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OPINIONS and QUERIES , WHY NOT A TAX ON A VEHICLE'S PAY-LOAD?

22nd September 1944
Page 31
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Page 31, 22nd September 1944 — OPINIONS and QUERIES , WHY NOT A TAX ON A VEHICLE'S PAY-LOAD?
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

I T would appear that the various people who are engaged in trying to find the right answer to the taxation problem are not making much headway; perhaps the following suggestions may interest them.

First and foretnost, let it be recognized that the Government, by hook or by crook, intends to exact its pound of flesh from the users of the road. Therefore, it is only common justice to expect that those who use the roads most shall pay accordingly, and for this reason the fuel tax should be maintained.

In the case of goods vehicles, surely the only fair way is to tax the pay-load carried, beginning at 5 cwt. and increasing by 5 cwt. up to the maximum load, the amount of tax charged to be comparable with that at present charged on unladen weight.

If the tax be on pay-load it would enable manufacturers to build the right vehicles for the job without endangering the safety limit by cutting a few pounds of weight here and there. Also it would solve the problem of overloading, which, incidentally, will return to us with the other blessings peace will bring.

All that would be necessary is a plate fixed by the manufacturer Stating the pay-load 'and this, in turn, to be put on to the Road Fund licence. In the case of private and passenger vehicles the same principle would apply, the tax to be on the number of seats. For a long

time there have been restrictions on the number of people allowed to ride in public-service vehicles. This, apparently, does not apply to private cars and, if you can pack 10 persons into an Austin .7 well, the policeman will only smile. I.suggest, therefore, that a car should be plated with the number of seats and taxed accordingly.

The present tax method IS out of date as it has little bearing on The pelformance of the car. When we all get back on the road it will not matter whether the vehicle is of 30 h.p. or 7 h.p., because you will not travel any

faster (unless they give us new roads). " Possibly, that great army of commercial traVellers

which keeps us enlightened in many ways, will consider • some concessions are due to it. Well, I am sorry to say the only thing I can suggest is : "if you don't like it, go by rail." BRISTOL HAULIER. Glutton SOFT SOLDERING VERSUS L.T. WELDING OF ALUMINIUM I N your issue dated September IL you published an article dealing with a range of proprietary filler rods designed to facilitate controlled welding operations of light alloys. I was very interested in the zinc-base alloy melting between 250 degrees C. and 350 degrees C. Commendably enough, it was stated that the corrosion resistance of this material was, in fact, not as good

as that of aluminium itself, a point often overlooked in accounts of this sort. Over a space of several years, I have frequently seen notes on the ease with which aluminium may be soldered, providing that the right technique be adopted.

Metallurgical literature from 1900 onwards contains frequent references to alloys of the most weird and wonderful compositions, " guaranteed" by the makers to join aluminium to itself or to anything else. Such alloys, usually of the zinc-base or tin-base type, were commonly compounded with additions of cadmium, arsenic or antimony, or all three, and did, in fact, do what the manufacturers said they would do. Unfortunately, the join was not permanent.

Attempts to manufacture a low-temperature welding alloy would seem to suffer from the same disadvantages as those at present attached to the so-called soft solders for light metals. It is, surely, high time that aluminium technologists, or bodies such as the Wrought Light Alloys Development Association set to work seriously to develop a composition suitable for practical use.

Bedford. SMALL WELDER.

MR. G. W. LUCAS AND THE M.AA.'S MEMORANDUM WITH. reference to the letter which appeared in your issue dated August 25, I am obliged to Mr. J. M. Birch for not accusing me of being " deliberately deceitful," and to that I would add that neither am I forgetful. The quotation from the memorandum which. the Motor Agents'. Association submitted to the Board of Trade on June 24, 1942, Which your correspondent. takes out of its context, is well known to me.

If Mr. Birch, and others of like mind, will focus attention upon the word "redundant," which is used in the paragraph he quotes, his conception of the proposals of the Association may become a little broader than they appear to be at present. GEORGE W. LUCAS, President, The Motor Agents' Association, Ltd. London, W 1 .

WASTE MILEAGE UNDER M.O.W.T.'S ROAD HAULAGE SCHEME .fWC5 long-distance lorries in which I am interested have, since the war started, run an average of 1,0001,200 miles each per week with a record of under 5 per cent. empty mileage. On August I last, the M.O.W.T., at Preston, took the traffic, presumably so that it could run it to the country's greater benefit. These two lorries are based in Lancaster and have handled the traffic here mentioned for 4.1 years. Here are two instances of M.O.W.T. " benefit " that have ensued; both have occurred within the past month. They could be a useful addition to Capt. Strickland's book.

Item 1: 14 tons in Lancaster for the south-east. Preston R.H.O. sent an empty lorry from Preston. It picked up 6 tons and went on its way, but, at Preston, the R.H.O. turned it back the net day, with its load, to the same loading point, this time towing an empty trailer. The trailer picked up '3 or 4 tons, and lorry and trailer started off again. A day later another lorry ran empty from Presten for the balance of the consignment. It is 22 miles from Preston R.H.O. to the loading point.

Item 2: 4 tons in Lancaster for the south-west. Preston R.H.O. has an empty lorry at Barrow, and it is sent for. It ran 66 miles empty to Preston, and Preston R.H.O. sent it 22 miles back over the same road to Lancaster. It got to the loading point after the factory had closed. (It is believed -that the lorry went back to Preston for the night, but this is-not verified.) However, it was loaded the following morning. Even if it stayed in Lancaster over-night the country " benefited" by 88 miles of waste running.

A good tail-piece to this was uttered by an R.H.O. official in an interview with the undersigned. His words were : "I am not interested in the economy of the scheme, 1 am concerned only in running it as laid down." Is he a success?

If the people of this country only knew the " benefits " conferred upon them by the M.O.VV.T: they would hold a day of thanksgiving that thiS Ministry has not had its great grab functioning for all the five years of war, • SMALL HAULIER. Lancaster.

. AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF ANTIDAZZLE MASK THE details of the gravity-controlled head-lamp mask, which appeared in your August 11 issue, are interesting, but I would like to draw your attention to the fact that, where the head-lamp nask concerned is a Seymour, the point is a minor one. The Seymour anti-dazzle mask has a shallow depth, and-the road undulations and slopes of hills are hardly noticed when driving. True, there is a point at which one lonks directly into the rays, and no amount of screening can eliminate this, apart from cutting off all the light. It is possible to look up at the Seymour mask and still be below the rays of light and, therefore, free from dazzle. R. H. ARMSTRONG, Seymour Products (Ashton), Ltd. Lancashire.


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