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Red 1 orries

25th August 2005, Page 42
25th August 2005
Page 42
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Page 42, 25th August 2005 — Red 1 orries
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

After its famous post-war election victory Labour didn't just set up the welfare state

— it nationalised the transport

industry. Despite industry protes:s some operators did rather well out of socialism.

Patric Cunnane reports. "For good or ill the Transport Act is law and must be obeyed."

Thus began an editorial in Commercial Motor dated 24 October 1947,setting out the magazine's stance on the post-war proposal to nationalise road transport.

Labour had been elected with a massive majority in 1945 on a radical socialist programme. Nationalisation of the nation's key industries was a major plank of that programme; hence the introduction of the 1947 Transport Act.

The 1945 manifesto had promised the "coordination of transport services, by rail, road. air and canal".

CM reasoned that the passing of the act was "farcical" with many Labour MPs entertaining doubts about the law as it affected road transport. However, it added: "Now the question arises as to whether this law, which we consider

to be bad in principal, harmful to many and not in the best interests of the nation, should be supported or not. There is no doubt that it can be made to work, but that is not to say that it will be efficient or economic, or will render services as good as those given hitherto."

All this was happening, of course, while Nye Bevan was struggling to set up the National Health Service, against the opposition of many doctors and others.Who would now call for that organisation's abolition?

Resistance is futile

CM concluded that resistance was futile and urged hauliers to carry on as normal until the act was implemented.Then they would have to obey the law: "A succession of prosecutions for non-compliance would merely bring the whole industry into disrepute. If the act eventually proves to have been a grave mistake, this will show itself in time."

The act became law in January 1948, and it had huge implications for the whole transport industry. The British Transport Commission was set up to oversee nationalisation of rail, buses, docks and inland waterways, some hotels and road haulage — the latter being supervised by the Road Haulage Executive, Nationalisation of the railways was a huge project with compensation of nearly 11 bn in government stock paid to the private owners.

The changes to road transport had become law despite the opposition of the Road Haulage Association and the British Roads Federation. But there was one small victory for the lobbyists:the BTC took over firms engaged in "ordi

nary long-distance carriage for hire or reward"; in other words those on A and B licences. But C licence-holders mainly running light vans were not affected.

Long-distance haulage became the exclusive preserve of the BTC from February 1950. By today's standards long-distance' was not very long at all: according to the Companion to British Road Haulage History (CBRHH) it was -defined as a journey of 40 miles or upwards or one extending more than 25 miles from the vehicle's operating centre".

A list of exclusions to the term "ordinary" included operators carrying specialised goods such as hazardous chemicals or livestock, as well as removals and abnormal loads.

The BTC took over four types of operation. These included the 45 railway-owned companies; principal haulage firms; other significant companies; and small haulage firms acquired by compulsory purchase.

Many companies kept their original names, company structure and management during a transitional phase.lhey remained independent with their own accounts, although secondary undertakings were put under the control of a primary undertaking.

However,by August 1949 the Road Haulage Executive had merged these undertakings to create the giant British Road Services, which as FIRS remains in operation today as a private truck rental company.

A huge task The CBRHH gives some idea of the enormity of this task:-With in 20 months more than 1,000 and ultimately nearly 4,000 companies, none of which were of more than modest size, were shaped into a single giant enterprise while maintaining continuity of the service to customersa significant achievement."

Companies were acquired either by some form of voluntary agreement for which there were incentives or, after 1 October 1948, by Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO). Corn pensation terms were administered by a govern ment body, the Transport Arbitration Tribunal.

Payouts were calculated on the replacement cost of vehicles, less depreciation: business goodwill; and property values. In addition a sum was offered of between two and five times the average net profit over the previous three years "depending on the likelihood of this profit being maintained", according to the CBRHH. It adds that deals "erred on the generous side" with compensation paid in cash.

For those acquired through CPO, compensation was normally paid in BritishTransport stock, although up to £2,000 could be paid in cash.

Those who went quietly didn't do at all badly from the advent of post war socialism.

By the end of 1951 The Road Haulage Executive was running a fleet of 41265 vehicles, says the CBRHH, with 80.212 staff in 3,766 operations. It was still hard at work acquiring fresh haulage blood when Labour was defeated in the 1951 election.

There would be no historic third term for Atlee's revolutionary government. •


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