosote It was indicated that, if 20 cubic ft. per mile run he taken as a fair average consumption, and 15,000 cubic ft. per ,ton of coal as a normal rate of production, then 100 velsieles, each covering 20,000 miles per annum, would consume 40,000,000 cubit ft. of gas, requiring the carbonization of about 2,700 tons of coal. It was pointed out that by enriching the gas the cruising range can be materially increased from the 60 miles that has hitherto been considered the maximum.
Comparable Running Costs.
The costs of running the 20 h.p. van proved to be id per mile on petrol and .63d. per mile on gas, these figures being based on petrol at Is. per gallon and compressed gas at 2s. 6d. per 1,000 cubic ft.; the consumption figures were reckoned at 12 m.p.g. on petrol and 21 cubic ft. per mile on gas.
The taxation imposed by the Finance Act, 1933, is the same for gas and petrol-driven vehicles with solid or pneumatic tyres up to an unladen weight of six tons and, although the rates for coal-gas-driven vehicles above that capacity are lower than those for comparable petrol-driven vehicles, the deputation pointed out that, since compressed gas must be carried in steel cylinders, the unladen weight is necessatily increased, which results in a higher tax..
Severalinstances were quoted to substantiate this statement, one being the case of a .solid-tyrecl lorry weighing 3 tons 18 cwt., which, as a petrol vehicle was taxed at E86 13s. 4d., whereas when it was converted to gas propulsion and its weight increased by 9 cwt., the tax was raised to £93 6s. 8d.
A point to remember is that vehicles now running on compressed gas are mostly converted petrol-driven machines and, as originally designed, they usually approximated to the maximum unladen weight for a given tax. Consequently, almost any addition in weight will bring the vehicle into a higher taxation class.
In the case of passenger vehicles there is no difference in taxation as between types propelled by gas and by petrol. Both classes were, however, given an advantage in the Finance Act, 1933, over vehicles using 'heavy oils. This advantage varies from £8 in the case of 8-14-seaters to £68
in the case of 64-seaters. The deputation pointed out, however, that the gross weight of passenger vehicles is limited by law to 10 tons for those running an four wheels and, as the weight of the gas cylinders on a bus loaded to capacity would amount to about 8 cwt., as compared with $ cwt. for petrol, the addition is equivalent to the weight of two passengers.
Finally, the deputation submitted that, in view oi the importance of developing the consumption of British coal in our own markets, and of the promising prospects of converting a number of road vehicles to coal gas, the question of unladen weights as a basis of taxation for such vehicles should be reconsidered, and that the basis should be the weight of the vehicle unladen less the weight of the . cylinders and essential fitments and connections.
As regards passenger vehicles it was submitted that, in assessing the total legal weight, the weight of the cylinders, fitments and connections should be disregarded.
The Case for Steam Wagons.
The deputation also drew attention to the desirability of revising the burdens and restrictions upon heavy stea,nt vehicles in order to encourage their use. No precise statistics are available of the consumption of coal by road vehicles in this country, but a census taken in September, 1931, showed that licences for 9,463 steam vehicles were then in force. It is estimated that each vehicle used an average of 100 tons of coal or coke per annum, so that the total .consumption of coal by steam vehicles at that date was about 950,000 tons per annum. For every three steam vehicles in use on the roads, one colliery worker is continuously employed throughout the year.
The deputation then went on to stress the decline which has taken place in the consumption of solid fuel for road vehicles, and said that eight of the leading suppliers of road coal in South Wales have furnished figures showing that between 1930 and 1933 their actual sales steadily declined, the decrease amounting to over 18 per cent, in four years.
'The deputation then stressed the adverse effect of increased taxation on steam wagons. In the first place, the unladen weight is high in relation to the ray-load and, whilst this is true of all steam wagons, it is particularly so in the case of the older models. It was apparently the intention to discount this by permitting four-wheeled steam vehicles a gross weight of 13 tons, against the 12 tons of other types of four-wheeler, but, in practice, this extra ton barely discounts the extra weight of coal and water which have to be carried. In the second place, by reason of its class of duty, the average steam vehicle covers a comparatively small annual mileage.
The deputation submitted -that the concessions as to weight are inadequate and are accompanied by conditions in regard to speed which nullify their effect. Further, in the case of vehicles registered before December' 31, 1932, it was suggested that there might be a reconsideration of the restrictions as to weight in order to permit a higher payload than is at present possible, and that, as regards speeds, only the same restrictions as are imposed on vehicles of similar capacity driven by other fuels should be enforced. It was submitted that the load carried by all goods vehicles should be restricted, by regulation, to safe limits.
Discrimination in favour of heavy oil as against petrol that the present rates of import duty involve, is not thought to be adequately discounted by the greater scale of licence duty which oil vehicles are required to pay. Moreover, it is subinitted that, in fixing the rates of taxation for all goods vehicles, cognisance should be taken of the pay-load.