A.R.O. Traffic Scheme Open to All
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Further Details of a' 'Comprehensive Clearinghouse Scheme to be Arranged on a Voluntary membership Basis
SOME details of the traffic-clearing scheme propounded by Associated Road Operators have already been published in this journal.
The most important factor which now arises is that a company with the proposed title of Traffic Movement (Emergency) Organization, Ltd., a,nd * for which the Association Will be the sponsor in the first instance, will be thrown open to membership by all approved hauliers and clearing houses.
Next in importance is the point that the operations of the company are to cover the period of the war and one year after its termination.
Definite encouragement of some such plan has already been received from the Government, as stated in the House of Cotrimons, andit is highly probable that important contracts will fall to its share and will ,be rendered available to its members, whilst there is little doubt that if it be thoroughlyorganized on a sound basis, many of the difficulties at present experienced in the obtaining of supplies of fuel will be overcome. •
Avoiding Risk of Rate-cutting Every effort will also be made to discourage and avoid any possibility of cut rates, which are, at the best, only a temporary advantage to particular operators and, in the end, exert a bad influence upon the whole economic structure of road transport.
Membership will be entirely voluntary and irrespective of connections with other trade associations, but nonassociation members may be asked to pay a slightly higher percentage.
There will be a registration fee as a single payment, and not as an annually recurring sum. The cost of operation and any profits will be shared in proportion to the carrying capacity registered, •There will be no need for the whole tonnage of a fleet to be entered. This is intended to avoid interference with regular contracts.
The country will be divided into " subscriber areas," Each will have the right to nominate a ,director to the Board, but A.R.O. reserves the right to appoint six out of the _25 directors proposed. It is intended • that • the directors shall have the , benefit of advice from the local management corn_mittees elected by the members in each area, also of a similar committee elected by clearing-house members, if they agree to this course, which, at the moment, is somewhat in doubt.
It is proposed that a district manager shall be appointed in every area to work in conjunction with the management. committee and to be responsible to the directors. In the initial stages it may, for the sake of economy, be possible to obtain the part-time services of area secretaries of the various associations if they possess the necessary. qualifications. Sub-district offices will be opened as the scheme advances.
The activities of the company may be limited to the distribution of traffic secured from Government departments and similar bodies or from operators having available more than can be catered for by the carrying capacities of their vehicles.
Profits, after payment of all expenses, including directors' fees as fixed by the company in general 'meeting, will be distributed amongst members in proportion to the daily tonnage they agree to offer if called upon so to do. They will , probably be distributed annually. In the case of a winding up, the responsibility of individual members, if there be any deficiency, will be limited to It is emphasized by A.R.O. that the body concerned in controlling this scheme will not be an operating company, but will act merely as an agent.
In the memorandum on the plan, it is stated that each operatcir will be required to enter into 'an undertaking not to canvass for, or carry "(except through the offices of the companyy traffic for the customers of the cornpany or of the concerns clearing traffic through it. This, to our mind, is a clause which will require considerable thought and analysis. If all the tonnage of members were at the disposal of the T.M.E.O. (as we term it for the sake of brevity) then an undertaking of this nature would, perhaps, not be difficult to enforce, but where only a proportion is so allocated, it seems to 'us to be impracticable.
Other Schemes Now Proposed If, as is said, imitation be the sincerest form of flattery, A.R.O. should feel highly pleased, for no .sooner was this scheine propounded than others were announced. Some such co-ordination of effort is certainly. essential. Those who have loads to be carried, particularly where transport facilities are comparatively scarce, often experience great difficulty in contacting with hauliers, who may be in a position to deal with them, and, so far, the A.R.O. scheme appears to be the most comprehensive. That there will be many problems to solve is evident, but they should not prove too difficult if men of great experience and in a position to command the respect of the haulage industry be appointed.
Whilst we are favourably impressed by the stated advantages of the scheme, it has not progressed sufficiently in detail for us to be able to decide as to its ultimate merits or otherwise. There is, however, little doubt that it will arouse considerable criticism and probably some opposition, particularly by clearing houses which are already in active operation.