Present Discontent
Page 61
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N4ANY a haulier at the present time would be prepared to give a discourse on the text that describes the unrighteous man as flourishing like green bay tree. An A or B licence is as inconvenient s a conscience, and a permit to carry by leave of British toad Services little short of a mockety, when so many ,eople, often blessed with neither a licence nor a permit, ppear to disregard the rules with impunity or with no ear of the consequences. To such people an occasional [ne may not be much of a deterrent, and they can face almly the risk of losing a licence they do not possess. The illegal carriage of goods by road is not a new rime. There is evidence of it all the way through from he beginning of the licensing system. What is new is he extent to which the flouting of the law has increased a the last year or so. Many traders who turned their lack on B.R.S. were hard put to it to find a legitimate Iternative. They made extensive use of the doubtful [evice of the C-hiring margin, and made few inquiries ato the antecedents of people offering to carry traffic. 'requently, they turned for assistance to firms describrig themselves as clearing houses, and the possibility if finding out what licence was held by the ultimate arrier of the goods became one degree more remote. There are some hauliers who need no encouragement o fulminate against clearing houses in general. They egard clearing houses as responsible for nearly all the roubles of the industry from rate-cutting to nationalizaion. They stoutly refuse to make use of a clearing Louse to secure traffic, but are usually not above doing . bit of sub-contracting themselves.
The Mushroom Firm
Although their dislike of clearing houses may be incere, it must be distinguished from the more general .ntipathy to a certain type of clearing house, launched vith the sole intention of making money quickly, by air means and often by foul, with no regard for the velfare of the hauliers, or for that matter of the traders. lie limited resources needed for setting up a clearing Louse encourage the mushroom firm and the fly-bytight; and the present unsettled phase provides the togus or dubious clearing house with an-ideal environnent.
The more responsible clearing houses, with established eputations to preserve, have already recognized the !anger, and are taking steps to identify themselves, so hat there will be less risk of traders or hauliers mis aking them for other firms who are debasing the iame of their. calling. The National Conference of toad Transport Clearing Houses will .no longer even :onsider an application for membership unless the firm las been in business for at least two years and is pre)ared to submit a certified balance sheet for the last wo years' trading.
The negative side of the Conference's stipulation is listrust of the rapid increase in the number of clearing louses .since the decline in the fortunes of British Road ;ervices. Recent history also forms the background of he code of conduct devised by the Road Haulage kssociation. The code requires fair rates, a commission tot exceeding 10 per cent., prompt payment of sub:ontractors, and reliable conditions of carriage. :tearing houses are to take reasonable care to contract only with adequately licensed hauliers; and the hauliers must carry out the work in a proper manner and respect the relationship between the customer and the clearing house.. It is an obvious assumption that each item in the code has been the subject of frequent complaint, and there is room for thought in the theatrical provision that a note confirming the rate to be paid shall be placed "in a sealed envelope to be handed to the driver at thetime the collection notes are received."
Criticism'of one or two details in the steps taken by the clearing houses does not affect the general desire that they will be successful. The problem of the illegal carrier, however, is becoming more and more serious and will certainly not decline until after the 25-mile limit is abolished at the end of 1954. In the meantime, the honest operator is exposed to an ever-growing temptation.
Freedom in Advance
The mileage restriction is the key to the problem. So far events seem to be bearing out the contentions of those hauliers who maintained that the restriction should be abolished as soon as the Transport Act became law. The possible adverse effect upon the sales of transport. units is debatable, although it was the Government's chief argument for delay., It would not be surprising if a resolution calling for the relaxation of the 25-mile limit were to come up for discussion at the October conference of the R.H.A. The Government cannot now give complete freedom in advance of the appointed day, but they can promote action that should help trade and industry as well as hauliers.
As a general idle, operators with original or substituted permits will keep them undisturbed until the passage of time makes them superfluous. Six months ago the Minister of Transport announced that the British Transport Commission were following a similar policy with ordinary permits, and that new permits would not be issued where the Commission were able to meet the customers' requirements. At the time, when traffic was scarce and the B.R.S. had a large number of superfluous vehicles laid up, the policy seemed reasonable and even generous, but it is now inadequate.
More permits could be made available without damaging the prospects of the buyers of transport units. This is particularly the case where traffic has left B.R.S. and there is no chance of getting it back. Anomalies in existing permits should also be put right. A notable source of trouble is to be found in the permit that enables the holder to carry goods from A to B. but denies him the right to bring a load back. Such a provision may or may not have served some purpose in the heyday of B.R.S. but seems more than ever pointless today. It is against all the instincts of a good haulier to forgo a return load, and the oddness of the situation is emphasized when B.R.S. claim so frequently and so proudly that they have succeeded in reducing the percentage of empty running. .
Perhaps General Robertson, coming with a fresh point of view to the problems of British transport, will do something about this temporary difficulty. It would be going too far to issue permits without stint, but a more liberal policy, used intelligently and with discretion, should help to keep the wheels moving until the end of next year.