Bird's Eye View
Page 46
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THEY do them proud in the West Midlands when some
one is leaving or retiring. A " do " at a well-known Birmingham hotel the other day was no exception. It was arranged by licensing " old-stager " D. G. Skelding (who attended the first licensing court ever to be held in Birmingham). A host of goods and passenger operators, plus John Else (the Licensing Authority), Mr. Hall (the deputy L.A.), the L.A.'s clerk, Mr. Green, and representatives of the railways and police, gathered to drink the joint health of Hugh Halliley, who for some time has been head of the road service licence section in the area, and Harry Howarth, chief assistant in the road/rail section of British Railways at Birmingham.
Mr. Halliley was leaving to take up a similar post in the South Eastern area at Ea§tbourne (whenever the headquarters moves there from London) while Mr. Howarth has already taken up a similar post on the road/rail committee at Plymouth.
When Not to Speak
PRESENTING an inscribed watch to Mr. Halliley, Mr.
Skelding delivered a comical speech, the main theme of which was to ensure that he did not wear the watch when he went through the customs! Mr. T. Bailey, of P.M.T., presented Mr. Halliley with a tea-set on behalf of those operators in the northern part of the area, Mr. Howarth, by the way, was presented• with a writing set.
Not to be outdone by Mr. Skelding's act, Mr. Else, wishing the twosome well, remarked that in all the time that he had known Mr. Skelding, he had not lost his persuasive tongue. "Now a persuasive tongue may go down well with the operators," Mr. Else continued, " but it sometimes dwells too long on the subject and, sometimes, the chairman would like to go to sleep in the afternoon."
Perhaps this is a .polite way of informing advocates in the West Midlands that, in the afternoons at least, they should " stand up; speak up and shut up ".
The American Way
nN Sunday, with the second day of London's Woolwich round, the Lorry-driver-of-the-year preliminaries end. Will that urbane airman Cpl. D. M. Readman successfully hold his title for the third successive year? I don't know. What I do know is that an unassuming driver named Bill Nunley has, at 52, recently been named by the American Trucking Associations as their National Driver of the Year. Bill has driven 23 m. miles in 30 years without an accident. His job is to drive a 422-mile, 93-hr. run, five days a week for Yellow Transit Freight, of Baxter Springs, Kansas. No slouch, our Bill!
He was asked (of course) for his secrets of success. He n28
The Swedes never take no for an answer_ At the moment an extension of the motorway forming the E4 route between Stockholm and Hillsingborg is being constructed in the Sodertalje area, just behind the Scania-Vabis commercial-vehicle factory, and where the roadway is elevated to pass over a . railway line there was a large house in the way. Working with usual Swedish accuracy to extremely fine limits, just enough of the house was pulled down to allow the road to continue on its course, the remainder of the building being in full occupation. A somewhat noisy site for a residence centre, nevertheless.
gave most of the usual ones about courtesy and "defensive
driving ", but added one that really was original. "Don't blow your big air horns: Just give other drivers a beep on your electric horn."
Common Sense
THE air cargo operating industry is lacking in virility I and is devoid of new ideas. A writer in our associated journal The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News, said this last week in an outspoken piece directed at air freight carriers.
Be went on to say: "To a large extent the road haulier has been ignored and it is not surprising that he views the air carrier with some suspicion. He should, however, be brought into full collaboration and encouraged to see the large upsurge of business which the development of new overseas markets by means of air promotion will enable him to share."
Hear, hear!
Breathtaking
THE things drivers get hounded with! One hanging, like I some emasculated Damodean sword, over everyone's head is Mr. Marples' detector for alcohol in one's system. (I don't know any lorry drivers who drink "on duty ", do you?) I gather that the Medical Research Council has now expressed confidence in a breathalyser known as the Kitagawa-Wright. the essential working part of which has been developed by Prof. T. Kitagawa. of Yokahama University, at the Council's request.
Now all they have to do is invite someone else to fix a legal maximum alcohol content. Personally, I believe this to be near-impossible. No two people react alike to alcohol.
Weil, so long, l'm off for a beer.