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Never again
Page 66
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When Jed left shippinghe joined Carey, Davis and Thomas, a famous clearing house and haulage company, and became London manager. βThe traffic office was so busy that even a staff of 11 was more than fully stretched. This company, a member of Alfed Drayton's Transport Services Group, was taken over by another TSC subsidiary, General Roadways.
Transport Services was the first haulage undertaking to be nationalised in 1948 β a voluntary acquisition β and Jed found himself under the leadership of Maj-Gen G. M. Russell in the nucleus of what was to become British Road Services. From district traffic superintendent he became commercial officer (south-east), covering several districts, later to be marketing manager at the Potters Bar headquarters of Southern BRS.
I asked him whether, if he had his time over again, he would go into transport. His answer was an unequivocal negative β not because he had not enjoyed his day-to-day work but because of the constant political uncertainty. This was the advice he gave his son, who became a quantity surveyor and is now campaigning against the possible nationalisation of the building industry! .
Jed still thinks transport is one of the most varied and fascinating occupations. His attitude is well reflected in the words of John Silbermann, chairman of the Road Haulage Association, when he said that the road haulage industry "has a unique quality in its personnel, who . . . seem strangely dedicated to work hard against very difficult odds . . who will work long hours regularly and who will maintain an independence of spirit which is rarely found on a factory floor, all for a modest, indeed sometimes inadequate, return ...