Injustice to the Haulier
Page 32
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An Operator, Appreciative of Previous Comments, Adds His Own Observations, and Demands Better Conditions for the Younger Generation
By "Tantalus"
TIIE_ subject of this week's article has been provided by a haulier from Lancashire, who signs his letter " just Another Fool Haulier" and gives his name and address. Readers niay be assured that he is a real flesh-andblocid operator and that his story is not fabricated, but consists of facts which are the outcome of actual experience. The story he tells may not be expressed in terms of eloquence nor in the language of the classics, but., the burning feeling of resentment aroused by injustice speaks eloquently enough. Instances of unfair treatment meted out to hauliers have been ventilated frequently in the pages of this journal and here -is yet another illustration. The letter is quoted in full, exactly as received:— • " I was delighted with your ' True Tales That Point a Moral.' I have tried for along time to decide whether the M.O.W.T. knew their job or whether they knew it too well and were using that knowledge to kill .road transport. I have not yet decided, but am very much inclined to the idea that the tyre and petrol shortage is being used as an excuse to pile on restrictions arid repressions. Granted, the situation regarding these is serious enough, but is it as serious as it is purported to be? One sees daily things of such a nature as to suggest that there are ample supplies of both for what appears non-essential-traffic.
" Some time ago I wrote you re rates paid to hauliers in the Meat Pool. I gave figures of costs and I asked you for your.opinion on my costs. These I submitted to the M.O.W.T. area officer, who promptly raised my rate per mile from half the cost of running to threequarters. I am now in the enviable position of doing mileage runs (i.e., not local deliveries) at 25 per cent. leis than cost of running. Recently I read a bulletin from the road haulage association that I-happen to be a member of; in this an agreement had been reached with the Air Ministry to pay Is, per mile up to 20 -miles for empty trucks to go to and from the sites. ..., Yet I must carry up to 2 tons of meat in special vehicles far approXimately 9d, per mile, Are New Vehicles Issued Equitably?
" I seem to remember that it was part of the policy , to issue any new trucks available to A-licence holders or people on essential work. • Yet in this district
C-licence holders have had the lion's share and with this increase of fleet power they are doing haulage work. One C-licence holder who has had a new truck or trucks is working for the local council and, until recently, a C-licence holder who had a new truck permitted, used it on school dinners and, as far as I know, no haulier was asked to tender for the job. However, it is being done by a genuine haulier now. New trucks have been issued to carry beer, offal for cat and dog food manufacture, and road repairs. Yet the people's meat must be carried in. trucks seven years old that have done over 140,000 miles each, simply because the owner has kept them in good condition and in a state of good repair and appearance. This has been done at the expense of countless hours spent when he could have had leisure, and his reward is practically nothing allowed as a rebate from income tax—a case of the good citizen discouraged. again and again. Meat hauliers are not permitted to hire other vehicles, but no special concession is made for them to secure spare parts. Vital parts can be as long as six montlis in coming. So the position is this—an almost complete vehicle must he kept lying around for the spares. .
I wonder when we—the haulage people—will have been persecuted enough to make us fight? I know the answer: we can't fight vested interests. Yet, we have only to realize that haulage in 2,11 its branches—drivers, owners, repairers, makers, etc.—is one Of the biggest vested interests, and if we could just get together for keeps we could get a fair deal, We want propaganda to the general public and, instead of ihe road vehicle being the bogynian that kills all the pedestrians, let thein know that road vehicles have paid for roads we haven't got orare likely to get. ..Let the man in the factory spend a week with a man on the road and see the skill, the patience and the general efficiency of scores of the lads piloting a thousand pounds' worth of someone else's all over the country for half the wage a factdry hand gets. A few dozen 'such converts would" be real propaganclistS.
" personally, am ready and willing to work for my bare rations if by so doing I can get things right for my sons and all your sons now overseas."
Serious Indictment as to Penalization There is the story retold verbatim, for to have reported it otherwise woUld have been to mar the context arid so lose the effect.. Only the Most prejudiced persons will fail to agree that it is a moving story and a serious indictment of the manner in which hauliers are being penalized. Had the experience of this particular haulier formed the circumstances in an isolated case, the unfortunate individual might be regarded as one of the victims of a big scheme of Government control. It is, however,. but one of the numerous Cases which can be multiplied throughout the country.
The -case regarding the agreement Made with the Air Ministry for the payment of is. per mile.up to 20 miles for an empty running truck, as against the payment of 91. per mile by the Meat Pool for thecarriage of meat, is not merely fantastic but regrettably, true.. Moreover, let it be remembered, that this is not an illustration of rate-cutting, but of a charge-made by agreement with the representatives of the industry. As stated by the haulier concerned, theagreement made by the Meat Pool has resulted in his being paid a .rate at 25 per cent, under running costs.
The points made by the haulier regarding the privileged position of the C licensee as compared with_the•A licensee, are as relevant as theyare illuminating, and press home with added strength this grave injustice to which attention has been drawn repeatedly in these columns. The greatest injustice, perhaps, is to be found in the example of the .0 licensee who was granted new vehicle preference to compete in the open market against the haulier ,who had. perforce, .to carry on with vehicles which had run over 140,000 miles— an achievement which reflects the greatest credit upon the owner.
All that " Just Another Fool Haulier ".has written—and the important points which he has made—should stimulate every haulier who recognizes the truth of the statements in a determination to work increasingly for the removal of such
injustices. To .succeed in their removal during the war period is by no means easy and, perhaps, impossible. The hauliers must not lose sight of the fact, however, that there will come another day when, we hope, the circumstances and conditions will change so as to present more favourable opportunitiii in the fight for individual rights and liberties.
Hope for the future is being placed in the " Lord Perry Federation; but until it has received the breath of life and is stirred into action there appears little prospect of the haulier being rescued from the sea of injustices in which penalizing restrictions abound.
There are cynics, undoubtedly, who will say that if the haulier in question be so dissatisfied with the operating conditions, h,e has the option of quitting, and that the industry is well rid of such members. Why, though, should this particular haulier—and many another like him—who has been an operator for a number of years and built up a business by-hard work and honest labour, be forced to any such extreme? To quote his own words, he is willing to work for his bare rations if by so doing he can get things right for his sons and those sons of others who are ,now overseas. Think, then, on these things