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Opinions and Queries

2nd December 1955
Page 60
Page 60, 2nd December 1955 — Opinions and Queries
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Poor Cock Robin

FROM time to time a resolution passed by the British 1 Medical Association, that the attention of transport authorities should be drawn to the possible dangers of fumes from oil engines, is held up as proof that the

fumes from these are dangerous. Your bus-driver correspondent, E. Greenwood (November 18) has fallen for this one as easily as he has fallen for the leg-pull about birds dying in garages!

Regarding the resolution itself, it should be pointed out, that this was passed at the Annual Representative Meeting of the Association, dealing with medico-political matters,. and. not at the Scientific Meeting, and that, furthermore, the former meeting occupied 3i days on an Agenda containing 238 motions and amendments.

One can well imagine the little time and consideration devoted to the subject of oil-engine exhausts and the little specialized knowledge of the subject amongst the vast majority of the 400-odd doctors present.

In these circumstances, it is clearly wrong that anyone should attempt to make any capital out of this particular resolution.

London, N.W.5. F. J. WALKER, Director, Birch Bros. (Motors), Ltd.

WONDER where your correspondent, E. Greenwood, I obtained the lovely story of little birds falling dead from oil-engine fumes when the fleet in a bus garage changed over from petrol to oil engines?

I would like to know, because I could then write to the bus company owning the garage to find out how, in fact, they did get rid of the little beasts. They certainly did not die from such fumes, because we have suffered at our garage at Wombwell for many years from .a heavy infestation of sparrows, although our fleet has been 100 per cent. oil-engined all the time, and I know other operators who have exactly the same problem.

My personal impression is that sparrows positively thrive on such exhaust gases.

Barnsley. N. H. DEAN,

General Manager, The Yorkshire Traction Co., Ltd.

Purehase Tax On Vans

I READ with interest your article of October 21 on the 1. liability for extra purchase tax which may be payable when a goods van is converted for private use by the fitting of side windows.

It is perfectly true that tax at the higher rate is payable when a conversion is undertaken, irrespective

of the age of the vehicle. There is, however, one important proviso. Paragraph 9 of Notice No. 68Q issued • by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise states that: "Where a bodybuilder or other person, in the course of or for the purposes of his business, builds a body on a chassis, etc., etc., he is liable to registration and payment of tax. .. The same principles apply if, instead of a body being built on a chassis, a goods vehicle, whether new or not, is converted into a vehicle of a kind chargeable as a whole (e.g., by the insertion into a closed van of side windows to the rear of the driver's seat)."

The phrase "in the course of or for the purposes of his business is quite important. It clearly covers a bodybuilder, motor manufacturer or repairer, also any c2j firm who in their own workshop alter a vehicle which is to be used by them for business purposes.

There are doubts, however, whether it applies to an individual who alters a vehicle for his own personal use. It appears that in some cases no extra tax is chargeable. This is implied in correspondence I have had with the Customs and Excise Authorities, but as the matter is so complicated they will not give any general ruling. They are always prepared to give a ruling in individual cases, and it would seem advisable to seek this before any alteration is embarked upon.

London, W.I. R. E. G. BROWN, Secretary, London and Home Counties Division, Traders Road Transport Association.

Small Oiler Saves 1147 a Year

IN operating a fleet of 12-14 vehicles of 30-50 cwt. on I local delivery, careful consideration was given to the use of the small oil engine, Manufacturers' fuel consumption reports showed a calculated saving of £114 per vehicle per annum. Allowing a cost of £340 for the new unit and scrap for the old, this would be covered in three years. Saving on maintenance was estimated at £15 per annum, plus the three days required for docking the petrol engine.

In practice, a four-cylindered four-stroke oil engine on identical work to the petrol engine over a period. of two years shows the following figures:—

Even more striking figures can be quoted for a 3-tonner.

Waterfoot, Lancashire. JAMES B. SEvit.t.E,

R. B. Seville:Ltd.

[More correspondence on this subject will be published next week. The outstanding economy of the oil engine in fuel consumption was well illustrated in an article in The Commercial Motor for November 11.—ED.]

Why Not Look For Work?

whY should A. Brown (November 18) consider it " strange that no employer has replied to his advertisement?

There is nothing strange about it. Does he expect a flood of letters from employers bartering for his services?

If Mr. Brown wants work, or a change of job, he had better start looking for it, not just wait for something to turn up. It definitely will not look for him.

Duk infield. W. F. BANKS.


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