Publicity for Road Transport
Page 31
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ROAD transport, in its many phases, suffers considerably from lack of publicity as to its advantages and economic value. There is a regrettable tendency on the part of the daily Press to give great prominence to road . casualties and accidents and to boost up the railways at every opportunity. The result is that few of the general public who are not actually concerned in roadtransport matters realize,the,vast importance of our industry, and the extraordinary extent to which it caters for the conveyance, not only of passengers, but of raw materials, foodstuffs and manufactured products, thus promoting the well-being of the citizen.
Road transport attends to his welfare during every hour of the day and night. It carries perishable materials, the expeditious delivery of which• is of vital importance, it stocks the shops, fills the tanks from which he draws the fuel for his car, and has done more than anything else to improve the hygienic conditions of the country. It has enabled dwellers in country areas to enjoy recreation and pleasure hitherto denied them ; in fact, it is diffi cult to point to any sphere of modern life in which the motor vehicle —and the commercial type in particular—has not exercised a beneficial influence.
The average member of the public takes all these facilities as a matter of course; and the problem is how to emphasize the fact that they, exist only as a result of the development of road transport.
The operator should seize every opportunity of pushing forward the merits and claims of the road, and should instruct his staff and drivers to do likewise. We know that the railway' s have adopted this policy with considerable success, and we might well take a leaf from their book.
We refer in our news columns. to a remarkable exhibition of road vehicles staged at the Agricultural Hall by an ancillary user, the vehicles representing a fleet of 1,600 of the commercial type and some 750 cars used by travellers. This was a private show, but is an indication of what might be done more publicly in this direction, for this single organization possesses 100 different types of commercial vehicle, covering a vast variety of needs.