Hauliers offer pool for c. and d.
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work at Freightliner depots
AN offer of a pool of hauliers to undertake collection and delivery work at Freightliner depots was made by Mr. R. Durham, managing director, R. Durham and
Sons Ltd., last week.
He was appearing in Newcastle as a witness for the independent road hauliers objecting to the British Railways application (CM, last week) for 12 new A-licensed vehicles for both of their new Freightliner depots at Newcastle upon Tyne and Stockton-on-Tees.
Mr. Durham said his firm had large depots at Stockton and Billingham and was constructing a 40-acre warehouse at West Bromwich for trunk, c. and d., and storage purposes. It had 30 to 40 vehicles permanently engaged on trunk hauls between Tees-side and Birmingham. The Freightliners would abstract traffic from it because they were something new and he expected firms would want to try them.
Durham had received a copy of the railways' circular letter and had replied saying that it was interested in, and capable of carrying, the container traffic, since it had 2030-ton, 18 13-ton and 6 32-ton freight vehicles. In view of what the Freightliners would take away from the hauliers, Mr. Durham would like to form a pool of transport for the depots. They would not need any more vehicles and he felt it was the province of the hauliers to do the c. and d. work.
Mr. A. Darley, manager, Stockton branch, Smith of Maddiston Ltd., said his firm had 400 vehicles on A licence, 40 of which were based at Stockton from where it ran two nightly trunk services to London and three or four daily to Birmingham.
In answer to the railways letter it had said that it had 20 vehicles capable of carrying containers but up to that time had received no reply. Because of the use of Freightliners one customer had said his firm would lose three loads a week.
Referring to the question of the usage of BRS vehicles, the Licensing Authority, Mr. J. A. T. Hanlon, said that if the National Freight Organization became operative then the BR vehicles would become part of the organization. If this were the case, said Mr. H. Mann for BR, the railways would make a redeclaration of all the other vehicles they owned.
Mr. Hanlon said he had received some figures from BRS and there were 22 out of over 300 vehicles standing idle on the East side of the Pennines which was less than he had thought. They were unsuitable for containers.
Mr. T. H. Campbell-Wardlaw, for the objectors, said the Railways were trying to get back some of the £20m. worth of traffic lost to road hauliers who had been licensed by Authorities all round the country. The road operators wanted to provide the terminal operations and they had said they would use Freightliners. The granting of the licences applied for would make their vehicles redundant.
The LA reserved his decision.