CLEARING HOUSES CONFERENCE ADVISES ON VOTING I N its June
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News • Bulletin, ' the National Conference of Road Transport Clearing Houses says, concerning transport policy, that all members will se-keenly aware that an important point in the policy advocated by the Socialist Party is nationalization of transport. Members, their associates and employees will have an opportunity of recording their votes for or against what would have a profound, and, as the Conference believes, devastating effect upon the businesses they have built up, and with the prosperity of which they are allied.
TRANSPORT BOARD FAVOURED FOR SOUTH-EAST LANCASHIRE AT a joint transport advisory corn' mittee for the area should be set up and, upon general agreement of the municipal authorities concerned, the town clerk of Manchester be invited to prepare a: report upon its formal constitution to be presented at a future meeting for consideration, was the unanimous decision of delegates from nine of the principal passenger-transport undertakings in south-east Lancashire, which met in Manchester last week, to consider the suitability of setting up a transport board for the area.
The conference, which was convened by Manchester Corporation,' was attended by representatives of the municipal-transport undertakings of Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Rochdale, Oldham, Salford, Stockport and the Stalybridge, Hyde, -Mossley and Dukinfield Joint Transport Board.
It is learned that the proposed committee will plan, as distinct from operate, services in the area and will consider, advise, and make recommendations for the co-ordination of services, especially in regard to the requirements of future satellite towns, new industries and housing estates.
YORKSHIRE INCREASES TEMPO OF ELECTION CAMPAIGN
THERE is plenty of punch in the J. leaflets which have been issued in Yorkshire by the West Riding joint election campaign committee of the N.R.T.F. as propaganda against the Labour Party's aim to nationalize the country's transport services. A prominent feature of this literature is the appeal made for road transport employees' support against nationalization.
One of the leaflets says that nationalizatioa " means saddling a great industry with men more distinguished for their political colour than for their working efficiency. It means strangling our trade with red tape.—
Suggesting that both road transport and its customers would suffer 'under nationalization, one of the pamphlets says: " The public would lose its choice of the means for transport it . prefers. Personal contacts of all kinds would be a thing of the past. Sir Stafford Cripps has made that clear enough with his election address setting forth Labour's plans to establish a central authority here, regional authorities there, and to Create many thousands of bureaucrats to interfere with the industry. You can't have personal contact in a bureaucratic system."
The same pamphlet states: "If control be needed for such matters as the fixing of rates and charges (perhaps the most discussed question in the industry), then the industry itself is fully capable of setting up a central charging authority, which would invoice and collect all freight charges for goods carried by road transport services."
SOUTH SHIELDS SOON TO LOSE ITS LAST TRAMS
BY the end of this year, provided that labour and materials be available, the last trams running in South Shields will be abandoned and replaced by trolleybuses. The only tram route now running is the Ridgeway service. In addition, the corporation intends introducing trolleybuses on several other routes not covered by trams.
A DUNLOP WAR EXHIBITION A N exhibition of the Dunlop Organi zation's war-time products, from its 35 factories in Great Britain, Australia,' Canada, India and South Africa, is to be held in the premises of the Royal Empire Society, Northumberland Avenue, London, W.C.2, from July 2-13, the hours being 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cards-of invitation are being issued by the secretary of the Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd., St. James's House, St. James's Street, London, S.W 1.
GROUPED -VEHICLE INSURANCE CONTINUES
-rim arrangement by which insurers 1.1 of motor goods vehicles agree to continue and extend, without any additional increase in rates, existing policies for .these while used within a grouped Scheme, despite the removal of certain restrictions, also the same concession in respect of those used for other purposes on a certificate by an officer of the M.O.W.T., will now remain in force until September 30 of this year,
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE S.M.T. WJE have received from Sir William J. W Thomson, chairman and managing director of the Scottish Motor Traction Co., Ltd., a most attractive leatherettebound booklet comprising a short his'tory of the company between the years 1905 and the present date.
In the introduction it points out that the company was incorporated in June, 1905, with the object of harnessing the " horseless carriage " in the service of the public. Models were ordered from three concerns, but in each case were immediately returned to their makers as unfit for use. Steam vehicles were then experimented with, but similarly discarded. It was not until December in the same year that the • company acquired a Maudslay approaching the standards to which it aspired. Now, with its subsidiary companies, W. Alexander and Sons, Ltd., the Western S.M.T. Co., Ltd., and the Central S.M.T. Co., Ltd., it operates some 3,000 vehicles.
We hope to say more about this booklet in a subsequent issue. TRANSPORT MANAGERS' CLUB ATTRACTS ATTENTION
THE formation of a club for transport managers was announced in our
issue dated June 15. The honorary , secretary, Mr. W. J. Irons, care Of H. and G, Dutfield, Ltd., Dover Flouse, 170, Westminster Bridge Road, London, S.E.1, tells us that, as a result of this, he and his fellow committee members have received numerous inquiries from different parts of the country it may be remembered that, for the time being, this club will be centred on the Overseas Club, Park Place, St. James s. London, S.W.1, and its branches.
PROM BUS CONDUCTOR TO LIEUT.-COLONEL A MONGST the recent Birthday 3. Honours an M.B.E. (Military Division) was awarded to Major (Temporary) Thomas Evers. The Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment. It is interesting to note that this officer, who has since been promoted to Lieut.-Colonel, was, previous to joining H.M. Forces as a private, employed as a bus conductor by the Yorkshire Woollen District Transport Co., Ltd,, of Dewsbury. Born in 1911, he entered that company's service in 1929, and left in August, 1940.
GOOD PROGRESS REPORTED BY B.E.T.R.O.
CONSTANT additions are being made to the ranks of the recently formed
• British Export Trade Research Organi• zation, which, incidentally, has attracted world-wide interest, and many expressions of appreciation from overseas, these coming from both the Empire and foreign markets.
Apart from about 100 elected founder members, a further 100 have applied for ordinary membership. Amongst concerns in our industry who have recently • applied for founder memberShip are Dennis Bros., Ltd., Low Temperature Carbonization, Ltd., and M.C.L. Repetition, Ltd. Ordinary members include Crompton Parkinson, Ltd., North British Rubber Co., Ltd., Slip Products Co., Ltd., Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., and Wellworthy Piston Rings, Ltd.
GOOD SURPLUS ON ROTHERHAM MUNICIPAL TRANSPORT A SURPLUS of £61,844 on ..he operations of the transport department of Rotherham Corporation in the past municipal year is reported by the transport manager, Mr. Norman Rylance.. 'The surplus was made up of £10,755 on the trams, £19,848 on the trolleybuses and £31,241 on the petrol b:iscs. Passengers carried numbe'ed 50,768,312, an increase of about 2,000,000 on the previous year.
Dealing with absenteeism, the report states that it was the highest on record during the period from April, 1944, to February of -this year. During that time as many as 3,000 miles had been lost in one week. The position had improved considerably since February, and the average weekly loss was now about 170 miles. The total mileage lost through all causes during the year was 135,233, of which about 74 per cent, was due to absenteeism, lateness and sickness. THE ALUMINIUM EXHIBITION AT SELFRIDGES
OVER 8,000 people daily are visiting the Aluminium Exhibition staged at Selfridges, Ltd., • Oxford Street, London, W., and to meet the demand the closing date has been eXtended to July 14.
• Originally schemed to demonstrate the versatility of aluminium and its alloys more as an educative than a trade show, it has proved to serve both purposes, and buyers from almost every country in the world have paid it a visit.
• SCAMMELL LORRIES WARPRODUCTION.FIGURES
e. managing director of Scammell L Lorries, Ltd., Watford, Hurts, recently sent. a message, in the fOrm of a leaflet, to all employees and associates of: the company, dealing. with. aspects of the War effort: of:the organization. That this was on a big scale may be appreciated from the following figures, which represent equipment and vehicles designed and manufactured by the company fromSeptember: 3; 1939; to May 8., 1945.
Supplies were made to the M.O.S., R.N., R.A.F. and M.O.W., as follow:— Heavy artillery tractors, 786; heavy breakdownand recovery tractors,
1,449; 30-40-ton, 14-wheeled. Tank transporters. 548; four-wheeled tractor conversions, 6,074; special trailers for four-wheeled tractors, 4,719; torpedo trailers for four-wheeled tractors, 127; petrol tank trailers for four-wheeled tractors, 409; equipment and instrument trailers, 683; water-tank. trailers; 240; trailer undercarriages, 4,268; mechanical-horse tractors, 676; generalpurpose trailers (mechanical horse), 1,463; heavy-duty fire pumps, 1,553; generating sets, 40; marine-engine sets, 764; wheelbarrow fire pumps, 5223; ship's the pumps; 1.679.
In addition to the foregoing, Scammell Lorries, Ltd., through the M.0..W.T., supplied a number of mechanical-horse tractors and trailers to railway companies, as well as heavy road vehicles, petrol tankers, machinery carriers for the conveyance of indivisible loads, and bulk-liquid, tankers.
TRAFFIC. ADMINISTRATORS PROGRESS -ON. MERSEYSIDE AT the first meeting of the Merseyside Centre of the Institute of Traffic Administration, Mr. A. S. Keirby, managing director of Keirby and Perry, Ltd., road-transport-contractors, Blackpool, was elected chairman for 1945, whilst Mr. A. T. Irving, traffic manager, Rootes Securities, Speke, was elected secretary.
FIRST HENRY SPURRIER MEMORIAL LECTURE
THE first Henry Spurrier Memorial Lecture will be delivered in London on December 10, 1945,, at the Institution of Electrical Engineers, by Mr. E. S. Shrapnell-Smith, C.B.E., M.Inst.T., a former vice-president of the Institute of Transport. He will take as his subject, " Five Decades of Commercial Road Transport, with Inferences About Its Future."
INST. OF T. SCOTTISH. SECTION ELECTS OFFICERS-
AT the annual general meeting of the Scottish Section of the Institute of Transport, the successful discussion held by groups in Edinburgh and Glasgow were referred to. in the 17th annual report. Tributes, were. paid, on their retirement, to Mr. Robert Beveridge, director and commercial manager, S.M.T„ Co_ Ltd., who had been chairman for the six. years of the war period, and. to Mr. A. IL Roberts, ex-superintendent and engineer, of Leith Docks, whois a foundation member of the Section: and was original chairman_ for three years.. Offlee-bearers elected were Rs iOnOW :—Maior Malcolm 5; SteiT, 55:0., chief officer !GT" SPOTlaud, L.M.R. Railway, chairman; D. J. H. Hannay-ThoniNon, and Mr. J. Amos, 0.B.E.. vice-chairmen; Mr: LaurenceCf. Greg. hon. secretary; Mr. T. Gray. hon. treasurer.