"Appointed Day" a Long Way Off?
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ALTHOUGH he is surprised at the speed at which the Transport Act is being implemented, Mr. H. Rossington, chairman of the National Conference of Road Transport Clearing Houses, believes that the "appointed day ". is still a long way off. He expressed this view at the first dinner of the London and Home Counties area of the Conference, last Saturday.. Mr. H. G. Clifford, area chairman, presided.
• Pointing out that the failure of nationalization would be a catastrophe for the country. Mr. Rossington urged those who were taking up executive posts with the British Commission to do all they could to make the State transport system a success. Nationalized industries, he said, were usually made to• pay by increasing charges, and transport might be no exception if members of the staff were not allowed to use energy and initiative which they had devoted to independent road transport.
Mr. Rossington advised the younger members of the Conference to learn as much as possible of large-scale organization to fit themselves for senior posts in the Road Transport Executive.
Referring to the virility of the London and Home Counties area of the Conference, Mr. Rossington said that meetings have been continued through A30 the summer and attendances had always been good.
Mr. Clifford pointed out that rates were becoming lower every day and called for a halt in this disastrous movement.
Mr. F. P. Hale, area vice-chairman, paid a glowing tribute to the transport Press for its fight against nationalization. CEYLON TO ABOLISH VEHICLE LICENSING?
jkSCHEME for the abolition of the present system of annual licensing of motor vehicles and insurance against third-party risks is shortly to be considered by the Ministry of Transport and Works in Ceylon. It is proposed that the petrol tax should be increased to make good the losses. The Commissioner of Motor Transport agrees with the principles of the scheme.
It is suggested that the amount recovered from the additional petrol tax should be distributed equitably among the road authorities. If licensing were discontinued, buses and taxi-cabs would have to carry certificates of fitness issued by the Commissioner of Motor Transport.
Under the scheme, the Government would pay compensation to third parties and recover premiums by way of the petrol tax. WHY DID THEY DO IT?
WHEN the Yorkshire Licensing VV Authority for Public Service Vehicles, at Scarborough, heard a joint application by East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ltd., and Hull Corporation for permission to run a special service from Hull to the speedway at Hedon, it was stated that the return fare would be Is., as against Is. Sid. on the railway.
Expressing surprise at the fare fixed by the railway authorities, who recently reopened a disused halt to serve speedway spectators at Hedon, Major F. S. Eastwood, chairman, said: "Why can't the railway people look at this from a proper angle? They put on a special train and open a special halt, yet charge Is. Sid., against the road charge of Is."
A statement by Mr. S. C. Wells, of East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ltd., that the railway was carrying very few people to the speedway, evoked the comment from Major Eastwood: " And I expect they will go on carrying very few people while they charge that fare."
The application was granted.
A FULL PROGRAMME
THE Metropolitan Section of the Institute of Transport has announced its programme of London meetings for the new session. They will all be held at Livingstone House, Broadway, S.W.1, at 5.30 p.m. Those likely to be of road-transport interest are as follows:— October 4, 'Efficiency Control in Large Transport Undertakings," by Sir William Wood; March 7, "Traders and the Transport Act; 1947," by A. G. Marsden. The Section's first annual dinner will be held at the Abercorn Rooms, London, E.C.2, on December 17
Chelmsford group of the Metropolitan Section has provisionally arranged to hold meetings in Chelmsford in October, December, February and March, Romford in November and Brentwood in January. Guildford group is planning to hold meetings in Dorking, Guildford and Redhill.
BIGGER sENGINEERING SHOW THE whole of Olympia, London, has been reserved for the 1949 Engineering and Marine Exhibition, which will be held from August 25 to September 10. Use of the Empire Hall will enable a substantial increase to be made in the space occupied by exhibits, as compared with last year's exhibition.
SEEING FOR THEMSELVES
QN Sunday, members of the Omnibus Society will visit the Bristol Tramways and Carriage, Co., Ltd. The North East Coast branch has planned a
tour of small operators in the Bishop Auckland area for September 25, and on the following day there is to be a visit to Barton Transport, Ltd., Beeston.
On November 19, Mr. C. T. Humpidgc, B.Sc., M.Inst.T., general manager of Rochdale Corporation's transport undertaking, will read a paper on the history of the municipal bus system, and on December 17 a paper dealing with the bus services in Eire will be presented by Mr. J. F. Parke, in collaboration with Mr. J. C. Gillham. LAND-ROVER TO TOUR SWEDEN LTHOUGH import restrictions at rt present make Sweden a closed market for British vehicles, a LandRover is to make a fortnight's tour of the country to introduce the new allpurpose vehicle to potential purchasers when normal trading is resumed.
The vehicle left Birmingham this week with others which will be shown at the British Exhibition at Copenhagen. There it will be handed over by Mr. R. E. Butcher, export manager of the Rover Co., Ltd., to Mr. 'A. Armfelt, service manager of Messrs. A. Wiklimd, Rover dealers for Sweden. The LandRover will be shipped from Copenhagen with touring documents, and for two weeks Mr. Armfelt will visit subdealers.
Two more Land-Rovers are to be sent shortly to Argentina.
CAMBS POLICE ACTIVE ON OVERLOADED VEHICLES
SEVERAL cases in connection with excess weights have recently been brought against commercial-vehicle operators in the Cambridge area.
At Waldon Divisional Court, last week, E. R. Ives, Ltd., Mountergate, Norwich, and the London Co-operative Society, Ltd., Maryland Street, London, E,15, were fined £5 and £3 respectively for running overloaded lorries at Quendon on July 5. Mack's (Hauliers), Ltd., Silvertown, London, E.16, was also fined £5 for using a trailer with an excess load on the same date, the offence having been reported at Quendon.
WARNING TO SHOW VISITORS
VVISITORS to London for the Commercial Motor Exhibition, to be held at Earls Court from October 1-9, are warned that car parking is forbidden in streets in which the lamp-posts carry yellow bands.. At the terminal points, yellow arrows are painted on the kerbs, pointing towards the areas in which waiting is prohibited. In the City of London, inverted yellow cones on posts denote that parking is barred
Prohibition operates in the West End from 11.30 a.m, to 6.30 p.m., and in the City from 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., from Monday to Friday inclusive in both cases.
BOUGHT A COACH ON "SPEC."
AMAN who said that he had bought a 30-seater coach in the hope of securing a contract for the conveyance of Polish workers svas recently refused a licence by the Eastern Licensing Authority to run an express service. The contract involved running nearly 659 miles a week, of which 230 were "dead."
The Eastern Counties Omnibus Co., Ltd., and Premier Travel, Ltd., objected on the ground that they could supply a service at competitive prices.
EXPORTS TO IRAN AND U.S.A. A N Overseas Economic Survey dealing with Iran is published to-day; by the Stationery Office on behalf of the Export Promotion Department of the Board of Trade. It costs is. A survey of the U.S.A. will be issued next Friday at 3s. 6d.