They've Never Heard of Road Haulage !
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mANUFACTURERS quickly voiced their alarm and disappointment when the Postmaster-General announced a curtailment of the Post Office parcel service because of the accumulation of arrears of mail following the " work-to-rule" campaign.
All those with an interest in transport operation must have found the announcements made by television, radio and the " dailies " about this curtailment disappointing for another reason. It seemed inexplicable that, when such announcemenis were made, there should have been no reference whatever to the alternative services which the public could use, whether by private enterprise express carriers, British Road Services' parcels division, or British Railways. It is all the more surprising since several of these services have been established for around 100 years or more.
There still seems to be some leeway to be made up before the activities of the road transport industry become common knowledge in every household.
Belt Up
A COMMERCIAL-VEHICLE body experimental engineer 1-1 of my acquaintance has some rather fixed ideas about the value of seat belts in lorry cabs. Re feels that in many emergencies a driver would be a lot safer if he were not " tied " to his cab, being of the opinion that in the event of, say, a headon collision the driver's chances of escaping fatal injury would
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be better if he were thrown out through the windscreen if he could not get out of the cab and the load came for and crushed him.
Maybe there is something in this, but I cannot see the belt manufacturers advocating the theory.
So Impar
APARAGRAPH from a chairman's statement circu last week reads: "In my opinion, any policy v results in steelmakers being unable to earn an adequate r on capital employed has very serious implications -fo: future of the steel industry."
Strangely enough, the company concerned is "in ste4
• and Lower
rate things are going it looks as though in a few ' time all new commercial vehicles of up to 5 tons will be on 16-in.-diameter wheels. Already B.M.C. ord are making considerable use of this small-diameter it, and at least one other concern will be announcing
■ ti theie wheels soon, whilst yet another company has Mal vehicles thus equipped.
o be hoped. that differences in height between body
d loading banks will not present undue difficulties.
9rgotten
f, three weeks ago. I referred to Jaguar cornering the iner-engined double-deck bus market, I forgot the 2: Atkinson double-decker still in operation with the ge, Mossley, Hyde and Dukinfield undertaking— is does have a Gardner power unit. So Sir William Desn't quite have the monopoly I thought he did. on also, of course, offer single-deckers with Gardner A number are in service with Lancashire United
and North Western Road Car, and some with
Your Pick
H way did United States truck production go last —up or down? The New York Herald Tribune said 1961 truck output was off 71,579 units." Two days Journal of Commerce said: "Truck output rose in ve the preceding year's total."