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News of the Week

17th July 1942, Page 20
17th July 1942
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Page 20, 17th July 1942 — News of the Week
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WAGES: ARE TRADE UNIONS EXPLOITING WAR POSITION?

I N a resolution expressing considerable surprise at the( Trade Unions' action' in making application to the Road. Ifaulage Central Wages Board for another increase in wages, the Federation of Yorkshire Road Transport Employers has registered an emphatic protest against such a fourth war-time wages increase in the industry.

The resolution asserts that the total increases already paid conform with the amount of increases paid to several other :trades, such as engineering and vehicle building. A further increase, it adds, would contribute to the vicious spiral of rising wages and rising prices, and, by forcing transport costs up, • would be prejudieiel to the Government's policy of introducing subsidies to keep down the prices of certain com modities. • Voicing strong disapproval "of the Trade Unions' action in submitting this application before the Government Department concerned had issued its decision on a previous application," it is stated in the resolution that " This would seem to indicate that the Trade Unions are determined to take an unfair advantage of the war position."

PETROL AND OIL ENGINE DIFFERENCES QNE of the questions which is often e asked technIcal men in' road transport is " What is the difference between an oil °engine and a petrol engine? " This is answered) very effectively in "Petrol and Oil Engine Differences," by Mr. D. S. D. Williams,

of the technical staff of "The Oil Engine." This useful booklet is published at 1s. 6d. net (Is. 9d. including postage), for Temple Press Ltd., by The English Universities Press, Ltd., Warwick Square, London, E . C. 4 .

This publication will be' on sale throughout the country next Monday. It deals in simple terms_with transport s type, four-stroke-cycle engines in both categories, and being specially designed • for the Services, although interesting to many others, it is of a size which fits welL.inta the tunic pocket of a battledress unifolin. Fully illustrated with • line drawings,„, it contains a unique description of fuel-injection apparatus as found on transport oil engiffes, and deals solely with present-day equipment_ HOW LONG SHOULD RECORDS BE KEPT?

SaME interesting advice as to the time for which various records should be kept hasebeen given by the Waste Paper Recovery Association. This body mentions that one of the greatest undertakings in Great Britain decided a year ago to dispose of all its documents over two years old. Since then it hasnever had cause to consult any papers so given. HOWOyer in general, there are certain reasons for the retention of documents for various periods. EDIexample: the suggested minimum for travellers' and petty-cash vouchers is two years; for cheque counterfoils and used cheques, two to three years " (personally, We destroy cheques immediately we have checked the entries); two years is also the limit given for bank paying-in books, purchase invoices and credits; copies of sales invoices and credit notes, if copied into a sales day book, two to three years; if used themselves as a day book, longer is advisable; gate records, books of goods inwards and outwards, about two years: whilst lists of sales, ledger balances, trial balances, etc,,, can be disposed of, with the exception of thAt coinciding with the end of the finansial year or with the--date -cif interim accounts.

B.R.F. OBSERVATIONS ON DRIVERS' CAFES

THE leading article in the Monthly Bulletin of Road Information for, July, issued by the British Road Federation, concerns road-transport cafés. This suggests that whilst improvements have been made, they are as yet, far from uniform throughout the country and not yet adequate. Increasing numbers of roadside cafés, unable to cope with the problems of labour and supplies, are closing eailier in the evening; at week-ends, or altogether; thus the remainder are becoming overcrowded.

Returns of meals served do not convey a correct \impression of the situation, because 'they merely show meals actually provided, not those that could have been served had food been available. SUCCESS OF "HENRY SPURRIER " MEMORIAL FUND CONTR1BUTIONS to the " Henry Spurrier" Memorial Fund amounted, at July 10, to 211,443. The Committee is anxious to close the Fund as soon as possible, and would appreciate early contributions from any further subscribers, so that a definite date for closure May be announced.

It may be mentioned that all out-ofpocket expenses, such as printing, stationery, postage, etc., have been defrayed by members of the Committee, so that every penny of the money contributed has been handed over without deduction.

Communications should be addressed to Mr. E. S. Shrapnell-Smith, C.B.E., Hound House, Shere, Nr. Guildford, Surrey.

PARKING FEES TO PREVENT ABUSE OF MARKET FACILITIES

ALL vehicles, including. insulated trailer vans, now left in the motor parking place at Stanley Meat Market, Liverpool, between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., on any day are now charged a parking fee of Its. Although a small revenue will accrue to the Corporation, the main purpose is to.kprevent the use of municipal facilities by vehicles which should be garaged overnight in their owner's premises.

Endeavours are being made by the Area _Haulage Officer of the Ministry of War Transport to secure the exemption from the parking charge of ceftain vehicles used for' the bulk transport of meat, but so far success has • not attended his efforts.

DRIVERS' PART IN SAVING RUBBER

WITH a view to giving further help 11` to the national effort to conserve rubber, the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co. (Great Britain), Ltd., Wolverhampton, has produced a poster for display in the garages of goods and passenger-vehicle operators. It is directed primarily to drivers and maintenance men working in those garages, \and it gives sound advice on 'ways in which rubber can be saved, it being emphasized that rubber wastage amounts to sabotage.

The company has also produced two " stickers" for affixing to the inside of

_ drivers' cabs—one aior goods vehicles and the other for bases and coaches.

.\ They serve as a constant' reminder to the drivers of the important part they are expected -to play in tyre conservation. '

Copies of these publications are obtainable from the company at the address we have given, PERSONAL PARS

M. F. V. HASEIsfORE and Mn. C. G. SEELEY have been appointed joint managing directors of the Edison Swan Electric Co., Ltd., and of Edison Swan Cables Ltd.

MAJOR L. H. PETER, M.G., A.F.C., M.I.E.E.,' formerly 'chief electrical

t' engineer of Westinghouse Brake. and Signal Co., Ltd., has been appointed chief engineer of the company. ORGANIZING THE DISPOSAL OF WASTE OIL

ASCHEME for the recovery of waste oil has been developed by the Petroleum Board. Those who wish advice as to the best means for utilizing this material should communicate with the General Manager of the Lubricating Oil Pool, The Petroleum board, Shell-Mex House, London, W.C.2.

LEATHER CLOTHS FR4E FROM COUPONS

THE Board of Trade recently stated that "imitation leather" had become rationed 'and that supplies would be obtainable only against the surrender of coupons. The S.M.IVI. and T. has, however, ascertained that " leather cloths" continue to be exempt ISM the Order, and that the term employed was intended,to refer to a pile fabric imitating suede leather.

SPURLING MOTOR BODIES TRADING RESULTS

TINT the year ended February 28 last, 1 SpurIing Motor Bodiea, Ltd., made a proit of £42,889, and after providing for taxation (£19,879) and adding the lasalance brought forward (£3,576), a sum of £26,585 remains. A dividend of 10 per cent, is to be paid, which will absorb £20,850, and £3,000 is being transferred to general reserve, leaving £2,735 to be carried forward.

EXTENSIVE TEST OF TECALEMIT LUBRICATORS IN our issue of July 3, under "One Hears," we referred tethe fact that L on do n Transport had adopted Tecalemit automatic lubrication for its latest trolleybuses after a test of 160,000 miles. It has since been pointed out to us, for the sake of clarity, that this lengthy test was carried out on a single vehicle, when examination revealed that neither the bearings nor the lubricating pump showed any sign of wear. TRADING OF HENLEY'S TELEGRAPH WORKS CO.

• AFTER providing for taxation,

special expenditure due to the war, etc., the balance on trading accountof W. T. Henley's Telegraph Works Co., Ltd., in 1941, amounted to £910,695, this sum being reduced to £326,379 after taking depreciation, directors' fees, etc., into account. The dividend on the preference stock to the end of year took £9,000, an interim dividend of 5 per cent, on the ordinary stock £65,000,, and £50,000 was transferred to the war contingencies reserve account. Thus the balance available, after adding £378,897 brought in, is £581,276. A final dividend of 10 per tent, on the ordinary stock plus a cash bonus of 5 per cent. (both less tax) take £195,000, and the staff pension fund receive's £5,000. After these amounts are deducted, £381,276 is left to be carried forward.

SCOTTISH C.M.U.A. AND TRIVIAL PROSECUTIONS WHILST it is stated to be the policy W of the M. of W.T. that no trivial • prosecutions of commercial-motor users or their drivers should be brought at this time, the Scottish C.M.U.A. does occasionally receive' reports of such instances, and it asks members who have similar experiences to communicate with their local secretaries, so that the matter may be raised in the proper quarters. Experience has shown that the Ministry may intervene if it be considered that the prosecution should not be proceeded with; thus, much valuable time may be saved. Mr. J. W. Loudon, the general secretary, 93, York Place, P 'inburgh, informs us that the flow of new members continues, and that any nonmember who desires information should communicae with any of the area offices. Other secretaries and their addresses are as follow:—

Man's. D. Mackay, 190, West George Street, Glasgow; A. Rolland, C.A. 45, ReMield Street, G3aggow; D. A. Mortimer 61, Mnrraygate, Dundee; J. Taylm, Newmarket Str9et, Falkirk; D. M. Ferguson, 34, Queen Anne Street.Dunfermline; C. M. Hyslop, 15, Castle Street, Durafrieg•' D. H. McDonald, 42. Union: Street. lamerne,ss. Further meetings in connection with rates are being held In each area.

DENNIS BOOKLET ON TRAILER FIRE PUMPS

A NEW edition of the instruction

book for the Dennis 350-500-gallon trailer pump has been issued, at Is. 6d. (including postage), by Dennis Bros., Ltd., Guildford. It is known as Publication No. 127C, and is an extension of previous issues, covering both the T.A. and T.P. models, in* which the outstanding difference lies in the cooling systems. The instructions cover two types of magneto ignition, as well as earlyand late.. patternaxles whilst a special section deals with t1;3 chassis and includes a sectional view of the towing head. Another-addition is a performance chart showing the results that may be expected when engines and pumps are up to operational efficiency.

snouip SMALL VEHIOLES BE BARRED FOR DISTANCE WORK? WHETHER in quiet times, free from IT air raids, the use of vehicles under' 3 tons capacity should be barred from participating in distance work has been discussed in Liverpool haulage circles.

Advocates of restriction base their plea on factors which are manly economic and are certainly persuasive under certain conditions of traffic incidence. What they overlobk is that occasions frequently arise when, jour_neys off trunk routes have to be undertaken and loads are not• always of the maximum tonnage to justify the employment of heavy machines.'

" Better to send a 3-tonner 60 miles with a hill load, than a 10-tanner with only one-third load, or, perhaps, with a full outward load to be divided between three or four widely spaced addresses," remarked one Liverpool operatop.

" There 'can be no hard and fast rules to prohibit themovement of smalltonnage vehicles. They can be operated profitably or wastefully, just as large vehicles, according to the exigencies of• traffic.

" More planning is necessary to prevent vehicles from being needlessly drafted to. important traffic centres. Tonnage must be related to gross (outward and inward) mileage. On the one hand, you sometimes get light outward journeys and on the other light return journeys. This one-way running is a serious cause of wastage. It might be Obviated by giving official recognition to a number of key traffic exchange centres, each with its own feeder services."


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