Bird's Eye
Page 54
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ViewBY THE HAWK
Black boxes for all?
THERE was no firm consensus of opinion, I hear, among union leaders when they discussed road haulage working hours with the Minister recently, and the issue of recorders, too, provoked some controversy. It is paradoxical that in some European countries the unions regard recorders as a protection of their drivers' rights; here, many drivers and a number of union officials regard recorders with a pathological horror.
Barbara must say a dozen times a day "a plague on all your houses". Whispers that the Ministry is screwing up its courage to seek powers to make recorders compulsory for all vehicles have yet to be confirmed; my guess is that this decisive action would solve this argument once for all.
Too Modest
T ORD Popplewell's suggestion in the Lords last week that Mr. 1-i Gunter should secure the amalgamation of the three railway unions (NUR, ASLEF and TSSA) was too modest. Why not include the road transport unions as well? There might be some hope for open Freightliner terminals in that happy event.
Loaded Remark
DEMARKED an anonymous (and perhaps envious?) haulier as Acorn Motors Transport of Hanworth, was granted a shortterm B licence at a Met. hearing last week to carry IBM parts: "From little Acorns giant computers grow. . ."
Refreshing Truth
V OR many years we have been hearing from fleet users about the lack of spares. In almost as many cases we hear how distributors and dealers are spending money in reorganizing their spares departments. But here is a new angle: a dealer who does not have a spares department—and says so—or is it a dealer who has set up a department not to supply spares?
Holidays for Disabled
NEWS reached me the other day of the Variety Club's Sunshine coach scheme which is aimed at helping disabled and handicapped youngsters (for the most part long-term or permanent patients) to have a chance to get out and about again.
Closely involved in this work is the Bristol Motor Co. Ltd., specialists in the task of converting Morris J2 and J4 vans into mini-coaches. This work began, I understand, by chance. Back in 1961 sales manager Ray Manning was asked by a friend if he would undertake the conversion of a Morris van into a mini-coach. The answer was "yes" and the job proved so successful that further orders flowed in.
Three years ago the company became part of the Lex group and the coaches attracted the attention of Trevor Chinn, Lex's deputy managing director, who is a crewman of the Variety Club with a particular interest in the Sunshine Coach Scheme. Not unnaturally, Bristol Motor Co. began to supply mini-coaches—at a reduced cost—to the Sunshine Club and this good work has continued.
Null and avoid. . .
J OURNALISTS, of all people, are in the dog house on the score
of ambiguity. Five of the motions on the agenda for the National Union of Journalists' conference in April have been blue-pencilled, with the note, "Standing orders committee recommends that this motion is void for uncertainty of meaning".
If only transport operators could do the same with the Construction and Use Regulations. Take at random, for example. "In this sub-paragraph the expression 'relevant projection' means any such forward or rearward projection as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) or (c) of the said paragraph (5) or of the said paragraph (6); ..."
And there are another 60,000 words of it!
Wright Recipe
JOE Wright, managing director of J. and R. Wright, Rutherglen, which is part of the Transport Development Group, threw his annual party last Saturday. When asked by a guest for the secret of his success, Joe said: "Patience, son, patience. I don't mind waiting for things as long as I get them yesterday and I'm first to be served".
Angus Scott, transport manager of Hiram Walker, who was principal guest, suggested a real "father and son relationship" existed between Joe and son Robert. "At 16 he thought his dad was a fool, but when he was 22 he was surprised how much his dad had learned!"
Enough Said
SELF-EXPLANATORY, surely, are the names of two new London-based, and related, bus companies: U Drink I Drive Ltd., and Party Buses Ltd.