Road Transport Must Plan
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ALL kinds of theories have been, and are being, put forward as to the state in which commercial transport by road—and in this we include, the carriage of passengers—will find itself in post-war days. There are fears of either complete nationalization or of some muchenlarged measure of State control, and that these fears are justified is indicated by recent expressions of opinion put forward by the Minister for Home Security.
It is of little use, however, merely to sit down and take what' is coming. If that had been the attitude of Britain when this country was practically the only bulwark against the enemy, there is little doubt that we should now be writing this with a Gestapo agent looking over our shoulder. No The road-transport industry must gather together the best of its brains and endeavour to evolve a plan of such merit as will more than outweigh anything that the Government in power at that time will be able to put forward. The bureaucrats of to-day wield a greater power than ever before in the long history of this country, and, unfortunately, many of them appear to possess a somewhat poor opinion of the business men engaged in haulage and other branches of road transport. They appear to believe that a man who has spent his whole working life in developing and utilizing a fleet of vehicles is less intelligent or less well informed than themselves as to the problems and requirements of those who carry and those for whom they convey merchandise.
Only the Experienced Should Control It is really an extraordinary position that a man at a desk, who may hardly know one end of a vehicle from another, is assumed to be able to exercise satisfactory control over the destinies and activities of the experienced. Certainly, he may be able to call upon the services, in an advisory capacity, of men so engaged, receiving a little advice from one and a little from another, but much of the information thus obtained must be, at least to a certain extent, contradictory, and thus the views of one person can be played off against those of the other. Even Unity in the Industry With any considerable • will be Useless if We be Left degree of encouragement from Governments to come, the with but Littleto Unify bureaucrats will, no doubt, . hope to continue to hold the helm and to steer the industry into restricted' channels, when, instead, given suitable opportunities, it should be able to play a still greater and more vital part in reconstruction and the attainment of a higher degree of economic stability. With a proper degree of freedom the opportunitie:s should be vast, and such as would help to promote the well-being of other industries and the public in general.
We must not allow ourselves to develop an inferiority complex. merely because, for the time being, and through the exigencies caused by the need for conserving rubber and fuel, the Government, in its wisdom, has found it necessary to curtail transport by road and, possibly, lay up ,a large number of xehicles,' Employees Can Play Important Part Even as a .medium of employment, the railways and air-transport services could never hope to absorb the number of employees who depend upon road transport for their livelihood. Therefore, eveity worker in our industry should be one of its protagonists, and not be prepared to support any political party, or representative of it, pledged to retain our shackles and, possibly, add others.
In this connection, some remarks made recently by Major R. A. B. Smith, M.G., President of the Commercial Motor Users Association, should be considered. He pointed out that the objectives of road transport should be cheapness, efficiency and flexibility, and that competition has been the major cause of its progress, and must continue to be so While we live in a transitory age. He would like to see Government Departments act only as controllers or arbitrators. Thus, if any industry failed to attain the necessary efficiency, the Government should call on that industry, point out the deficiencies and demand a plan which would eradicate them. If an industry cannot do this without some form of control, then it should frankly ask for it and indicate the form. We must be careful that we set our house in such order that our vehicles will be used with the highest efficiency and with the least amount of outside supervision. A democracy should have a Government which will assist the various industries to solve their own problems, but not one which .wouldundertake to find answers of its own at a tremendous and, in peace-time, impossible overhead charge.
These are good comments from an able man of extensive experience and a considerable knowledge of the subject, anti it would be as well to pay them the attention which they merit.' Planning committees of different types are being formed throughout the country in many and varied spheres.
We who, in pre-war days, comprised the third greatest industry in this country must see to it that we make our own plans and do not have others foisted upon us at second or third hand, together with an enormous incubus of officialdom, which, like some parasitic plant, will drain our very sap and reduce us to condition of decay, rootless, and in great danger of being blown down at the first gale.