1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136 
Bird's eye view
Page 60
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
* On getting the sack
"Appointments and situations" is a wellthumbed section of CM so I'm told; people even go to the extent of checking to see whether their own jobs are being advertised!
So I was amused to read the results of a recent survey by consultants in the art of job selling. Out of 100 cases analysed the reason for no less than 50 applicants leaving their jobs was simple—they'd been fired, and 16 per cent of those for incompetence. Apart from these the others had left through being dissatisfied with pay and conditions or —ever hopeful—wanted better and more interesting jobs.
A typical bunch of drivers you might well be saying—or even impecunious transport managers. Not so. They were all directors and the consultants concerned specialized in "ads" for £5,000 to £10,000 a year executives!
* Double harness
Are there any husband and wife driving teams in Britain? I learn from Transport Topics, of Washington, DC, that ClayHyder Truck Lines Inc., of Auburndale, Florida, employs Rod and Kay Pickier as 50-ton tank wagon drivers on a twiceweekly service—hauling orange juice— to New York. Rod attended the North Carolina Truck Driver Training School which is sponsored by the State University Division of Continuing Education (RTTFB please note!)
Kay wanted to take a similar course but was turned down "because the last gal who wanted to learn how to drive a truck at the school learned instead how to turn down passes from male enrollees, and the whole program went off course. Never again, said the instructor."
So Kay was taught to drive by her husband and in seven months of marriage logged 130,000 miles. Mrs. Pickier travels light with two changes of uniform and a few cosmetics. The couple "stop at only the finest of truck stops". Kay, as second driver, earns one per cent less than her husband.
Rod now hopes to persuade his wife to compete in the National Truck Roadeo sponsored by American Trucking Associations. That this lady driver story is no flash in the pan is indicated by a report that the Truck Driver Training School Inc., of Huntley, Illinois, has trained over 20 women drivers on "heavies". Some of the recruits have achieved remarkable grades and on several occasions had the highest score.
One lady driver trained recently has the black belt in judo, is a Master in Economics and a licensed pilot. Another lady driving graduate drives a Diamond T with a Cummins 250 engine and 15-speed Road Ranger transmission. Laugh that off, you men!
* Horse sense?
You may, like me, be astonished to hear that the demand for heavy horses is increasing. The constantly rising costs of running motor vehicles has caused some people to look into the costs of using heavy horses for short-haul work. Work study consultants who have costed this matter for two breweries have come up with some very enlightening results.
Those old enough in the teeth to have had experience of working a number of horses can be excused a form of nostalgia for this return to the good (?) old days. Apart from the people carrying their own goods, could one literally drive a wagon-and-horses through the licensing laws, by becoming general carriers on short-haul work?
* Launching out
Wanted! Eighty or even 160 commercial vehicle enthusiasts. Qualification: 15s a year. Reason: the Commercial Vehicle and Road Transport Club, formed by Norman J. Painting of Birmingham three years ago—as a result of a letter in CM—feels it's time to launch a campaign to double or even treble membership.
Benefits: the club's monthly journal containing a free photograph and articles aimed at road transport enthusiaqs and Operators.
The journal editor, D. N. Miller, tells me that things are looking up and membership is being divided into three areas. A club badge is being designed. I suggest anyone interested writes to the secretary, Alan Castle, of 79 Stonesteads Way, Bromley Cross, near Bolton, Lancs.