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Road Transport's 26 per cent Increase in Four Years
Page 7
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THE transport of goods by road. measured in ton-.miles, increased by over a quarter between 1958 and 1962: of the 26 per cent increase, more than half was accounted for by C-licensed vehicles,
• which carried neatly 2 m. tons more goods and operated 82 m. more ton-miles during a • typical week in April, 1962, than in a similar period of 1958. These facts—and many more—are revealed by last year's survey of road transport, preliminary results of which were issued on Monday by the Ministry of Transport. Results 'Of a fuller survey covering four separate sample weeks up to January, 1963. will be published towards the end of this year.
During the four-year period 1958-1962, for which the survey offers comparisons, Aand B-licensed traffic rose' less than C-licensed, the public carriers hauling nearly a million tons more and operating 59 M. more ton-miles in a 1962 week than in a comparable week in 1958. The most striking aspect was the rate of increase in Contract A work, 1958 and 1462 figures being 41 m. ton-miles and 67 m. ton-miles respectively. B-licence traffic also rose sharply, from 50 m. ton-miles to 71 rn. ton-Miles. Ordinary A-licence tonmileage increased by only 7 per cent over the period, and the number of vehicles was almost unchanged hut, by contrast. Contract A vehicles increased by 8,000 (or 40 per cent) and B-licensed vehicles by 7,000 (11 per cent).
During the 1962 survey week C-licensed vehicles carried about 60 per cent of the total tonnage moved by road, operating 50 per cent of the total ton-mileage; about 60 per cent of this C-licence work was done by the 165,000 or so heavy vehicles (over 3 tons unladen) which form only a small part of the C-licence total of about If m. This trend was matched in the haulage field, where vehicles on A, Contract A and B licence increased by more than 60 per cent in the over 3-ton categories and by 40 per cent in the 5 tons and over classes. About 3+ m. loads were handled by goods vehicles employed on " end-toend " work, the carriage of a single load to a single destination, during the survey week in April, 1962. Over 9 m. " intermediate " journeys were made, that is, trips on which goods were picked up or set down at several points. The total tonnage moved by road in the week was 25 in. tons, about 85 per cent of it over distances of less than 50 miles. Some 2 m. tons was carried on hauls of 50 to 100 miles and between 1 and 1+ m.,tons on long-distance runs of 100 miles or More. About half the tonnage on the long-distance hauls was carried by Alicensed vehicles.
The survey shows that two-thirds of the total transport work during the week was done by vehicles weighing over 3 tons unladen and these operated more than three-quarters of the total ton-mileage, even though they amounted to only about a fifth of all goods vehicles. Most of these heavy vehicles are platform or sided vehicles or tippers, nine-tenths of them are diesel-engined, about 14 per cent are artics and nearly half of them are estimated to he not more than three years The survey showed that only about 3 per cent (I rn, tons) of C-licence traffic was carried on hauls of 100 miles or more; more than 40 per cent of the total C-licence work was done on " stopping " journeys.
For the first time, the survey analyses C-licensed vehicles according to the industries they serve; this shows that perhaps 50 per cent of all C work is done in the distributive trades and in the food, drink and tobacco industries. A further 20 per cent falls in a group including building and construction and the brick, cement and allied industries.
The survey shows that although road and rail together were carrying about 13 per cent more inland freight in 1962 than in 1958, road transport's share of the traffic rose from 60 per cent to 70 per cent and the rail percentage thus dropped from 40 to 30. The report stresses that this is an over-simplification, since a great deal of the road ton-mileage was generated over short distances; the average road haul is about 25 miles, the average rail haul 70 miles, and, for general merchandise, 135 miles. -Road haulage for distances of more than -100 miles was equivalent to about two-thirds of the total ton-mileage of all freight carried by rail; C-licence transport accounted for about a quarter of this long-distance road traffic.
The more rapid growth of road trans, port than of rail freight in recent years, says the report, seems to arise 'asP much from growth in activities which depend on the services of road transport as from actual switches of traffic from rail to road. A very large part of rail freight is generated by the coal and steel industries, a traffic which declined by 12 per cent between 1958 and 1962. Excluding coal, iron and steel materials and products, rail carriage showed only a small decline.
Copies of the report are obtainable from Room 6/28, Statistics Division, Ministry of Transport? St. Christopher House, Southwark Street, London, SE.!, price 2s. 6d. net.
Hauliers Will Fight Reria.tionalization .1-1. A WARNING to Mr. Harold Wilson,
new Labour Party chief, that if he thought of renationalizing road haulage, the industry would fight him "all the way " was given last week by Councillor William Bridge, a leading York haulier.
Mr. Bridge, area chairman of the Road Haulage Association, was speaking at the annual dinner and' dance of the Association's York sub-area, which was held at Harrogate. He said that as an association, the R.H.A. would work' with any Ciovernment which would leave hauliers to run their' businesses their own way.
The R.H.A., said Mr. Bridge, was anxious to work with British Railways, but he felt it would be a good thing if ihe railways could make a gesture, and give road hauliers some kind of lead.