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JANUS
Page 96
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WRITES
‘. . . the customers must make a radical change in their transport thinking'
pARLIAMENTARY procedure calling for the second and third reading of a document before it becomes Jaw might well be followed more generally with other publications, particularly with those that appear to have some importance. There is so much to read these days that we are not able to go back as often as we should like for another look. Our first impression remains with us, and we may not be conscious that we have missed something.
We are prepared to admit, however, that other productions besides pure works of art may have separate meanings at separate levels. This may well be the case with the first of the pamphlets issued by British Road Services and the Road Haulage Association as a gloss on their joint campaign• for quicker turn-round. The main subject of the pamphlet is the loading area and the buildings, yards and surroundings ancillary to it, but there is also an attempt at a deeper and more comprehensive significance.
Practical matters on which precise advice is given in the pamphlet include manceuvring space within a yard, the planning of the approaches to it, surface materials, lighting, door clearances and handling equipment. These things have been discussed before, although perhaps not sufficiently often outside specialized publications. The facts and figures are applicable to what may be described as general haulage, but for a wide range of road transport activities they would not fit.
Herein lies the necessity for presenting the material in the pamphlet on two levels. If it were possible to lay down exact conditions that every trader or manufacturer could follow when planning his loading area, the pamphlet would hardly have been required, and in fact the turn-round campaign would have been equally superfluous. It is because each factory, shop and port presents a different transport problem that hauliers have had to take the initiative in providing an advisory framework within which the different solutions can be worked out.
A RADICAL CHANGE
It is put as a "point of delicacy" in the introduction to the pamphlet that in the end the trader or manufacturer must find his own solution. "Much of the responsibility for the efficient operation of vehicles lies with the haulier's customers." There is more than a hint in the turn-round pamphlet that the customers must make a radical change in their transport thinking, and a first attempt at making such a change is to be found below the surface level of the pamphlet.
The theme, one assumes, is likely to recur throughout the series. It is not an easy one to explain, and in this respect the first pamphlet may not have been entirely successful. Towards the end, for example, stress is laid on the importance of providing adequate space for goods vehicles. Service roads at the rear of shopping parades, even if they are one-way, it is suggested, should be "wide
B42 enough for large vehicles to pass, without difficult others in the road which are loading or unloading ". addition, space for loading and unloading "should I provided off the public highway ". In the next paragrapl however, it is claimed that the measures proposed wi "decrease the need for space ". This presumably echol the contention at the very beginning of the pamphlet th space allocated for loading and unloading is often " fi more than would be required if the transport operatic was planned ".
Not every reader will grasp the point, although it described elsewhere in the pamphlet as a "paradox ". should at least give him food for thought. There al other phrases that a second reading may illuminate. T1 transport area of a manufacturer's premises, it is state, is "the one place that gives him those physical contac with the outside world without which his activities woul be meaningless ".
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
According to the pamphlet, his plans for improving ti facilities can be greatly assisted "by an enlightened loc authority ". The local authorities might also have som+ thing to learn from the pamphlet. They will always hal greater difficulty in catering for the goods vehicle than coping with the private car. Unduly harsh restriction 4 the motorist is at least practicable, if not sound.
Comparison of the steps so far taken helps to show tl difference. In parking meter zones, cars are not allowed I stand except where authorized, for a limited time and c payment of the appropriate fee; but spaces have had to left for lorries to load and unload. Although the policy fc car parks and lorry parks is obviously very much the sam there are variations when it comes to providing accomrm dation within industrial, commercial and other premise Local authorities are inclined to grant permission lc new development or reconstruction only on condition tit space is provided for a certain number of cars. The pri cedure presents no difficulty to the authority, whatever may do for the owner of the property. A simple formu will establish how much space is required for the cars th are to occupy it. What standards, however, can be adopt( for goods vehicles? Their sizes may vary, as well as ti number likely to be calling at any one time. The authoriti, may stipulate that provision should be sufficient to ensui that the vehicles do not have to load or unload in ti street, but this does not solve the whole problem.
The road haulage efficiency pamphlet will not give ti local authorities all the information they need. They ah must examine it at both levels. For some of them it rm suggest that, when new premises are planned, special stel should be taken to see that the transport arrangements a adequate. To this end, if the users of the property propo to employ a haulier, it would be a good idea to call hi in for consultation with the architects, the town planne and other interested parties.