News of. the Week
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FUEL INSPECTORS MAY DEMAND SAMPLES
WITH a view to securing compliance with the Control of Motor Fuel Order, 1942, a Ministry of Fuel Inspector may, under the Fuel (Inspection) Order, 1943, inspect any. vehicle, other than on premises employed for the purpose of an undertaking or on private premises, in which he has reason to believe that any moo: fuel is being used. The person in possession of such fuel must give samples of it to the inspector on demand.
HOW TO AVOID TYRE TROUBLE
MANY comments upon the great value to the war effort of our production, " How to Prevent Tyre Misuse," by Mr. L. V. Bates, have been received by us.
The booklet covers almost every conceivable form of tyre use and misuse, and the various troubles which may occur are emphasized by excellpt illustrations. Load and pressure. schedules are included, and, in fact, the whole•forms a most useful manual which should be in the hands of every person concerned with the use of pneumatic tyres. It is obtainable, at 2s. 6d, net, from Temple Press Ltd., Bowling Green Lane, London, E.C.1, or 2s. 8d., including postage.
DINNER AND PRESENTATION MARK COL. COLE'S FAREWELL
ADINNER was recently given by Sir William Rootes and Mr. R. C. Rootes on the occasion of the retirement of Lieut.-Colonel J. A. Cole, 0.B.E., from the Boards of Humber', Ltd., and its subsidiary companies. The function was attended by the principal executives of the Rootes group, who joined in paying a sincere tribute
to Colonel Cole's splendid work and his fine spirit of comradeship.
• Sir William Rootes referred to the excellent work which .Colonel Cole had performed on behalf of the companies, and drew particular attention to his unsparing efforts since the war in connection with the development of aero shadow factories. He presented Colonel Cole with a fine antique clock, and announced that a cot and full equipment in the Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital were being endowed in his name by the staff and workpeople.
In expressing his appreciation,. Colonel Cole gave his audience some interesting reminiscences and paid tribute to the ability of his suceessor, Sir William Rootes, and his brother, Mr. R. C. Rotates, who becomes deputy chairman 'of Humber, Ltd. R.T.C. MAY DISPENSE WITH SINGLE-DECK CONDUCTORS 1 'ENDER_ the Public Service Vehicles L.) (Equipment and Use) (Amendment) Regulations, made by the Minister of War Tratisport, any singledeck bus may be run without a on doctor if the R.T C. certifies that, in his opinion, on' a particular service or in particular circumstances, no conductor is required. Previously the R.T.C.s had power to dispense with the conductor only in the case of such vehicles seating not more than 26 passengers.
PAPER FOR MUNITIONS ik AUCH of our munitions programme IYI depends upon the employment of paper which has been salvaged, and it must be clean Therefore, those people who destroy or soil paper which could be employed for this purpose are virtually acting as fifth-columnists or saboteurs. GLASGOW HAULAGE MEN ON CORRUPTION CHARGE
AT Glasgow Sheriff Court, on August 21, Ernest Spencer and A. G. W. Thomson, two directors of a
• Glasgow haulage firm, .and Duncan M'Alpine Patcin, an employee of the Ministry of Supply, were ,indicted for alleged contravention of the. Prevention of Corruption Act. They pleaded not guilty, and, their trial will take place at a sitting of the High Court, in Glasgow, on August 31.
The allegation is that Paton corruptly accepted sums amounting to £149' from Spencer and Thomson, directors of Sharp's Road Transport, Ltd., 308 Clyde Street, Glasgow, as an inducement for showing favour to the company in haulage contracts.
TRANSPORT MANAGER OR ENGINEER AVAILABLE
WE know of a man with considerable experience as chief engineer connected with large passenger and goodstransport undertakings, both at home and abroad, who desires a position as transport 'manager or engineer where use can be made of his excellent qualifications. He has had training with the railways, vehicle manufacturers, and has acted as a consulting engineer. He is under middle ,age.
Letters should be addressed " Transport Engineer," care of the Editor.
NO PLEAS OF GUILTY BY LETTER
NOT long ago it was stated that persons summoned for minor offences need not attend the hearing of their cases at magistrates' courts. Since then, however, the Home Office has sent a cireular to magistrates pointing out that letters from defendants cannot be accepted as pleas of guilty. Unless such defendants are legally represented, suitable evidence must be taken to satisfy the courts that the cases have been proved.
OBITUARY
We have, learnt with great regret that Ma. W. H. KNELLER, chief engineer ol Transport Services, Ltd., and a director of Kneller and Chandler, Ltd., died on August 14, at the age of 50. Although he had been unwell for some time, his death came somewhat suddenly, and was a shock to his; many friends and colleagues, with whom he was most popular.
Another loss to the industry was caused, in this case on August 20, by the death of MR. E. R. SOAMES, who was a B.E.T. executive and a director of the companies within the group, as well as of several other important companies outside this. He was also a member of the B.E.T. Federation Council, Executive Committee and chairman of the Insurance Committee, His first association with the BET. was just over 30 years ago.
Thccleath has taken place at Durham of MR. ROBERT SIDNEY PROCTOR, managing director of G. Ir. Proctor and Son, Ltd., the haulage contracting concern. A NEW MORRIS-COMMERCIAL 30-CWT. DELIVERY VAN
MANY transport operators will be interested to know that by arrangement with the Ministry of Supply and the Ministry of War Transport, Morris' Commercial Cars, Ltd„ Adderley Park, Birmingham, is to produce a limited number of delivery vehicles.
A 30-cwt. general-delivery van has been decided upon, as illustrated. In spite of the complexities of the problems that confront manufacturers during war-time it is, in construction and appearance, so like its counterpart of pre-war days that its performance and utility will be well understood, Priced at £475, the van is available only against the usual M.O.W.T.
licence and it will be in. regular production within the next few weeks.
The general specification follows closely that of the pre-war Equi-Load standard van and in fact the wellknown CV.11/30 chassis with fourcylindered engine is used as the basis. A loading capacity of approximately 275 cubic ft. is provided in the body, which is 10 ft. 8 ins, long, 5 ft. 0 in.
high and 5 ft. 2 ins. wide. A noteworthy feature is the design of the rear end, outrigger hinges for the half doorshung above a tailboard made to lower on chains permitting a full width opening.
As might be expected, alterations of any kind on either the chassis or the body cannot, under existing conditions, be undertaken.
R.T.C. DEFENDS HIS RETURNTICKET DECISION COMMENTING on recent criticism of his decision to withdraw all return tickets costing more than 10c1., Sir John Maxwell, Northern Regional Transport Commissioner, said his step had been an honest attempt to bring home to people the seriousness of the rubber, fuel and man-power. position. • He added that it was purely a war-time
measure. Schoolchildren, housewives on shopping expeditions, and war workers were not affected by the restriction.
In the meantime, more local councils and other bodies have passed resolutions criticizing the restriction on the ground that it will penalize bona fide travellers, but will not stop the pleasure traveller.
15,000 MUNICIPAL . TRANSPORT EMPLOYEES IN GLASGOW
THE annual report of Glasgow Corporation shows that the number of employees in the transport department is practically the same as it was a year ago. The permanent employees number 9,868 and the temporary workers 5,160. the latter including approximately 3,000 women enrolled for the bus and tram services.
UNIT CONTROLLERS BARRED FROM ASSOCIATION WORK
WE learn that an instruction which prohibits unit controllers in the Government's road-haulage organization from taking active part in the work of road-transport associations has been issued by the M.O.W.T. The basis of this prohibition is that a unit controller, by virtue of that position, is a civil servant.
A letter sent out by the Ministry indicatea that there is no Government objection to a unit controller continuing his membership of an operators' association, but it lays down the piing that he must not take part in discussions or voice any opinion at meetings.. The inference to be drawn from this ruling is that unit controllers who hold a chairmanship or some such office in an operators' association will have to resign that office or their position as a unit controller, and that members cf • an association committee will• either have to resign from such a body or cease to function actively as members ik they hold a unit controllership. As the Standing Joint Committee and its sub-committees and area committees are represehtative of operators' associations, the ruling would also seem to apply in their case.
A.R.O. SUB-AREA MEETING AT • IPSWICH
ON ptember 2, at 3.30 p.m., the Ipswich Sub-area Committee of A.R.O. is calling a meeting, to be held at the Conservative Club, Kirby Street, Ipswich, when a number of important matters which confront the industry will be considered. The principal speaker will be Mr. R. W. Sewill, National . Director of the Association. The opportunity will be taken, to reconstitute the sub-area committee and to elect honorary officers.
PRIORITY TICKETS ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE I N Hamilton Sheriff Court, last week, Thomas McCormick, of Ilddingston, pleaded guilty to a charge of having, on June 6, used a 12-journey special ticket on a bus belonging to the .Central Scottish Motor Traction Co., Ltd., which was not his property. The Procurator-Fiscal stated that the reason for bringing this prosecution was to warn the public that the transfer of non-transferable special tickets was strictly prohibited. Accused evidently wanted this priority ticket to get to his work, and he was supplied with it by a girl leaving the bus. Immediately prior to this, however, he had been refused admission to the bus because he could not show a priority ticket. The public, added the Fiscal, must he clearly given to understand that the exchanging of these tickets by travellers could not be countenanced by the company or the Court.
McCormick was dismissed with an admonition.
NATIONAL SAVINGS BY B.E.T.„ • . EMPLOYEES
THE employees of the bus companies in the B.E.T. group are performing well in respect of National Savings. The total number is 32,500, and the savings during the three months ended June 30 amounted to £67,113. The average weekly savings per employee and per contributor, respectively, for the June quarter, were: — NorthWestern, 7s., 10s. ; Maidstone, 6s, 7d.,
Ms. 3d. ; East Midland, 6s. 10d., 11.s. 4d. ; Aldershot, 5s. 1d., ,9s. 9d. ; Western Welsh, 5s. 4d., 0s. 8d. ; Ribble, 4s., 13s. 5d.; whole group, 3s. 3d., 6s. 5d.
PRICE OF THIOKOL FA REDUCED IT is announced by Rubber Control that the price of Thiokol FA has been reduced from 3s, 3d. per pound to 2s. 6d., delivered, as from August 23.
LEARN ABOUT AIRCRAFT COMPONENTS THOSE who wish fb have a good 1 knowledge of the details comprised in aeroplanes should read "Understandinr, Aircraft Components by Question an Answer," by W. Hazell, and published at 2s. 6d, net, by English Universities Press, Ltd., St. Hugh's'
School, Bickley, Kent. It covers its subject comprehensively in 152 pages.
AUSTIN ENGINEER'S PAPER.ON STEERING GEARS
A T the next 'general meeting of the to be held on September 7, at the Royal Society. of Arts, John Adam Street, Adelphi, London, W.C.2, at 6.15 p.m., Mr. H. N. Charles, B.Sc., chief development engineer of the Austin Motor Co., Lttl., will read a. paper entitled " The Performance Characteristics of Steering Gears; and notes on some Factors in Vehicle Design Which Affect the Operation of the Steering Gear." At the conclusion Of this, the final meeting of the session 1942-3, Mr. G. H. Lanchester will be inducted as President for the session 1943-44.
MINISTRY OFFICIALS TALK' TO MERSEYSIDE OPERATORS
UNIT controllers and representatives of controlled undertakings in the Merseyside area had the opportunity, last week, of meeting some of the principal . officers associated with the M.O.W.T. Haulage Scheme, They gave an explanation of aims and the means by which it was intended to promote efficient and economic operation, as well as answeiinequestions. The meeting was addressed by Messrs. C. A. Birtchnell, C. A. Barrington, F. C. Grain and P. J. Tapp. Mr. W.. 'A. Bridge presided.
Reference was made by some operators to the instruction, which was said to have been, issued by the Ministry, prohibiting unit controllers from taking an active part in road-transport association matters, more especially in discussions on the Ministry's scheme.
FORTH ROAD BRIDGE STILL AWAITS SANCTION
PLANS for the construction after the war of a new road bridge over the Firth of Forth still await Treasury sanction. At present the local authorities concerned in the project are conSidering, in conjunction with the Ministry of War Transport, which of two possibrt sites should 'be chosen for the bridge. It is believed that this scheme stands a better chance of obtaining a high priority in post-war plans .than some of the other proposals mooted in connection with Scottish reconstru—Ction and development.