In Search of Knowledge I N an article appearinwin one of
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the British Transport Commission's publications, an employee of British Road Services has claimed that the concentration of road transport brought about by nationalization was large enough "to make economically sound the provision of centralized research, bulk buying, the development of new designs and methods, and so on. The small independent haulier cannot afford, on his own, to do these things," the article continues, "and must rely on the manufacturers of vehicles and appliances to develop—and sell—new ideas."
There is some truth in this, even if B.R.S. depend more than they may be prepared to admit on the help of outside experts and specialist organizations. . The small operator has not always the time and money to spend on experiments that bring him comparatively little reward, although the benefits to the industry as a whole may be great. If the vehicle strength of B.R.S. declines to the 3,500 postulated in the Transport Act, 1953, some of the lines of research they have undertaken will have to be discontinued, unless the buyers of transport units, in conjunction with existing operators, can make arrangements to carry on the work.
Scope is here for action by the Road Haulage Association, either in sponsoring research or in acting as a clearing house for the ideas of members. The small haulier has at no time been as helpless as the article published by the B.T.C. suggests. By making good use of the opportunities available to him, he can be just as successful as the large concern in reaping the advantages of scientific and technical development, and in having equipment designed to meet his specialized requirements and to solve the problems set by his customers.
Further Information No firm, however small, is without means of access to the sources of knowledge. The road haulage industry is fortunate in having a well-informed technical Press, where the operator can find the results of research set out in a way that he can understand, and often adapted to meet the particular problems of his business. Further informationabout, new ideas may be obtained from pamphlets issued by research associations, Government departments and manufacturers, and the operator who wishes to make a complete study of a subject may find suitable books in public and specialist libraries.
In some instances it may pay him to go beyond the literary sources. He may go direct to the manufacturers to examine at first hand new machines they are turning out and new materials they are using. He may sometimes be able to keep in similarly close touch with the research taking place in universities, and in laboratories and research stations sponsored by manufacturers or by theGovernment,
The number of organizations engaged in research is surprising. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research maintain 14 laboratories of their own. Road operators already know the value of some of these, such as the Road Research Laboratory, and would find much to interest them in the work of others. For example, the Food Investigation Organization conducts research into the transport, as well as the storage and processing, of meat, fish, eggs, fruit and vegetables. There are also, R14 perhaps, 40 research associations set up voluntarily by groups of companies to study their common technical problems. Of these, the best known to transport operators is the Motor Industry Research Association.
Apart from the help that organizations of this kind may be prepared to give him, the haulier can often save himself trouble by calling in consultants. His own staff may also have new ideas, and it may be worth his while arranging for them to study, perhaps with a view to taking one of the examinations in practical road transport subjects sponsored by the National Committee on Road Transport Education. The work of this committee is, perhaps, not as well known as it might be, and it deserves as much encouragement as possible from the industry.
In every business there should be somebody responsible for each of the various activities• I have indicated. In a large concern one man may have the job of getting technical literature, another of circulating it, a third of keeping in touch with research activities, and so on. In a small concern, all the work may be done by one man, or even in the part time of one man. The important thing is that it should be done.
Sponsor Research
Many hauliers wanting information on the latest research will expect their trade association to help. There is a good deal that such a body can do. It may organize or supervise schemes of training and edocation such as those already in being. It can provide a link to put its members into touch with the various sources of knowledge, and it can itself collate information that reaches it and make the results known to members. It can encourage members to undertake or sponsor research into their own particular problems.
Something along these lines will have to be given careful consideration soon, • especially if a certain number of fairly large concerns comes back into road haulage. Many of the specialists employed by B.R.S. will become redundant. If they cannot find work with an independent operator, they will be lost to the industry. A former national chairman of the R.H.A. recently expressed the opinion that road haulage under free enterprise had suffered in the past because there were not sufficient people willing to invest capital in the industry. He might with equal truth have drawn attention to the lack of technical experts, particularly after so many of those previously in the industry had been captured by B.R.S.
Keep It Going They repr6ent another kind of capital that the industry does not want to lose. Many operators, both old and new, would be glad to make use of their services, either as additions to the staff or as consultants. Where research -undertaken by B.R.S. is likely to come to a stop as a result of dispo-al—and where such research is clearly of general value—something ought to be done by the -representatives of hauliers to keep it going. If they ale able to raise money for such a purpose, they may find they have formed, incidentally, a nucleus for research in general. This would certainty meet the criticism that one of the valuable elements in the work of B.R.S. was being wantonly discarded.