MINISTER MAY BACK BIG NIGHT
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HOURS DELIVERY EXPERIMENT By JOHN DARKER ANEW initiative by the GLC's Transport Co-ordination Council for Landon is likely to result in a great extension of out-of-shop-hours deliveries. The TCCL committee—on which the TRTA and RHA are represented—is meeting the Minister of Transport, Mrs. Barbara Castle, probably at the end of July. It is anticipated that the Minister will use her influence to launch a large-scale experimental scheme in which many multiple store owners will participate.
A GLC spokesman told me that last year's night deliveries to TEsco stores should not be considered a failure. In fact, valuable lessons had been learned.
A much more extended experiment was now called for and anything the GLC could do to "smooth the path and give encouragement" would be done.
The GLC, I understand, requires no additional legal powers to promote out-of-shophours deliveries.
I surmise that Mrs. Castle will give dire warning of the consequences to shopkeepers of all sizes if their rooted hostility to flexible arrangements for the reception of goods at night or in the early morning persists. Much stricter enforcement of parking regulations particularly at times coinciding with peak commuter traffic flows may be anticipated.
Those responsible for this new initiative fully appreciate that the co-operation of supermarkets and shopkeepers generally is essential if night or early morning deliveries are to be accepted as customary. It may be inferred that the Minister will not be slow to urge national application of any scheme found to be viable in London.
Road transport managers, both C-licence and professional haulage, would welcome with open arms any viable plan promising to increase productivity, although the staff problems involved will require much ingenuity to solve; the trade unions, too, would need to back the transport operators.