Combining Theory and Practice
Page 26
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(—NNE question that is ever of importance to students and younger men in the industry is that of how they are to gain the wide and consummate grasp of road transport matters indispensable to a successful career.
General education, unfortunately, does not even present transport, and certainly not road transport, in its true proportions and importance in the national economy, to say nothing of teaching the rudiments of it. It is true that there are classes and lectures, but these leave much to be desired. There is, too, a body of technical literature that is as sound as it is extensive, although this, again, leaves a gap between the textbook presentation and the living organization of road transport in practice.
No other medium can close the gap between theory and practice so well as the study of a good trade journal. Our own journal has for many years been filling this purpose as part of its service to the industry. From the operating standpoint, from the technical point of view and from the ever more important political aspect, from all these points must the industry be viewed and understood by those who are to gain a living in it. All these aspects are presented in our pages and it is impossible for any intelligent reader to study this journal for a few months and remain uninformed on road transport matters. In the last instance road transport, along with every other industry of importance, is founded upon a market, upon the vehicles, accessories, commodities and services which have grown up over many years in response to the needs of road transport operation. The modern producer is always a specialist and specialization is possible only because the specialists co-operate. From all these specialities is the industry built up, and the knowledge and ability to correlate them is an understanding of road transport itself. At the very centre of this good work is the trade and technical journal, acting as the signpost to every branch of the industry.
The good engineer and the sound operator, both, in the first place, are excellent and discerning buyers, buyers who know their markets and the conditions under which they have to work. It is obvious, therefore, that the advertisement section is almost as instructive as the editorial, and the wise reader peruses both. Advertisers would do well to remember this and bear in mind, too, that the life of an advertisement is not one week, but may be as long as the life of the reader, and may grow in poteney as he climbs in the industry, Help given to students through informed advertising may thus yield sound returns many years afterwards.