A. R. Butt is New R.H.A. Chairman
Page 30
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
MR. A. R, BUTT is the national chairman of the Road Haulage Association for 1964-65. He was elected by the new national council at its first meeting in London on Thursday of last week, and succeeds Mr. D. 0. Good (Pioneer Haulage Ltd., Beer, Devon), who had been chairman for the past two years.
Mr. Butt is managing director of Morris Transport Ltd., of Sutton Coldfield, whose activities include long-distance work, local haulage and the operation of low-loaders. He joined the undertaking in 1946 after R.A.F. service during the war and had previously gained experience in industry, rail transport and insurance.
The new chairman has held many important positions in the Association and has been a vice-chairman since May, 1961. He has served for many years on the national council, on the executive and finance committees and on the committee of the West Midland area of which he was chairman in 1953-4 and 1958-9. Among his activities outside the R.H.A., Mr. Butt is a past national chairman of the Transport Managers' Club and has been a member of the West Midland Maintenance Advisory Committee since its inception. His personal interests include aid to discharged prisoners, flyfishing, political meetings of all parties and scouting.
Following the appointment of Mr. Butt, the national council re-elected Mr. H. Bell (Bell and Co. (Transport) Ltd., Edinburgh), Mr. R. Clifford (R. Clifford Ltd.. Seaham, Co. Durham) and Mr. P. Ft, R. Turner (Thomas Allen Ltd., London) as vice-chairmen. They also appointed a new vice-chairman, Mr. J. A. Murly, chairman of 1. Leftley Ltd. and Continental Ferry Trailers. Both these Barking-based companies are in the Transport Development Group; Mr. Murly was a pioneer in the development of roll-on/roll-off cross-Channel operations and has been chairman of the R.H.A. international group since it was set up some years ago.
The chairman and vice-chairmen are ex officio members of the Association's executive and finance committees and the immediate past chairman, Mr. Good. is ex officio member of the executive committee.
The appointment of two national committees was one of the first tasks of the 024
1964-65 national council; as well as the ex officio members referred to in the previous column, the executive committee has the following area representatives: Mr. A. Dunn (Scotland); Mr. R. Durham (Northern); Mr. W. Bridge (Yorkshire (Leeds)); Mr, B. Rhodes (Yorkshire (Sheffield)); Mr. G. Reader (Yorkshire (Hull)); Mr. J. Hoiden (North Western (Eastern)); Mr. R. S. Heaton (North Western (Western)); Mr. H. Bradshaw (East Midland); Mr. D. R. Miers (West Midland); Mr, R. M. Jones (South Wales); Mr. G. R. Gardner (Western); Mr. II. F. Whitton (Devon and Cornwall); Mr. R. C. Burnett (Southern); Mr. C. Robinson (Eastern); Mr. F. Wheeler and Mr. E. R. Taylor (Metropolitan and South Eastern).
Additional members of the executive committee are:
Mr. J. Alison, Mr. R. Atkins, Mr. R. B. Brittain, Mr. R. G. Crowther, Mr. A. J. Dale, Mr. R. H. Farmer, Mr. A. H. Gore, Mr. R. N. Ingram, Mr. J. B. Mitchell, Mr. N. T. O'Reilly, Mr. F. Rudman, Mr. A. Scott, Mr. J, P. Wells, Mr. N. R. Wynn.
The finance committee comprises the national chairman and vice-chairmen and these additional members:
Mr. R. G. Crowther, Mr. D. O. Good. Mr. R.. N. Ingram, Mr. J. B. Mitchell, Mr. N. T. O'Reilly.
Mr. Butt's first .official appearance as chairman was on Friday in Liverpool, when he spoke at the North Western area Ladies' Night. His main theme was the public impression of the road haulage industry and he said that members of the R.H.A. were, unfortunately, too often condemned for the dubious activities or sheer incompetence of other people. Members of the Association would be perfectly happy if they were judged on the conduct and appearance of their own vehicles and if, as occasionally happened. one of those vehicles was not all that it should be, the member concerned was prepared to accept a rebuke.
But it was frustrating that complaints about defective and smoking vehicles or discourteous drivers were used as evidence against goods vehicle operators as a whole and members of the Association in particular. The bona Me, properly licensed haulier had to maintain his vehicles well and study the interests of his drivers in order to give prompt service to trade and -industry. People, said Mr. Butt, tended to be more interested in the law-breaker than in the vast majority of law-abiding citizens; professional hauliers, including B,R,S,, had only about 190010 lorries on the roads out of a total of Im., so it was clear that they were quite regularly unfairly criticized.
Mr. Butt said that, as road users, hauliers could not always escape criticism but it would help if official statements could keep a proper balance, and statistics of vehicle faults should not always be left to tell their own story.
N.A.F.W.R. Conference A T the first bsession of the N.A.F.W.R. 1964 annual conference at Eastbourne, Mr. E. J. White will speak on: "The pattern of future licensing—where do we stand?" There will also be a talk on: "Do we get a fair return for our services? by Mr. F. W. H. Winwood, while a discussion on area representation on the executive council will be opened by Mr. G. R. Tannam. These will all be on the afternoon of the second day of the conference, which runs from June 2to 4, and on the third and last day there wilt be a morning session in which discussion groups will consider three subjects: "Is our equipment up to modern standards? "; "Trade .schools and education "; and "General comparison of internal removals in Great Britain with internal removals abroad ". On Friday, June 5, the a.g.m. of the B.A.O.F.R. will be followed by a conference session.