I YOUR OPINION
Page 75
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Unhappy Situation
HYSLOP'S timely exposition, in The Commercial fotor August 6, of the failing commercial judgment EC is doubly welcome as it draws attention at the time to the dangerously dominant position of the rid Motor Corporation in the " heavies " sector, a lance given added weight by the recently concluded rent with the Transport Holding Company.
operators in particular surely cannot be happy with ation which leaves them a choice of only two main facturing groups, one of which is so all-powerful that always looms the unhappy possibility that it could le the sole supplier. It is a matter which long ago
I have been investigated by the Monopolies Cornin and one wonders whether it is yet too late for that to take an interest.
history of the AEC/Leyland merger is proof, if e needed, that apparent prosperity is no guide to the :ss fortunes of a company: an investigation of this might at least prevent a disastrous repetition. It also produce some pertinent information concerning iotives governing AEC's decision not to develop a Jouble-deck model competitive with the Atlantean, produce instead a design based on a layout already appeal.
S decision was presumably taken at or about the time iegotiations for the merger started, and one is driven cormlusion that the two events were in some way :cted. Cynical though this view may be, there has to
be some rational explanation for the apparently sudden loss of commercial " know-how" by a company with a long and noble tradition of progressive design policies behind i I.
Perhaps 1 am wrong --certainly the fact that vital information about the specification of the Swift should come to light only through the medium of a footnote to Mr. Hyslop's letter does seem to suggest a lack of drive somewhere. Or is that deliberate too?
London, SW15. K. W. GLAZIER.
Information on Mudflaps
WOULD like to correct some statements made in the A letter you published on July 23 from Mr. E. Woodbridge to the Ministry of Transport.
I. It is possible to fit mudflapS to tippers providing they are the right type of flap.
2. Although the problems of spray are not completely solved by mudflaps. they do give a considerable improvement, providing they are of adequate size and fitted correctly.
3. Window-washers by themselves are not the best solution to the spray problem. Has Mr. Woodbridge travelled behind a lorry without mudflaps on a very wet motorway or muddy road?
We have considerable experience in mudflap design and cannot stress too highly the importance of correct type, size, distance from ground and so on. Our advice is freely a41