Opinions and Queries
Page 54
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Let the Minister Know
'YOU are to be congratulated on the forthright manner in which you have dealt with the proposals for new regulations to be made by the Minister of Transport with regard to abnormal loads. As you pointed out, in your leader of December 9, the Minister is trying further to restrict our transport, instead of dealing with the real problem, which is the roads themselves.
We would like to give three instances where these new regulations would be impossible of implementation, except at great loss or inconvenience to the customers concerned.
One of the jobs we do is the carriage of ships propellers from the docks to various engineering works for repair. 'It is often not known until a ship is in dry dock as to whether its propeller has to be removed and, if so, it is then a rush job, because the ship is usually it) dock for only a few days. If 21 days' notice had to be given in this instance, it would completely disorganize things for the shipping companies and would cost an enormous sum of money.
Other work done is the carriage of contractors' plant to the docks from the manufacturers. In this, quite frequently, the manufacturer does not know when the consignment has to be delivered, as he is awaiting shipping instructions. Often this type of plant has to be moved with notice of only a day or so. Again 21 days' notice would be completely impossible.
Whereas the previous two classes of job involve widths of over 12 ft., we also have another type of work which mainly concerns the length of the load and the vehiele. This is in connection with a very important job at an airport. Goods of extreme length come in by air and we have built a specially long vehicle to house these. [The vehicle was illustrated in The Commercial Motor on August 12. The goods arc submarine-cable repeaters worth £50,000 each.] We are given only a few hours' 'notice of the arrival of an aircraft with these goods on board, let alone the opportunity to wait 21 days for such a movement. Here again it would be completely impossible to
work under the proposed regulations, should they be implemented.
It. is hoped that a vast body of opinion will let. its views be known in no uncertain terms by the Minister before January 14, so that he can be made to see that he should not proceed with his proposed regulations.
R. B. BRIT-LAIN, Director.
South Benfleet, Essex. Essex Carriers, Ltd.
What Does Mr. Jordan Want?
Air R. C. E. JORDAN must make up his mind what it is "I he wants. Two weeks ago he was giving a warning
that the British Transport Commission might have a quasi-monopoly of trunk services, so that British Road Services and the railways could gang up to dictate the mode of transport and deprive the users of their freedom of choice.
A week later he is deploring the lack of any disposition on the part of hauliers to shed their independence, and accusing the Road Haulage Association of impotence for failing to concert any measure of co-ordination within its ranks.
If Mr. Jordan cannot agree with himself, still less can he claim that the chambers of commerce are in agree
ment with whatever policy it is that he is advocating. He can scarcely deny that the official policy of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, which often appears to be hostile to the independent haulier, is not a true reflection of the opinions held by the individual chambers up and down the country.
There may be room for some further measure of co-ordination among hauliers, but plans to achieve this
are not helped by the new Bill, which denies hauliers the long-distance vehicles they need to build up the services Mr. Jordan seems to find lacking.
London, W.1. R. MORTON MITCOELL,
Chief Executive Officer, Road Haulage Association..