How the Opposition to the Manchester Bill wasOrganized.
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE SUCCESS which attended the opposition by road users to certain clauses in the General Powers Bill of the Manchester Corporation causes one, once again, to examine the oenstitution of the attacking forces, for herein .ie a valuable object-lesson in tactics, the teachings of which can, with advantage, be acted upon in any other district where the interests of road users are sought to be imperilled and their liberty of action threatened.
It will be remembered that the Corporation of Manchester, in its Bill, sought peWers to regulate the traffic, or any particular traffic, within the city, and to divert traffic, or any particular kinds of traffic, out of any street or streets. One sympathizes with the authorities in Manchester on the congestion of their streets, arising from their narrowness, and on the peculiarly heavy nature of the traffic using them. But, with human nature 'what it is and with official wisdom at its present level, only unfairness could result from any attempt to use such powers
as were sought. _
The body which bore the brunt of the battle, which conducted a scheme of propaganda amongst road users and which lodged one of the three petitions against the Bill, was one formed expressly for those purposes—the Manchester Committee of Road Users. It included the carriers, traction engine owners, team owners, horse) owners, commercial motor users, taxicab owners, and road transport workers, and it was supported in its opposition by the Federation of British Industries, the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, and the railway and canal companies. The Motor Legislation Committee co-ordinated its work with that of the Manchester Committee, so that the whole of the road and traffic interests were solidified in the opposition to the granting of the powers that were sought. The other petitions against the Bill were those lodged by the railway companies operating in Manchester and the National Alliance of Commercial Road Transport Associations. The railway companies and the Manchester Committee of Road Users were represented before the House of Lords Committee by counsel, Here we see where the strength of the opposition lay. The interests likely to be adversely affected by the powers, if they should be granted to the municipal body, were the ones with a, locus standi. Their representatives could speak with conviction, and their arguments would carry full weight. We feel that the Manchester Committee of Road Users not only gained a victory of immense importance to all users of roads within the area under the jurisdiction of the Manchester Corporation, but one which will advantageously affect the future of road transport. In other words, where traffic congestion occurs there must be found a better way out of the difficulty than the exclusion of certain traffie from certain streets. That better way is the widening of streets. and the provision of alternative routes. Rapid and unobstructed communication lies at the very root of civilization, and we realize that the cohesion among road users in the Manchester district brought about by the foundation of their committee will be maintained to the advantage of all concerned in the provision of the means for such communication.
Increasing Load Capacity Without Overloading.
0 VERLOADING is a far too prevalent evil which usually results in unsatisfactory service, breakdowns which normal loading would never cause, and, sometimes, fines by those local authorities in possession of weighbridges. A user often believes that it will not harm. a vehicle to overload it only occasionally, without realizing that, even if it be overloaded on one occasion only, this may he sufficient to overstress it to an extent which may cause irretrievable damage. A spring may be -stressed to a certain extent millions of times without rupture and without causing a permanent set, but overstress it once and it may be rendered almost, if not quite, useless, and the case of the motor vehicle as a whole is analogous. , For this reason we deprecate overloading most strongly, but we quite appreciate the wish of many users to be. able to carry greater loads on their lorries instead of being forced to purchase more vehicles or vehicles of greater capacity. There are two methods of achieving this end. One is to strengthen the chassis by the fitting of stronger springs, tyres of bigger section, plating the frame, and possibly lowering the final drive gear ratio m order not to overload the engine, but this is a somewhat unwise course to pursue, as it is not only expensive, but it does not take into consideration the extra stresses experienced by parts such as the clutch, gears, axles, steering, etc., which cannot well be strengthened. The second method is to reduce to the minimum, consistent with the necessary strength, the weight of all those parts of the chassis and body which will not suffer by so doing. In the vase ef bodies pardonlaxly, considerable weight can often be saved. One often sees chassis fitted with bodies which are palpably too heavily constructed for the loads which they are called upon to hold. If a. closed body is required, the canvas tilt may prove quite as useful as a heavy timber top, and the weight saved means that so much more paying Toad may be carried. In the. same way, it is not always necessary to make the lorry sides solid. They can be ribbed in a similar manner to the body designed for market gardeners. It is seldom possible in do much in lightening a. ,chassis; that is a matter for consideration whilst the vehicle is being designed and manufactured, but., whatever lightening may be effected, it must be remembered that the total weight of the vehicle when loaded must not exceed the total weight before the lightening took place. .
Howto Reduce Expensive Terminal Delays. AS a direct result of the coal strike, increasing numbers of manufacturing and trading concerns are turning their attention to the advantages presented by road motor vehicles for the conveyance of their goods. Many are finding there is nine') truth in the contention that they can ensure considerable saving both in time and cost as compared with railway transport, and' this in spite of the c6 • fact that the average large user does not employ his vehicles to the best advantage. This last may appear to be a bold and sweeping statement, but can those who may feel inclined to refute it state with accuracy that their motor vehicles are kept on the road for the maximum time each day1 in nearly every case they will find that far too much time is taken up by the processes of loading and unloading, and that, in many instances, steps could be taken to expedite these operations. Where the quantities of goods to be dealt with are not so great as to justify the expense of elaborate time-saving installations, delays may be obviated by preparing stacks of outward-going goods the ev.ening before, so that the vehicles can be loaded expeditiously the following morning; also simple and coinparatively cheap labour-saving and speeding-up appliances can be employed. In dases where large quantities of goods have to be loaded or unloaded, the installation of gravity or power conveyors., overhead runners, -chutes, or the use of suitable trolleys, may so reduce the time losses, and labour costs as to repay the initial expenditure in a remarkably short time. We, as a natien, are so conservative, that, in the majority of instances, we prefer to adhere to timehonoured but antique methods, and it requires prolonged consideration, or very forcible arguments, before new methods are adopted. This is all very well in its way, but the present' is an age of progress and we do not wish to be left behind. So many causes of delay occur in many transport organizations, that it is impossible here to enumerate them. Some of them are due to the congested state. of -buildings, which necessitates narrow entrances and exits, and small yards in which the vehicles can not be manceuvred without a considerable amount of difficulty. In such cases, improvements can &Adorn be effected without extensive alterations, but it may be found possible to remove portions of the walls in order to make loading bays and thus to allow more space for the vehicles entering and leaving. In an article which appears in this issue we draw attention to seine of the many methods and appliances which can be used to avoid time losses, to. economize in man-hours and thus to promote the efficiency of road transport.
The Advantage of an Analysis of the Taxation Returns.
ITILST the war was atill in progress, we put forward the suggestion that it might be well worth the while of the manufacturers a motor vehicles to compile, on the strength of information obtained confidentially from. all the leading firms, an estimate of the aggregate intended output of vehicles of various load or passenger carrying capacities. We felt that, if this aggregate estimate were made available, manufacturers having their own ideas as to the probable nature of the demand would be able to judge more accurately whether, when post-war production got into full swing, the supply would be roughly calculated to fill the demand in all quarters and not to flood the market with certain types and starve it of others-. So far as we are aware the suggestion was never adopted, perhaps because, at that time, the intentions of many manufacturers were too vague to. give much value to any information they might have been able to put in the, common stock ; partly perhaps because it was felt that, even if we knew what was going to he produced, we had not sufficiently accurate information as -to the real nature of the probable demand. Now, as to this latter, it occurs to us that figures must, by now, be in existence which would be very helpful if properly tabulated. The various authorities responsible for the licensing of all classes of m4!)tor vehicles must be aware, not only of the aggregate payment received in their district, but also of the broad types and the number of vehicles in each class from which these payments have been secured. Thus, for instance, an authority would be aware that so many commercial vehicles have paid £16 each, so many have paid 221 each, and so on. Now, if all these returns were collected and the totals worked out, we should know how many commercial vehicles are in Service weighing leas than one ton, how many weighing between one and two tons, and so on for each class. Similarly in respect of hackney carriages, we should knew the number of such vehicles in service providing approximately accommodaticn for any number of passengers according to taxation scale. These figures would, therefore, provide us with a fairly good estimate as to what has been proved to be wanted up to the present, and this would surely be a useful guide to those responsible for producing what will be wanted in the future. Motor owners are making a big contribution under the present scheme a taxation and it would seem reasonable that, so far as it is practicable, any, information inevitably obtained as a result of this taxation should be made available in such a way as to benefit those who have paid the tax, by helping to ensure that. a sufficient supply of all the types, of vehicles. they require will be available when wanted.