Co-operative Ownership Schemes.
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We Make Plans to Assist the A.S.C., M.T., Men When the War is Over.
The Motor Transport Columns of the Army Service Corps are building up in strength, month by month, and they may belore long reach a total of officers and men in excess of 100,000. Not every man is a driver. Not every driver is in charge of it heavy vehicle.
The war will undoubtedly end some day, and when it has been fought to a conclusion, both in the .field and round the peace-table, there may well be available for discharge, backto civilian life, aminimum of 50,000 motor drivers. We will assume that half of these will be competent drivers of heavy motor vehicles.
The Problem of War-used Chassis..
The future of the driver question is intimately wrapped up with that of war-used chassis. We have found no reason, despite increases of numbers which relatively stagger the imagination, to depart from our oft-expressed view that no serious position will arise in this country by reason of the return of warused chassis. We consider that the military authorities, and various Government. Departments, will be very large users of such lorries. We know that the ultimate wastage will he high; we have-every -reason to adhere to the view that the succouring of the civilian population of the occupied countries will necessitate the, retention of largenumbers of these lorries, with or without their British drivers, in -Various parts of Europe, and in all probability in various parts of Asia Minor.
There will be a residue, but it will he capable of absorption. We remain opposed to the idea that it will be a good course to swamp British makers with the obligation to take back and resell their old output. That necessity should not be allowed to -arise, and we think it will not arise. It was a false move to try to encourage that course.
Bargains for the Men Who Have Served.
We look forward to the. period, although we hesitate to place any date upon its happy opening, when the men of the A.S.C., M.T., will be home again. Some of them, of course, will come back into berths which are being held open for them, and will not desire to do anything else. There will be very large numbers of them, however, who will not wish to return to the jobs. at which they worked before the war. It must not be overlooked, that for each qualified driver who has joined the A.S.C.„ M.T., not fewer than two fresh drivers will have been created, at the expense of the country, during the war. These men will naturally -seek to remain connected with heavy motoring, and they will, both individually and collectively, have at their disposal enough money to gratify that wish.
They Have the Money : This Journal will Guide Them in Spending It.
Our suggestion is this : that the men should be afforded a prior opportunity to acquire motor chassis, in order themselves to run motorbus and motor-haulage businesses. We-shall he prepared, free of charge, to tell them how to do it, coupled with the necessary legal advice and assistance as to protecting themselves by means of the Companies Acts (limited liability). We -shall take the necessary _steps,
in due course. to impress upon the responsible
'military authorities the expediency of their looking
favourably upon such a -project. The A.S.C., M.T., men will be in a position, by combination amongst themselves in certain instances, and with the back222 ing of friends and relations in others, to offer a fair price for a fair vehicle. They should be enabled to make their deals direct, and without the intervention of auctioneers, vehicle brokers, or other sources of added cost. They will, none the less, require impartial guidance when setting up for themselves, and that is where THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR will come in.
How Many Chassis Back from the War?
The foregoing summary of our idea does not exhaust it; we do not propose working up the scheme in any hurry ; it must be unveiled gradually, as circumstances dictate.
We estimated, a little more than a year ago, that there might be 2000 war-used chassis sent back to this country for disposal, at the conclusion of hostilities, after the Government had satisfied all internal and external demands upon it—for the Regular army, the Territorial army, the great services of the State, and to ease the transport needs of refugees about to be repatriated, and during resettlement.. The progress of the war has convinced us that our estimateof NCO vehicles will be too low, hut there is no reason why the total, whatever it may prove to be, should be one that can cause the industry to ' get out of hand." We ridicule the idea that 10,000 chassis, or anything approaching that number, will be required for home absorption.
Money for the Nation Without a Chain of Costly Intermediaries.
We are satisfied that in no instance will more than between 4000 and 5000 chassis be offered to civilian buyers by the War Department. We are satisfied, too, that the release of those vehicles will be gradual. It cannot be a good course to sell them to contractors or jobbers : the Nation will lose money if that course is followed, and it will sustain a further loss, by reason of the unsatisfactory handling of the vehicles', if mere money-grabbing intermediaries are given any chance whatsoever. A proportion, no doubt, will of necessity have to pass through the hands Of accredited dealers and repairers. The Nation will do best if the sale of such war-used chassis is made, under reasonable control and supervision, direct to men who know their worth, and those are the men of the M.T. They will buy to use—noeto snatch a profit
on re-sale. The " junk," of course, will never be brought across the Channel.
The Best Use of Their Money by the Buyers.
It will be our pleasure, in months to come, to enter upon worked-out schemes to show how and where profitable openings for local passenger-carrying and goods-carrying services may be instituted. The conduct of such undertakings by men who have their own money at stake, and who are, in fact, the co-partner owners of the businesses will furnish the basic element of incentive, and will be the prime cause of that careful driving, well-timed maintenance, and adequate attention to detail without which the best margins of profits are never seen.
We shall prepare—in fact we have already got far ahead with the preparation of typical schemes—to state a scheme to suit the employment of capital sums varying from £250 to 25000. We shall have a, word in season to say to the A.S.C., 111.T., man wild fancies a "One-man .show," and a standard scheme for the man who, with the help of associates, prefers to work on any more-comprehensive basis. There isclearly, enormous scope for useful guidance.