Making State Control Work
Page 27
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" L'OR better or for worse, the I country is now committed to a nationalized system of transport and it is the duty of all men of goodwill to do everything they can to make it a success."
Such was an observation made by Mr_ R. W Sewill, director of the Road Haulage Association, -during an address to the. Hull centre of the Institute of Transport, on October 14.
The scheme, he said, could be made to work, because the Commission is able to secure its staff from among persons trained in the hard school of free enterprise. These people realized that the future of the country depended on the transport system's not breaking down, and would undoubtedly show the same devotion to duty as they had applied in serving the individual organizations in the past.
It was not possible to be so optimistic on the matter of whether transport would slow downomder the new system. Even with decentralization carried to the farthest point, orders would not be executed as promptly as in the past_ An instance of a wrong approach, he said, was that a Railway Executive and a Road Transport Executive were to be appointed, and each would include the operation of goods and passenger traffic. Goods and passenger operators, however, had little in common, and it was safe to say that whenever either Executive met, half of the members would have little interest in the proceedings, Mr. Sewill pointed out.
He said he was in agreement with Lord Beveridge in visualizing an inevitably diminishing .sphere of usefulness for road haulage. The Commission would find that the standing costs of the railways were the most expensive item. Co-ordination by the Commission meant the suppression of ali long-distance road haulage, except in the case of loads which it was impossible for tl.e railways to carry.
It was his firm opinion that a system of railhead deliveries, which would greatly increase the speed of transport on the railways, was the goal at which the Commission should aim in laying plans for the fisture.