Stand and Deliver1952 Style
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THIS nation was once sufficiently I enlightened to hail the freeing of the turnpike roads as a far-sighted measure, one which would make travel cheaper and easier, to the great benefit of trade and social intercourse.
" How lamentable it is that after more than a century, successive Chancellors of the Exchequer should seek to reverse this process and to detract from she advantages of modern transport by imposing upon the industry such a series of selective levies—for little better reason, so far as one can see, than that which once doubtless satisfied the highwayman, namely, that the method adopted is administratively a simple means of raising revenue."
This statement was made last week by Mr. R. P. Beddow. chairman of Southdown Motor Services, Ltd., in his annual report. On the basis of present operations, said Mr. Beddow, the concern would be subjected in a full year to a fuel-tax burden of over £3813,000, or 13 per cent, of last year's gross receipts. A further increase in fares might prove ii navoidable.
" It should be widely known," said Mr. Beddow, "that, in general, the level of our charges is still. less than 25 per cent, above that prevailing in the 1930s and 1940s. In sharp contrast, the cost per mile of drivers' and conductors' wages is 150 per cent. above, and the price of oil fuel, including tax, is 248 per cent, above the corresponding figures of 1939." Mr. Beddow paid tribute to the businesslike attitude" of the Licensing Authorities in the area of the company.
In the past few months, well over £500,000 had been spent on new rolling stock, and in the year under review useful progress was made with the company's building programme, and extensions to the Eastbourne coach station and the Portslade central overhaul works were well advanced. A new garage at Hassocks was almost completed and property had been acquired at Hilsea, Portsmouth, for an _additional garage. P.T.A. PLANS
DURING the Commercial Motor 1-,Show the Public Transport Association is to hold a luncheon at the Connaught Rooms, Great Queen Street, London, W.C.2. It is hoped that the Minister of Transport, Mr. LenpoxBoyd, will be the principal guest. The
luncheon will take place on Friday, October 3.
The Association's next annual conference will take place at Folkestone from April 21-23, 1953., FOR LOCAL DELIVERY WORK
DESIGNED expressly for use on low-loading and local . delivery vehicles, a new tyre has been added to the giant range of the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co., Ltd., Wolverhampton: This is the 25 by 6-in. eight-ply allweather tyre, which has been .in production since the beginning of July. It is for Sitting to Jen-Tug, Karrier Bantam, Douglas, Jeri-Helees and N.C.B. vehicles.
NEW A.P.V. FACTORY AT CRAWLEY
A FACTORY and foundry with ri 200,000 sq. ft. of floor space has been opened by the A.P.V. Co., Ltd., at Manor Royal, Crawley New Town, Crawley, Sussex. Mechanical handling, based on she fork-lift truck and pallet system has been introduced. Over £50,000 has been spent on this plant in the foundry alone.
Coryton Receives its Tower
QNE of the most difficult loads handled by the Road Haulage Executive reached its destination at Coryton, Essex, last Monday after a 50-mile journey from London, The load was the new fractionating tower for the refinery of the Vacuum Oil Co., Ltd., and was 102 ft. long, 16 ft. in diameter and weighed 80 tons, The tower was made by G. A. Harvey and Co., Ltd., London, in the record•tirne of 41 months.
It was originally intended to deliver the tower by floating it down the River Thames, but the difficulty of lifting it out of the water on arrival proved too great. The tower is now being erected and it is expected that crude oil to feed it will reach it in a week and that it will be in production, with distillation trays and bubble caps fitted, before the end of the year. It will be used in the manufacture of Mobilgas and other oil products of the corn pan y. .
SIEMENS LIGHTING IN ALPERTON WORKSHOP
ANEW installation of fluorescent lighting has recently been put into use at the Alperton premises of Dagenham Motors, Ltd. A total of 250 Sieray F.T.F. 5301 80-watt open-top fittings, each having a Sieray 80-watt daylight fluorescent lamp, has been installed in the two shops, giving an overall intensity of 6-8 lumens per sq. ft.
The fittings are hung from the roof trusses at a mounting height of 13 ft. from floor, level. The work was planned by the illuminating engineering department of Siemens Electric Lamps and Supplies, Ltd., which supplied the fittings and cable, and the actual installation was carried out by the electrical staff of Dagenham Motors, Ltd.
Trams £2.6m. Burden for Edinburgh
A FTER losing £100,000 last year on t% motorbus and 'tram working, a recommendation to abandon the entire tram network was referred back by the , civic amenities and works committee of Edinburgh Corporation, last week. The special committee which had made this suggestion has been asked to consider whether the tram system should be reduced and to what extent.
Trolleybus operation has also been considered by the committee, which
expressed the view that it would be unsuitable in the centre of the city and that one system could be operated more economically and efficiently than two. Trams could not compare favourably with motorbuses either in operating
costs or capital expenditure, Mr. W. M.
Little, transport manager, declared. The entire tram fleet would need: to be renewed by 1972, and over 10 years it would cost £2,350,000 to bring the track and fleet up to date. It would cost f1,850,000 over the same period to convert to motorbus operation.
The buses are expected to lose £142,000 in the current financial year,
of which £120,000 will have gone in replacing old .buses. The trams are expected to incur a loss of £34.000 after setting aside 20. per tram-mile for permanent-way renewals.
BOARDS TO RUN INDIAN TRANSPORT
A RECOMMENDATION by Mr. r-k A D. Gorwala that State road transport services should be run by public corporations, and not be managed departmentally, has been accepted by the Planning Commission for India. Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri, Minister for Transport, made this announcement in the House of the People in New Delhi. He said that executive authority for road transport was vested in the State Governments, which were responsible for carrying out the recommendation. Nationalized road transport services were generally being run departmentally, although in one or two instances boards had been setup under special Acts. Mr. Shastri said that.a full-time Government official should be appointed as managing director of a board and other members should be selected from among businessmen and public figures. Dr. Krishna Rao, Madras Minister of Transport, told the Legislative Assembly that the Government had decided to defer the extension. of the nationalization of road transport outside Madras City.
"KEEP EYE ON BAROMETER"
"rREAT changes are going to take GREAT in the transport world in the near. future. After these changes have taken place, keep your eye on the barometer and there may be opportunities for you then." Mr. A. Robertson, Scottish Deputy Licensing Authority, gave this advice to Mr. John Malley, of Dunblane, at
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a sitting in Perth, last Friday. He refused an application by Mr. Malley for a licence for a tipping lorry. He said that the applicant had fulfilled the obligation to show that there were people ready to employ him, but had not proved that there was a shortage of tipping vehicles in the area.
EXISTING SERVICES TO BE GIVEN A CHANCE
AN application by Mr. Glyn Rees to run excursions and tours from Treharris and Taff Merthyr colleries to • the Cardiff City football ground at Ninian Park was refused, last week, by the South Wales. Licensing Authority When this decision was given, East Glamorgan. otors, Ltd., withdrew an application to run a similar service from Nelson and Mr. Thomas Evans withdrew one concerning New Tredegar. Mr. H. J. Thom, chairman of the Licensing Authority, said that the exist ing services provided by buses and the railways had not been given a fair trial by the miners and other football supporters. The Licensing Authority preferred to wait until after the forthcoming season before giving deep consideration to applications of this kind. Formerly, the services were run on a private-hire basis until it was confirmed that they were illegal. Rhondda Transport Co., Ltd., Cardiff and Merthyr Corporations, East Glamorgan Motors, Ltd., and the Railway Executive objected to the application.
Handling Institute' to Start Work Soon
TWO meetings of the provisional
I council of management of
newly founded Institute of Materials Handling have been held and the draft constitution and regulations are now being examined by a drafting subcommittee before being -presented to the council for appro that an inaugural general meeting will be called in October to ratify the
constitution. .
it is stated that 360 applications for membership have been received. Mr. Alfred Roebuck has accepted an invita7., tion to become the first honorary member of the Institute, An outline of the Institute's autumn and winter programme has been prepared. In September, discussions on "Material Handling — an Industrial Revolution?" will be held at, open forum meetings at London, Birmingham and Manchester. An inaugural general meeting and dinner are planned to take place in London in October. In November, the chairman, deputy chairman and treasurer will lecture on material handling in London. Birmingham and Manchester. Three works visits are planned for December.
PETITION DISMISSED
iN the Chancery Division on Monday, 1 Mr. Justice Wynn-Parry dismissed by consent a petition for the compulsory winding-up of Reliance Carriers, Ltd., on Mmissioners of Inland Revenue, judgment creditors for DN. Mr. M. Berkeley, for the Commissioners, said that the debt and costs had now been paid.
MEASURING MAP DISTANCES
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A DEVICE for measuring route mileages can be obtained from John E. Buck and Co., 47, Brewer Street, London, ,W.I, price 5s. Although the scale records 1 in. to I mile, all scales can be covered by using the correct multiplication factor. The device-is used by rolling a wheel over the route line on the map, the distance being visually recorded on a dial,