Remove Those Rose-tinted Spectacles
Page 42
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THE letter from Mr. T. D. Fitzgerald, published in your issue dated August 4, cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.
First of all, an opinion arrived at from within is bound to have its limitations. Also a forecast of a happy future is small comfort to the sceptics who are battling with the problems of the day.
Let Mr. Fitzgerald explain why the railways and the road haulage concerns acquired by the Government are operating at a loss—and an increasing loss year by year—with no improvement of service and little hope of it. I agree that these services remain under the operational direction of their former executives, but Mr. Fitzgerald must, likewise, admit that these men are not free agents and that they are over-ruled by a superior authority.
Is it not, also, the same old story of an entire change of complex in a hitherto perfectly good business man as soon as he becomes " officialized "7
Mr. Fitzgerald should ascertain what the average executive take-over, whose mind has not yet become benumbed by red tape, thinks of the numerous returns with which he now has to grapple, not excluding the one which purports to disclose the number of non-vehicle-working days over a period. He should, also, discover whether remote control, as exercised at group headquarters, is a practical
r6 ' proposition and to what extent it is responsible for confusion and uneconomic operation.
With all respect to a famous and gallant Corps, the next time Mr. Fitzgerald chooses to unburden himself on this subject, he should "tell it to the Marines" and not to the readers of "The Commercial Motor," who happen to be realists.
London, S.W.11. E. H. B. PALMER.
DISSATISFIED WITH RESTRICTED ORIGINAL PERMIT
AN original permit for certain goods only has been granted to me for a 50-mile radiUs from my base. I used to think that the word " original " meant that one could carry on as before, except for the mileage restriction.
Formerly I had an A licence for all classes of goods.
Admittedly, the 50-mile radius is a little better than the 25 miles, but its value is much reduced by the stipulation as to the loads carried. It would seem almost better if we "free" hauliers were taken over and put out of our pain if we cannot be given original permits on the basis of the Road and Rail Traffic Act of 1931. At least let us. have half of a square deal!
Fochabers. • A. Ross.