NEWS of the WEEK
Page 48
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RETURN OF IMPRESSED VEHICLES CAUSING HARDSHIP
CONSIDERABLE hardship is being suffered by many small operators whose vehicles were impressed, during the early days of the war, for civil emergency requirements and are now being returned to their owners. As the direct result of being without their vehicles for some months, some operators are now finding considerable difficulty in obtaining work for them.
A.R.O. is endeavouring to find a solution to this problem. Approach has already been made to the L.C.C., but that body, although sympathetic in its attitude, has suggested that it is a matter which should have national consideration. The Association is, therefore, collecting all available information on the subject.
Any operator who is in difficulty from this cause should communicate with the area secretary of A.R.O.
After-the-war Licence Renewals
I T will be recalled that when the
c.M.U.A. put forward a suggestion to the Ministry of Transport that p.s.v. operators should, after the war, have their licences renewed on the basis of their pre-war holdings, the Minister replied that it was impossible to give any such undertaking, as there was no power to compel the Traffic Commissioners to make such grants. In dealing with a similar request in reference to the renewal of licences .of goods hauliers, he has stated that any operator who is aggrieved at the decision of the Traffic Authority has the right of appeal to him, with the prospect of a review if it be Considered that he has E28 not been fairly treated._ In any such appeal the fact that considerable tonnage is concerned in the licence will stand in the operator's favour.
There seems to be an implication here that the existence of vested interests is going to be an Tmportant factor in determining the renewal of licences after the war.
"The Commercial Motor " at Four Pence
COMMENCING with this issue, the .,..price of The Commercial Motor is advanced from 3d. to 4d. We regret. having to take this step, but it is a necessary war-time measure due to the great increase in the cost of paper and of production in general.
Salesmen for New and Used Vehicles
s A WELL-KNOWN London commerri cial-vehicle-distributing concern requires several salesmen, with energy and initiative, to deal with used and new vehicle transactions. Letters addressed " Salesmen," care of the Editor, will be forwarded.
Timing-chain Representation Needed Overseas
THE services of a company to act as main distributor for the sale of Morse timing chains and light roller chains in Turkey and the West Indies are required by the Morse Chain Co., Ltd., Letchworth, Herts., and any concern interested in the proposition can obtain full details from that address. It is stressed that the company should be actively engaged in the motor trade, preferably handling engine components.
FUEL RATION FOR GAS. PRODUCER VEHICLES I N a recent letter, the Minister of
Transport stated that a basic ration of petrol, at the rate of one-sixth of the normal ration, would be permitted for any particular vehicle operating on producer gas. By this arrangement, a vehicle of over 10 cwt. but under I ton unladen would receive a unit a week.
When the smallness of this ration was queried in Parliament on January 24, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry said it was fully realized that it would be necessary to have a small amount of petrol to run producer-gas vehicles, and the owners of these would certainly obtain the allowance which they require for that purpose.
The New Wage Increase Demand THE C.M.U.A. is advising all its members to refer the recent demands for wage increases, which, as reported in a previous issue, are being made by the Transport and General -Workers' Union, notwithstanding the fact that the new wage scales, approved under the Road Haulage Wages Act, have hardly had time to become operative, to the Area Boards set up under the Act, and from the Area Boards to the Road Haulage Cent..-al Wages Board. That, in the opinion of the C.M.U.A., is not only the constitutional way of meeting the demand, Nit is also the logical procedure.
Gas Bags for Single-deckers THE Minister of Transport has informed interested bodies that he prOposes to amend certain' regulations to permit the use of gas bags on the tops of single-deck buses.
It is psroposed to increase the permitted height of such vehicles to 15 ft. compared with the present limit of 10 ft. 6 ins., where the addition is due solely to the adaptation for the carriage of flexible gas containers, These containers must not, in the aggregate, weigh more than 150 lb., and the gas pressure must not exceed 1 lb. per sq. in, above atmospheric.
Recognition for Petrol Retailers
I T is understood that efforts are being thade, through M.A.A, channels, to obtain., Government recognition for petrol retailers, which would give them a voice in the war-time control of petrol distribution in this country.
Mr. Thomas I. Bennett, F.I.M.T., of Bramley, Leeds, the new chairman of the Yorkshire Division of the M.A.A., referred to the matter at the annual meeting of the Leeds Section of the M.A.A. Petrol retailers, he said, should have Government-recognized reciresentation through some national board or committee, which would have an entrée to the Ministry of Mines on terms of equality with the national petrol companies.