OPINIONS and QUERIES Railway Pressure on Coach Tourist Agencies.
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The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3945] Sir,—The attitude of the railway companies towards motor-coach interests is emphasized by their latest instructions given to tourist agencies which book for them.
You and your readers may be aware that the companies have told the various tourist agencies that they must place all road business with a company associated with the railways. The obvious intention is to squeeze out all independent operating companies, and although we can understand that so far as possible the railways will wish to retain any road traffic for their own companies we do not understand the attitude which makes such a stipulation compulsory and is attached to a threat that non-compliance will mean loss of the railway agency.
In our case, we have been operating motor coaches for nearly 30 years, being one of the first to start in the whole country, and it seems a curious method of doing business that agencies for which we have handled road parties over the whole of that period should now be prohibited (mark you) from dealing with us.
In view of the fact that most of the large road companies are associated with the railways, we are doubtful if there is any independent association of standing to take up the cudgels against this action, but we are taking the first step of using your columns in the hope that there may be a sufficient expression from ,other operators, similarly situated, to warrant concerted action.
We would welcome the expression of views as to whether the action referred to might be described as legitimate• competition or not. It may be argued that the railway companies are paying a tremendous compliment to the independent operators still in existence, by resorting to such methods.
F. A. WILKES, Managing Director, For the Llandudno Motor and Garage Co. Llandudno. (Red Garages), Ltd.
Encouraging Signs of Home-produced Fuel.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3948] Sir„—" It is a long lane which has no turning "--although-for some long time past we have heard rumours and reports of the possibility of something tangible being done to take advantage of our huge coal deposits, and produce our own fuel here instead of importing it, it is only quite recently that these rumours have been converted into facts.
It was reported in the Press on November 25 that Sir Eric Ilambro, the banker, was recently in Sheffield to sign a contract -with Hadfields for retorts to be used in the Salemi process of low-temperature carbonization, and to select a site for a plant for this process.
The matter of producing fuel at home also has been mentioned lately in Parliament, and one hopes that Members will be got to realize the immense importance of doing all that they can to help on this project.
In your issue of December 9 you give •a report of the results of the low-temperature carbonization plant at Askern, near Doncaster, and it is gratifying to see that this company made a trading profit of £39,079.
Imperial Chemical Industries is said to have expended the sum of £1,250,000 on a plant for the production of petrol from coal on a commercial basis. The same plant can be arranged to produce gas-oil or similar distillates for use in oil engines. The railways are now busy experimenting with oil traction, both here and abroad.
Although it will, of course, take time to arrange for the production to attain such proportions that the imports will be materially reduced (we use nearly 950,000,000 gallons of petrol here yearly) a start has been made, and now there is every chance of a rapid increase, which means more employment here and less money sent abroad, both of which are most desirable
objects. W. H. GODDARD. Leeds.
Taxation Recommended in the Salter Report.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3947] Sir,--Being subscribers to your journal, we should very much appreciate the details of the proposed new taxes on commercial vehicles as the outcome of the Salter Report, also your opinion as to how far the recommendations are likely to be adopted, as this matter will have a great bearing on our transport arrangements for the coming year, BUILDERS. Caine,
[It is impossible to say to what extent the Salter recommendations are likely to be adopted. The proposed taxes on petrol vehicles equipped with pneumatic tyres are :Exceeding n ton but not exceeding 2 tons ... 126. Exceeding 2 tons but not exceeding 2i tons ... £83 Exceeding 2i tons but not exceeding 3 torts ... £36 Exceeding 3 tons but not exceeding 4 tons ... £54 Exceeding 4 tons but not exceeding 5 tons ... £73 The corresponding figures under the present rates are :—
£25, £28, £32, £28, £43.—En.j
Why Haulage Rates are Cut.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3948] Sir,—What is the haulage business coming to? I would like to draw your attention to a case of a heavily Cut rate. Recently I was asked by a local engineering firm to quote for the hire of a 2-3-ton lorry to convey machinery from Guildford to Bristol. The price was to include insurance for £770.
The distance from here to Bristol and back is 210 miles, and I quoted £8; allowing for insurance, this works out at about Std. per mile for a 21-ton Dennis 13,11 lorry. Eventually the job was done by a London firm for £5! I find that a much bigger lorry was sent and that there was not a return load. The mileage from London to 'Guildford and on to Bristol is 135, and the return from Bristol to London is 118 ---253 miles. It works out at 5d. per mile, to say nothing
of insurance. B. HEATH. Guildford.
[I can tell you the probable reason why many transport concerns cut rates to below the economic level. The practice is a growing one, and if you are aware of it you may be able to do something to stop it.
They take the view that it is better for a lorry to run at a rate which will earn a copper or two above the hare running costs, i.e., petrol, oil, tyres, etc., rather than to let it stand idle. They realize that the standing charges have to be found anyhow, and that therefore anything which can be earned, over and above the running costs, is at least a contribution to those charges.
The fallacy is, of course, that the procedure inevitably lowers the standard of rates and the time must come, soon, when the best obtainable rate will be something less than the operating costs of the vehicles employed. When that tim.e comes, no doubt, hauliers in general will do something about it.—S.TR.]
Costing a Mixed Fleet.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3949] Sir,—We are desirous of installing a system of costing and accounting for our fleet of vehicles, both steam and petrol, used in the hauling of our own material
We shall be glad if you could let us have the names of any text-books which would help us in this matter. P. F. DYER,
Bristol. ' for Joseph Coles and Son, Ltd.
[There are no text books relating to systems of costing and accounting of vehicles to which we could refer you. The following procedure is recommended.
The first essential to obtaining the information you want is that you must obtain individual records of cost for each machine in every detail and relating to every
item. That is absolutely essential. Without this information it is impossible to obtain the figures you require.
Given that information the procedure is to obtain an analysis sheet' ruled to cover the 10 items enumerated in The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs, splitting that of maintenance into four, one for repairs materials, one for repairs labour, one for general maintenance labour and another for general maintenance material.% The item wages, too, may need to be divided to cover the various classes of insurance necessary in connection with employees. There must also be a column for mileage, one for the vehicle, one for the date, and, at the end, one for cost per mile.
Each vehicle must have its own analysis sheet, which should be made up once per week.
The foregoing indicates a method which I think that you will be able to follow, but if not I will go into the matter again in detail for you.—S.T.R.]
A Police Misconception on Vehicle Loading The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3950] Sir,—One of our lorries, returning from London via Sevenoaks, was reported to the police in Tonbridge as being overloaded, the width of the load being in excess of the regulations and the driver being unable' to see traffic at the rear through his mirror, therefore holding 'up following traffic.
The load carried was 6 tons, the width of the vehicle is 6 ft. 8 ins., and the load was protruding a matter of 2 ins, at each side and did not reach the top of the cabin. The load was 80 bags of material, each weighing n cwt., • We would mention that the road is quite wide from Sevenoaks to Tonbridge, where the offence was supposed to have occurred ; but there are one or two nasty bends. The driver has been with us for about 12 years, and it is the first time he has had a complaint lodged against him.
3342 The police here have taken up the matter and have warned us for overloading, although the driving mirror and the width of the load were quite in order.
We would mention that the front-axle weight is 2 tons 4 cwt., the rear-axle weight 5 tons 16 cwt., and the unladen weight 3 tons 19 cwt. The police here deduce from this that our carrying capacity is 4 tons 1 cwt. We are, however, under the impression that we are allowed a load, including the weight of the vehicle, up to 12 tons. We would say that this is a four-wheeled vehicle.
We shall, therefore, be glad if you can enlighten us on this matter. DISSATISFIED. Tonbridge.
[You are correct in stating that the total weight of a fourwheeled heavy motor vehicle which is permitted under the Regulations is 12 tons.
Under paragraph 38 of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, 1931, the owner of a heavy motor vehicle is required to have painted, or otherwise plainly marked, upon some conspicuous part of the off side the unladen weight and the maximum speed at which it may be driven when not drawing a trailer, but the regulations do not require the axle weights to be painted anywhere on the vehicle. Under the Heavy Motor Car Order, 1904, which is now entirely revoked, it was necessary to have the registered axle weight of each axle painted on the off side, in addition to the above-mentioned
particulars. The Order also provided that the axle weight of an axle of a heavymotorcar should not exceed the registered axle weight. Consequently, under the 1904 Order it would have been an offence to use a heavy motorcar the laden weight of which exceeded 8 tons if the total of the front axle weight and of the back axle weight, as registered and painted on the vehicle, exceeded 8 tons, but under the existing regulations no offence is committed unless the actual axle weight of an axle exceeds 8 tons, or, in the case of a four-wheeled vehicle, the total laden weight exceeds 12 tons.
There appears to be no doubt that the police had in mind the old Order, which is no longer in force. We advise you to take up the point with the superintendent and ask that any note which has been made in the police records of your having been warned for overloading, may be cancelled, as otherwise it might be brought up against you in the future, when it might be difficult to explain the true facts to the magistrates.—En.] Using a Bus on a Private Road.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3951] Sir,—Being a regular reader of your paper I would appreciate your opinion as to something connected with my work. How does a bus running on a private road come under the Road Traffic Act? Is a driver liable to a fine for picking up people on that road and not going off it before he sets them down again? Can an officer from the Commissioners have the power to prosecute him for doing this?
The road in question belongs to the firm employing the people who are carried and it has a notice to this effect at its end. The notice reads: "This road is private property, anyone using same does so at his own risk, the road is not patrolled by the local police
nor lit by the council,* Bus DRIVER. Manchester.
[Section 67 of the Road Traffic Act provides that no person shall cause or permit a motor vehicle to be used on any road as a stage carriage, an express carriage or a contract carriage, unless he be the holder of a licence to use it as a veln le of that class. Section 121 of the Act defines the word "Road" as meaning "any highway and any other road to which the public has access." A highway is a place over which the public has the right to pass and repass. It is clear that the road to which you refer is not"highway." If, however, the owners of the toad alow anyone to use the road who wishes to do so at his own risk, it is probable tlial it would be held that it was a road to which the pubM has access, in which case the provisions of the Act apply to any bus which is used upon it. The position would be different if the owners kept the road closed and allowed it to be used only by
persons intending to call at their works.--En.]