• John Moore's replacement by Paul Channon might have been
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expected to depress Department of Transport civil servants. Bureaucrats like to work for an effective Minister, and Moore (among others) is spoken of as a possible future Premier. Channon, by contrast, was widely tipped for being dropped from the Cabinet altogether, after a poor showing at Trade and Industry.
My Marsham Street mole tells me that he spent several lunch-times last week in nearby pubs — strictly in the line of duty, of course — listening to DTp officials gossiping about the reshuffle. And, surprisingly, most seemed glad to see the back of Moore. It seems that his ambition made him even more reluctant than most ministers to take hard decisions.
Apparently he made it clear that, having seen David Howell sacked after raising lorry weights to 38 tonnes, 40 tonnes were not on his agenda. And his solution to the wide disparity in EEC lorry taxes was that other countries should raise theirs to British levels. The welcome VED freeze in the last two Budgets was designed to make this easier, but he was not prepared to risk being branded a "juggernaut-lover" by moving our taxes down towards the EEC average.
The bureaucrats hoped that Channon, with no political future to lose, would be bolder. We shall see.
• As the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon draw to a climax I think it is appropriate to bring your attention to a small but nevertheless amusing piece of information.
Many years ago a small Japanese company was made a subsidiary of Dunlop and began manufacturing Dunlop tennis balls. The company traded under the name of Sumitomo.
Today Sumitomo is the world's fifth largest conglomerate and still makes Dunlop tennis balls. As it happens, Sumitomo now owns Dunlop and is also the producer of the famous SP tyres. • Great white hunter stories are getting rare in the commercial vehicle industry nowadays. Gripping tales of steely eyed intrepid heroes tracking down their quarry in the most unlikely circumstances are certainly unlikely but not, it seems, totally unknown.
In an exhilarating struggle between man and dipstick, Andrew Davis from Transport Engineer captured this example with his bare hands at the volvo FL4 launch recently.
It will doubtless be stuffed, and mounted on a mahogany tablet to be hung on the wall of the smoking room of the editorial offices! • The National Freight Consortium chose to launch its revamped parcels company, Lynx, at the London Zoo this week.
Unfortunately there are no lynx at London Zoo so it was not possible for one to make an appearance at the presentation.
Perhaps this is just as well since the zoo informs us that the lynx is a wild and woolly creature known for its ferocity and unfriendliness.
• An era of South London based road haulage ends this week with the retirement of Charlie Barber.
C Barber and Sons — Horse and Motor Contractors was based at Goat Road, Mitcham Junction in Surrey, The yard was an extension of the family home and it was here that the young Charlie Barber was raised. Following in his grandfather's, and his father's footsteps he joined the company at the age of 14. Sharing his parent's love of the business Barber did not however always agree with his grandfather's view on developing truck technology.
"We had quite a few drivers working for us by the time World War 2 had finished. One day we bought a truck fitted with a starter motor — something we had never had before. My grandfather saw this starter motor and his immediate reaction was 'You can bloody well get rid of that thing or they'll all want one'.
This did nothing to dampen Barber's enthusiasm for new tech and indeed it was this that led him to winning the Daf franchie for south London. "We were running Fodens and ERFs to the continent but found it very difficult to get parts when broken down abroad. I needed to give my drivers something to get out of trouble with. Daf had a good European network so I went for it."
Nurturing the franchise to grow as it did required enormous effort. Says Barber "It made me realise how little sleep I needed".
Although the dealership (now under the name of Morgan Elliot) is no longer part of C Barber, Barber's son Philip has remained with it as a director.
After more than 50 years in the business Charlie Barber is stepping down and giving the reins to his cousins Colin and Roger Barber. It's been a good life says the smiling Charlie but he'll be glad to take a break. For a man born with diesel in his veins the break will not be total. "People were always phoning me at home for advice. I don't think the phone calls will stop immediately". IN Vintage bus enthusiasts will be cheered by the latest exhibit at the Amberley Chalk Pits Industrial Museum in Sussex.
Supporters of the museum have spent much time and .230,000 building a replica of 1920s Southdown bus garage on a site at the museum, and visitors are encouraged to take rides on vintage buses around the museum's grounds.
Vehicles on display include vintage Leylands, a Tilling Stevens coach, and a number of vehicles in the process of being restored. There is also an enchanting exhibition of photographs of Southdown vehicles operating in the bus company's region over the years, and an old ticket office complete with original scales for weighing parcels.