M.o.T. on Competition and Fares
Page 33
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THE annual dinner of the Traders Road Transport Association, last week, at which Col. A. Jerrett took the chair, was marked by an unusual nuttiber of prominent guests. The Minister of -Transport, Mr. John Maclay, referred to the Government's proposals, to be included in the White Paper, as being calculated to provide a reasonable measure of competition in road. transport. This was justifiable, he said, as haulage had had a difficult time.
In the matter of fares, the 1930 Act had been designed partly to protect established operators; it had been administered in that way and its preceptsfollowed by several Ministers, but he was not certain that it ensured cheap fares.
He thought the British Transport Commission had a strong case for some fare increases, but the Government was not sure that all the modifications were justifiable.
Mr. W. a Whitaker, of Unilever,
• Ltd.,was critical of the set-up of the -B.T.C.,-which seemed to have too much power to restrict certain means for transport in favour of another.
Mr. H. B. Vernon, of Spillers, Ltd., made a strong case for continuing the freedom of the C-licensee and suggested that the work done by the vehicles in this class was not in the sphere of ordinary haulage.
Col. Jerrett, in addition to expressing his strong persatial views on various aspects of road transport, considered that the representation of the industry on the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee was =weak and should be strengthened by one or two more members from the industry.
Mr. F. J.. Speight, chairman of the National Road Transport Federation, was concerned with increasing costs and he particularly mentioned that of some new vehicles and units. Not all these additions could be passed on and there was a• danger of the " goose being killed.
[Col. Jerrett's personal expressions of opinion are the subject of editorial comment on page 391.]