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Keep Road Haulage Intact A QUESTION put by Sir Joseph Nall

23rd October 1942
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Page 15, 23rd October 1942 — Keep Road Haulage Intact A QUESTION put by Sir Joseph Nall
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

last week in the House of Commons reflects a feeling which is becoming very prevalent in the road-haulage industry. The Parliamentary Secretary to the M. of W.T. was asked if he would give an assurance that in any proposed modification of the Government Road Haulage Scheme no preferential treatment would be accorded to, nor ally monopolistic position conferred upon, any particular transport undertakings or classes of undertaking.

The answer, as is usual in such cases, was studiously vague, Mr. Noel-Baker stating that any modifications of the Scheme which may be made will be designed to promote the national war effort, and not to conserve the interests of particular undertakings or classes thereof.

Many haulage operators are growing anxious that the Minister should declare his policy as quickly as possible, although, at the sime time, they have a, probably not unjustified, fear that it will not be anything which they will be prepared to swallow with avidity.

What Will Be the Official Policy?

Certain of them are now linking up at least part of this policy with the report submitted to the Minister by Sir Frederick Heaton, and some of them believe that because Sir Frederick is himself concerned with very big interests, any new development may not be to the advantage of the small man. We do not believe for a moment that • Sir Frederick would propound views which, in his opinion, would in any way be against the national interest. We would also remind haulage operators that in the passenger-transport combine with which he is identified, the various constituent units enjoy a large measure of what may be termed self-Govermnent: Possibly, therefore, his recommendations may have been more towards some co-operative endeavour.

The battle to save the interests of the small man has already been fought in the sphere of,the retail trader, and it has, more or less, been won. The original idea of the Government, and even of the bigger people concerned in that branch of business, was practically to eliminate the small trader and to give him some measure of compensation from a form of pool. It has eVentually been decided that this system would have involved a tremendous amount of detail accountancy ; so, once more, the little man is to receive what is considered to be his fair share of what isgoing.

Haulage by road is largely in a position somewhat resembling that of the retail trade. It also 'comprises a comparotiVely small number of large concerns, together with many thousands of operators each possessing one or a few vehicles, and a good-many hundreds of owner-drivers.

Will Smaller Users Be Telescoped?

There-have, holkever, already been considerable inroads into the ranks of the smaller men, for whilst drivers have, in the majority clf cases, had their calling-up deferred, vehicle owners of military age have not been accorded the same privilege, with the result that the head has been cut from the body.

What is to be done in such cases? If we carry the simile a little farther and allude to the drivers of these forlorn vehicles as the limbs, we may say that these bodies have powers of locomotion but little sense of direction, and they are floundering about' in a quagmire. We have already received letters from drivers who have been asked to do what they can towards carrying on while the "heads" are away. Where the vehicles are suitable, we have suggested that the best course is to link them up with the Chartered Fleet ; in other cases, to endeavour to negotiate with more fortunate operators for, at least, a temporary . amalgamation. This is, however, rendered more difficult by the fact that with so much material being sent by rail, many users are finding themselves in the somewhat extraordinary position of possessing more vehicles than loads for them. What a change from only a few months ago, when there was a considerable dearth of vehicles !

This alteration in circumstances does not, however, by any means, apply to all operators. The slump in road hatilage—if so We may term it—is striking unevenly and unfairly. Many hauliers are still working all out, and their contracts are such that they Will be unlikely to " feel the draught," but hundreds of others are not in such a happy position.

Yet it is, in our view, of vital importance to the safety of the Nation that the haulage industry should be kept in being as a fully equipped transport force, which may, at any time, be called upon —and that, possibly, at a few hours' notice—to take over work which might well be even heavier than any with which it has had to deal so far.

No one can forecast what the enemy will do next. Hitler has promised retaliation for our extensive bombing. We cannot place any value upon his word, but it is within the bounds of possibility that, instead of concentrating upon our towns and cities, he may institute retaliatory measures upon a considerable part of our railway system. If that should turn out to be feasible and become an actuality, then the Government policy of sending everything possible by rail would have to be reversed, and the railways might well become ancillary to road transport.

It will do no good for the Nation to bury its head in the sand and merely hope for the best.

The Government, as represented in this case by the M. of W.T., must be fully prepared for all contingencies. The phrase that transport is the life blood of the Nation is becoming almost hackneyed, tut it is still as true as ever, and there is no denying the fact that of all our means for transport that by road is the most fluid ancl. versatile, whilst being less affected than any other by direct enemy action.

Is One G.E.P. Better than the Other ?

THERE is no longer any mystery attached to the deigns of the two new Government emergency gas producers. Not all the mystery, however, has been shed from the policy behind the decisions at which the M. of W.T. has arrived in this connection.

Uppermost in our mind is the question as to why two types which are fundamentally different have been selected. Clearly, producers of different sizes are desirable for 7-litre and 3-4-litre engines respectively, but surely, by now, the engineers who have been doing the research are clear in their minds as to whether the dry-blast type or the wetblast type is superior. It seems improbable that the requirements of the respective operating conditions are better met by using two types. One is compelled to surmise that the two principles are being employed with a view to compar ing performances. In other words, both plants are still in an experimental state. Would any commercial undertaking go into large-scale production with an experimental prototype?

Perhaps the tests have shown that the two designs are equally efficient. In the case of their respective filters this is, indeed, probably the case. If .so, in view of the emphasis that has been laid upon the importance of having a standard model for the sake of economic mass production, should not one design of plant have been chosen arbitrarily?

If one really be better than the o.ther—and we have a shrewd idea which that one is—why has goods transport been regarded as more important than passenger transport, or vice versa?

Then there is the matter of fuel. It is admitted by the Ministry that the producer with pre-heated wet blast can work on more kinds of fuel than the other. We know that high-temperature coke ha§ actually been used. Surely this alone marks it as superior. Special anthracite is in limited supply and its distribution involves much transport. Coke is a product of gas works all over the country.

Reverting to the question of mass-production, was it necessary to have different hopper and firebox covers on the two models? Their manufacture is a simple stamping operation and if they had been interchangeable the whole 20,000 (two per plant) could have been run off on one press.

If the excuse be used that there has not been time to evolve one ultimate and best design, we answer not only that there has been too much dillydallying during recent years, but also that "The Commercial Motor " and more than one independent individual, with foresight that is now proved to have been right and has been admitted as such by official statements and actions, urged, before the war started, a course that has now, at last, been taken, although perhaps rather more desperately than would have been necessary then.

However, few schemes of such magnitude as this are above criticism and we certainly give Sir Alfred Faulkner and his Directorate of Producer Gas Vehicles full marks for having quickly built up and put into motion the machinery for this widespread conversion of road transport to solid fuel. The organization for manufacture, distribution, installation and training of personnel, seems to have been wisely conceived and planned.


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