B.R.S. Strong on Point-of-sale:
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New Depot Opened
L'UNCTIONING of the Argyll I branch of British Road Services, which was described in detail in The Commercial Motor on May 10, was demonstrated last Friday when a new depot was opened at Campbeltown.
B.R.S. was an ordinary transport outfit which played its part in common with other carriers, wanted to pay its way and to compete on fair terms, said Maj.-Gen. G. N. Russell, B.R.S. chairman. Such an organization could not be run by remote control and the trimsport men on the ground needed authority to deal with customers without dictation from Glasgow or Whitehall, particularly the latter.
They had thought that the new establishment at Campbeltown was necessary as a proper terminal point for Argyll.'
Sir Duncan McCallum, M.P. for Argyll, said he had often used B.R.S. and although his location was difficult of approach, he had always experienced courtesy and efficiency. If there was to be more constant use of the CampbeltownLochgilphead road by B.R.S. lorries, it might be given trunk classification, so enabling him to close his file of complaints in that connection.
Support for the plea for trunk classification for the road came from Mr. James Amos, chairman of the Scottish Omni buses Group.
He believed that a difficult time was coming in Scotland. For that reason unions and managements must work together to secure efficiency.
Sir J. Landale Train, a member of the British Transport Commission, whose family had strong associations with Campbeltown, performed the official opening. The red tape across the entrance was broken by a Leyland Comet articulated vehicle carrying a full load of CampbeItown whisky that had been collected from the bonded store for the area and was being moved to Glasgow that night.
The new depot, which is at the junction of McCallum Street and Kinloch Road, close by the harbour, provides about 9,000 sq. ft. of covered working space. With the exception of an inspection pit, the floor arca is clear. There is no loading bank, as the policy will be to perform transhipment and other movement of goods by means of mechanical equipment and pallets. .
A Conveyancer fork-lift truck was already in use on Friday evening. The depot has an overhead clearance of 20 ft. Both front and rear entrances are fitted with power-operated, overheadnesting, balanced doors made by Overhead Doors (Gt. Britain), Ltd., of Aberdeen.
Approached by a separate entrance in Kinloch Road, as well as from the rear door of the depot; is 17.000 sq. ft. of hard parking space. A concrete wash, with power hoses, is included in this section.
At one side of the main entrance in Kinloch Road are the offices and on the other is the mess room.
At the outset the depot will handle about 140 tons of traffic daily and will be the terminal point for the overnight services that operate to and from the Argyll Group headquarters at Warroch Street, Glasgow. They travel by way of Lomondside, the Rest-and-be-Thankful road, Inverary, Lochgilphead and Tarbert, Warroch Street depot is the concentration point for traffic from all parts of the country destined for Argyll.
70% OF ALEXANDER SERVICES DO NOT PAY
OVER 70 per cent, of the services of W. Alexander and Sons, Ltd., were unremunerative, said Mr. R. Currie, for the company, before the Scottish Commissioners in Aberdeen last week. The company sought to make permanent the cuts in facilities which had been introduced at the time of the Suez Crisis.
Over all the services throughout the northern area, he said, the profit was barely Id. a mile.
Several north-eastern local authorities objected. Some of the proposals were sanctioned as they stood, but others were granted with modifications after agreement had been reached with the objectors. The Commissioners refused to sanction the permanent withdrawal of a weekly service between Aberdeen and Stonehaven, via Cookney.