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THE RETURN LOAD.

26th September 1918
Page 20
Page 20, 26th September 1918 — THE RETURN LOAD.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

How Manchester and Liverpool Have Dealt with the Problem. By Nathan Fine (Manager of the Service).

THE MOTOR 'TRANSPORT Department of the Manchester and Liverpool Chambers of Commerce (formed at the express desire of the Ministry of Munitions in order to deal with the problem of motor lorries having to return light and to endeavour to arrange return loads for them) was started first of all.. in Manchester on 17th July, 1917, but no actual business transpired until 25th August— the first few weeks being employed in making the necessary preliminaries. For some time transactions were few and far between, but gradually the scheme became known, and both carrier and merchant began to recognize its possibilities and usefulness.

Towards the end of 1917, the Ministry of Munitions -approached the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce with a view to starting a department similar to that at Manchester. The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce thought that, as Liverpool was not so well, situated geographically as Manchester, a transport department in Liverpool would mean a certain amount of overlapping, and it was my suggestion that Liverpool should act in ;unison with Manchester and that the business which could be obtained from the.two places should be conducted by me from Manchester. This was agreed upon, and both Chambers now have "Motor Haulage Committees," Mr. Marshall Stevens being chairman at Manchester, and Mr, C. R. B. ,McGilehrist chairman at Liverpool. The department is undoubtedly gaining popularity every day with both merchant and carrier, as can be gathered from a glance at the returns for 1917 and 1918, which are as follow :— . _ 1917. Tons.

July to December (six months) ... ... 2225 1918, January to August (eight moiablis) ... 12,530

a five-fold increase, making a total of 14,755 tons moved in just over twelve months without putting an extra vehicle on the road; at a time, too, when renewals, fuel and labour are at such a premium.

I might add, in further proof of the department's popularity, that carriers when too busy with their own work often recommend merchants to me, and not in B44 frequently, in ease of a breakdown, ask me to attend to their traffic until they are able to resume work again. At its inception, the department met with a certain amount of unfriendly criticism, some haulage eontractors thinking that the organization was out to cause carriers to run their vehicles at unremunerative rates, but these prejudices have now entirely disappeared, and the whole of the carriers are most friendlily disposed towards the department, and are only too pleased to, leave the question of the "return load" entirely in my habds. The Chamber and the Commercial Motor Users Association have effected an,exchange of membership, and, with the two interested in one another's work, a great deal of good should result. I am not going too far when I say that I have been the recipient of many appreciative letters from merchants who have found the department extremely useful at times when the railways were so congested as to be unable to cope with traffic, and I invariably find that once I have done business with a merchant I always have repeat" inquiries.

All inquiries from merchants and carriers are carefully card-indexed under their respective' towns, and it is now possible for me to find a, load for a lorry or a lorry for a lead at very short notice. In this way I have card-indexed upwards of 400 lorries plying between Manchester, East Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Midlands, and, although the department mainly intends to operate within a radius of 50 miles of Man

, ehester, I have, on isolated occasions, sent loads to and from London when the railways have been closed. When work is done, the haulage contractor is expected to render an invoice immediately ; his statement should follow by the third of the following month, when a cheque will be sent in settlement, less our commission of 5 per cent, on all traffic handled.

It should be borne in mind that the Chamber guarante6s payment to the haulage contractor, and pays all accounts on about the 10th of the month. A printed post-card is issued to drivers to put in their cabs so that my telephone number and address are always at hand in case of necessity.


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