"Simplefor Selwyn"
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TH. ERE was one simple step Mr. I Selwyn Lloyd could take to help the West Country and that was to make a substantial reduction in the present taxes on road transport,. declared Mr. D. 0. Good, a national vice-chairman of the Road Haulage Association, at the annual dinner of the association's mid-Cornwall sub-area at Newquay last Friday.
"Transport," said Mr. Good, "must always be a problem to trade and industry down here. Because of the long distances involved, it is bound to cost more to send our products to the big centres of population.
"Road operators in Devon and Cornwall, I am proud to say, use every possible device to keep their costs down, "However, whatever hauliers are able to do, their transport costs must go up if the Chancellor continues to regard road transport as merely a ankh cow. This has certainly been the policy over the past twelve months. In last year's Budget the Chancellor increased vehicle licence fees by 20 per cent., and put a tax on lubricating oils in common with other industrial oils. In his Little Budget later in the year he increased fuel tax by 3d. to 2s, 9d. a gallon. These extras had to be paid on every bit of traffic to and from the West Country.
"The time is overdue for some substantial relief. We take for granted that the Chancellor will take off the 3d. a gallon extra, which was, after all, only an emergency measure, but we wish to leave him with no illusion that we will be satisfied with that."
LANCASHIRE UNITED PROFIT
PROFIT of the Lancashire United
Transport, Ltd., Group for the year ended December 31 last was £79,885. The comparative figure for the previous year was £115,770.
MILK SCHEME EXTENDED
THE scheme recently introduced in the Oxford area for the bulk collection of milk from farms has been extended to the Basingstoke area. The extension will involve initially about another 10 producers and an extra daily gallonage of 1,500, bringing the total gallonage to 3,000 daily.
I.O.T. ANNUAL DINNER
IT is not enough to be a good transport
man—in isolation. Because transport is a means to an end in providing a service to other industries it must make itself familiar with their needs.
This was contended by Mr. John Hay, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Transport, at the well-attended annual dinner of the Institute of Transport held in London last week. He added that, with problems associated with entry into the Common Market ahead, the Institute had done well to choose a president elect --Mr. E. G. Whitaker—who as transport adviser to Unilever, Ltd., was particularly conversant with international transport operation.