Yorkshire P.S.V. Operators Talk of the Future
Page 28
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
LAST week, the establishment of 14 joint central motor-coach booking offices in principal Yorkshire towns, by independent public-service vehicle operators, was suggested at a Leeds meeting of members of the Yorkshire Area of the Passenger Vehicle Operatons' Association. The idea was put forward by Mr. J. J. Granter, of Upton, during a discussion on policy after the election of officers and committee of the area, chairman of which is Councillor Robert Barr, of Leeds, chairman and managing director of Barr and Wallace Arnold Trust, Ltd.
Mr. Granter said that consideration of the opening of such offices was long overdue. If the project be started by excursions and tour § operators, apart from private hire, and the work was shared out to all operators participating in the movement, the results would decide the success of the scheme or otherwise. His opinion was that it would be a big step in the right direction for the smaller p.s.v. operators. Urging* that there must be more co-ordination among them, Mr. Granter cited the road hauliers' grouping movement anil remarked: " I think we could, at this stage, perhaps take a lesson from the smaller hauliers, who are beginning to work together instead of working against each other."
Mr. J. Wild, of Barnoldswick, raising the question of the times of departure of coaches on return journeys from seaside resorts such as Morecambe, Blackpool, Southport and Scarborough. Complained of very late departures in some instances before the war, He said that the biggest offenders in this regard were men who drove their own coaches and did not have to pay trade union wages.
N26 • • With reference to booking arrangements, Mr. Barr mentioned the co-operation by various p.s.v. concerns,' including his own, 'through a company formed to control booking 'agents in London. As to small operators, he thought that before the war many of them were boolling for one another, and it was a matter now of getting a better system of co-ordination regarding such matters as departure times, and prices for contract parties.
The Contract-carriage Position Mr. J. T. Rogers. of Leeds, said that one of the first jobs of the P.V.O.A. should be to take steps with the object of straightening out the contract-carriage position, which before the war was chaotio. He agreed that any further measure of Government interference with the industry was undesirable.
Mr. A. Rowe, of Cudworth, said that one factor which had contributed to price-cutting on contract-carriage work before the war was the use of oilengine(' vehicles by " combine companies, who thus had the advantage of loiver fuel costs, as compared with operation of the petrol-driven coach.
Mr. E. L. Thompson, of Swinefleet. Goole, commented that •a point which had not been touched upon was the -prewar fares anomaly whereby some operators were allowed to issue a weekly unlimited travel ticket at a price of, say, Sc. 6d. for five days, whilst other operators in the same town were denied this facility and therefore, had to charge anything from 6s, 6d. to 8s: 6d. per day for journeys in the area covered by the weekly tickets A licensing suggestion was made-. by one speaker, who expressed the view that the pre-war licensing-court system was not a democratic method of dealing with licence applications. In his opinion, after the applicant and the objectors had offered their evidence, the responsibility for granting or refusing a licence should rest not with One individual but with a panel of interested, people, on which labour' would be represented, During a discussion concerning arrangements for meetings in the area, Mr. Barr suggested the development of p.s.v, operators' discussion groups in various towns, on the lines of those among farmers, with lectures on such subjects as vehicle maintenance, and the organization of excursions and tours. He thought lecturers could be found from among members of the industry.
Councillor Charles Holdsworth, of Halifax, chairman of the West Riding (Leeds) Area of the RI-LA., ,rho presided until the election of Mr. Barr as chairman, said that consummation of the Perry merger gcheme had given independent p.s.v. operators in Yorkshire. a golden opportunity for getting together.
In responding to his election to the chairmanship, Mr. Barr said that it should be the aim of the new organization to implement the principle for which our men in the Forces were fighting—the principle of freedom, That could be done, he suggested, only by maintaining private enterprise in this country, as against the restrictions of na tionalization.
Mr. Robert -Hanson, proprietor of Hanson's Buses, Ltd., Huddersfield, was elected vice-chairman of the area.