Bird's Eye View
Page 58
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Happy Ships
The
Hawk
QOCIALIST M.P.s would probably rather not be told that r.--) the drivers employed by Hart's Transport think so well of their boss, Mr. Reginald J. Hart, and his wife, that they made presentations to them at the firm's annual dinner.
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Rawlings, of Andover, are also proud of the esteem of their drivers, who entertain them annually to dinner. On the last occasion their drivers combined with those of another local haulier, and the proprictois of the two businesses were the guests of their joint employees.
Although much larger, Simms Motor Units, Ltd., also obviously have the common touch. Since 1954 their labour turnover has been reduced from 29 per cent. to 17 per cent. Happy relationships of this kind between employers and employees deserve more publicity than they receive.
Progress
AFTER 30 years the Post Office have heard of the use of oil engines in road vehicles. More than that, they are actually trying them out. Careful tests have revealed that oilers are more economical than petrol-engined vans, but insufficient experience has been accumulated by the G.P.O. to make possible a comparison of maintenance costs.
Meanwhile, I look forward to hearing that bullock carts have been abandoned on Manchester to London postal deliveries.
Selling Transport
ft AR. E. R. L. FITZPAYNE, general manager of Glasgow IV! Transport Department, has gone to town with his latest annual report. The glazed cover carries a full-colour reproduction of a street scene in Glasgow, and the square-backed 85-page book contains some first-class half-tone pictures, as well as graphs. I wonder how much it cost to produce?
Gentlemen on Wheels-1
CANNOT recall having seen any of the London Brick CornI pany's drivers in the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition, yet they are among the best in Britain. I never fail to be impressed by their consideration for other road users. They should be entered in the competition, if only as an example to others.
Gentlemen on Wheels-2
THEY would find strong rivals in courtesy in Tate and Lyle's I drivers, who do so well in the competition every year. Tate and Lyle have had a delightful letter from an elderly man at Marlborough, who cycles every day on the Bath road in fear of death at the hands of what he describes as " monstrously bad" drivers of heavy vehicles.
I would like to put on record, before I am killed by one of the others, that I have never seen the slightest deviation by your drivers from the highest possible standards of courtesy. skill and safety," he writes.
Back-room Boy
WHO remembers the Sainsbury bus? It was a one-off job built at London Transport's Chiswick works and operated from Alperton on routes 18 and 83 for four years until the middle of 1954. It was novel in its day and had been designed to simplify maintenance. All parts of the body could be quickly detached through the use of bolts or patent fasteners.
The man who designed it in his spare time and then helped to build it-65-year-old Arthur William Sainsbury, foreman in the Chiswick experimental shop—retired last Friday after more than 47 years' service. As a back-room boy, he had worked on all types of London bus from the B to the Routemaster.
All Done. byMirrors
j THOUGHT I could report anyone until I listened to a talk on the future of the motor industry by Mr. Reay Geddes, Dunlop's managing director and son of Sir Eric of the Axe. I now admit defeat.
Apart from a condemnation of purchase tax on commercialvehicle chassis as indefensible—which isn't news, anyway—I can recall no positive statement by him. But I was charmed by Mr. Geddes' astringent and sometimes cynical wit, his mastery of innuendo and the throw-away, and his subtle, slightly apologetic delivery. When one can spend an evening with such a polished conversationalist, the future of the motor industry hardly seems to matter.
The Last Straw RELIG ION has now become an influence in local politics affecting transport in Eastbourne. It has been seriously suggested that in the municipal elections next May, Roman Catholics in Eastbourne should vote only for candidates who are in favour of the town council's paying the whole of the bus fares of children attending a new Catholic school at Bexhill.
There are enough transport troubles in Britain without importing Continental prejudices.