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A Bright Side to •

27th December 1946
Page 38
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Page 38, 27th December 1946 — A Bright Side to •
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

NATIONALIZATION

—And Describes Briefly his Idea of Efficient Facilities for Terminal Handling of Goods in Transit

WHAT does the future hold in store for road transport? In my opinion there are great possibilities ahead of us, and he will be a wise man who provides for what is almost bound to happen. The Government has made known its intention to nationalize inland t -ansport, and whether we like it or not, State ownership of the transport services of this country is sure to come. This means that there will be railway and road services which are complementary to each other; and not competitive, as in the past.

Incidentally, if, at first glance, this prospect seems frightening and presages the. end of private enterprise, which has been near and dear to so many of us for so long, we can at least console ourselves with the thought that it is really part of a world movement for which we are not in any way personally responsible. This development means the running together in double harness, so to speak, of two or more indus tries, states, countries, and so on, for the benefit of all concerned.

We are certainly not alone with our transport problems. Indeed, they are world-wide, and before the war the Continent had them to a marked degree. In France, Belgium, Holland and Germany—to name only a few places with which I am familiar— men were daily applying their minds to these matters. At the outbreak of war, of course, these considerations had to be shelved, but a recent visit to the Continent convinced me that they are now more pressing than ever At present our opposite numbers in America and Australia are grappling with the same problems, and are faced with the same question: To nationalize, or not to nationalle. The tendency" in those countries is the same as it is here, and much as State control may be disliked, there is apparently no alternative.

Seeing, therefore, that nationalization is inevitable, the sensible thing to do is surely to plan ahead.

I foresee a time when the present innumerable privately owned terminal facilitieS--ranging' from small lock-up garages to spacious warehouses—will be scrapped in favour of huge, well-equipped State-owned buildings in every large town and city, where goods can be assembled for storage, if necessary, and for distribution. It is likely that those upto-date terminal facilities, or at least some of them, will be erected close to railheads as an essential part of the State overland transport system.

These road transport goods stations, as I like to think of them, will. of course, vary in number, size and layout, according to local requirements. The smaller ones will be single-story buildings. The larger ones will have two or three floors, with suitable loading platforms and the equipment necessary for handling a large variety of merchandise. Besides, there will be a garage, workshop, petrol-filling station, offices, messroom, and all the rest.

Busy Days Ahead The time will come—of this there is no doubt—when the overland transport services of this country will be busier than ever before, and thd plant and personnel must be equal to the job. This will involve the provision of far better stations and far, far better roads, so that there can be an uninterrupted flow of traffic from producer to consumer by the vehicles best fitted to do the work.

Not only here, in the British Isles, but in every other country which 1 have visited, I have been impressed by the fad that no one has had the foresight and wisdom to plan transport services with a view to the future. If there has been such a visionary, he has found it impossible to put his ideas into effect.

We in this country are at the dawn of a new era in overland transport and now 4 the time to plan ahead. That is why I advocate a fresh approach to this problem, so that the operator, as well as the user, of transport shall profit to the fullest extent.

We must think not of to-day, or to-morrow, or next week, or next year, but 100 years hence. In the past we have thought only of our immediate prospects, and our "freedom." In my opinion, transport is bigger and far more important than any of us—or all of us put together.

It is a service which is used by every man, woman and child, and

therefore vital to the well-being of the Nation and of the whole world. Therefore, I wish to see the reorganization of our transport services tackled in a bold way, resulting in first-clah roads, with no level-crossings, modern terminal facilities, and an efficiently organized transport system.

Lest it should be thought that 1 have lately gone over, lock, stock and barrel, to the " nationalize-every

thing-and-everybody party, let me repeat that I am as strong an individualist as the next man. But I do not close my eyes to the march of time and ceaseless change in events

Nor do I think that if any of my friends in the road haulage industry were to dare to keep in step with me in this matter for a short while, he would necessarily have to sink his individuality and become a mere automaton. What I do feel, as I have tried to make clear, is that the road haulier can, if he so wills, be of far more use to the general corn

mtinity than he has ever been before.

The legitimate, experienced road haulier has really nothing to fear, if he goes the right way to work. He is essential to the proper conduct of the business of the Nation and, such being the case, there is a great future before him, especially when he is eventually freed from the machinations of the road pirate and is able to do his job in the way that he knows best.

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