• OPINIONS and
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UERIES
STAFF COMPENSATION UNDER TRANSPORT NATIONALIZATION pART VII, Clause 105, of the Transport Bill states: "The Minister shall by regulations require the Cornmission to pay, in such cases and to such extent as may be specified in the regulations, compensation to officers or servants of any person whose undertaking or part of whose undertaking is transferred to the Commission by notice of acquisition given under Part III of this Act or . . being officers or servants who suffer loss of employment or loss or diminution of emoluments or pension rights by reason of the transfer."
No mention is made of compensation for loss by employees (officeis or servants) of an undertaking not acquired by the Commission. An undertaking forced back into the 25-mile radius will meet greater competition, probably with rate-cutting attached, and go to the wall in one, two or, perhaps, three years' time.
The natural outcome of this will be the reduction of salaries, loss of employment, etc., and at a period when all the vacancies in the Commission have been filled. What has also been overlooked by the rank and file is the fact that centralization of the road-transport industry will mean displacement of labour. Obviously, the Commission will not run two 5-ton vehicles where a 10-tonner will suffice. If six offices -be rolled into one, the staff numbers of six offices will not be required in that one office.
This effect will be insidious over a number of years as organization develops, and it would appear that this compensation clause has been designed to cover that eventuality in respect, however, only of acquired
concerns. ARTHUR R. WILSON. Glasgow, W.4.
FIG HT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
'THE Socialist Government's proposal to nationalize the road transport industry must surely be the most outstanding example of legalized robbery ever known. Perhaps it is right to say that only a very small percentage of the British public is aware of what this will mean to ordinary people if the Bill be passed. An amazing feature is the lack of interest shown not only by the travelling public, but by traders and manufacturers—to whom " free" transport means the very existence of their business.
From the transport operator's view—" and there are 60,000 of us "—the word " compensation " has taken on a new meaning, and a brief study of the terms laid down means, in effect, "confiscation." In the first place, let us try to discover what is wrong with transport and what crimes it has committed before "Judge Barnes" pronounces the death sentence.
A public inquiry has been requested by the industry itself and has been met with a blank refusal. Of what is the Government afraid? Public opinion or Sir David Maxwell Fyfe? Road haulage to-day is a highly organized and efficient industry. It is able and willing to carry out its functions with a minimum of fuss and delay, and is ready at all times to meet the wishes of manufacturers or traders in any part of the country. Its workers are well paid and enjoy a• measure of freedom which cannot be equalled in any other occupation. Of what, then, does it stand accused?
The vast majority of these workers does not want nationalization. They know full well that the intimate relationship .which exists between management and worker, and which is so essential a part of road haulage, will be destroyed for ever.
Some there may be, of course, who long for a return to the palmy days of Ministry-controlled vehicles, with all their dead mileage and wasteful running of empty trucks, when It was so easy to draw a full day's pay for a half-day's work. These, however, are in the.minority and are not the men who helped to build road transport to its present position. For this the taxpayer should give thanks, for it is elementary that inefficient State transport must be paid for out of his pocket.
The road transport worker should consider the matter from his own standpoint and decide whether he is to become simply driver No. 99, surrounded by a mass of regulations and red tape, ordered about by a host of officials, drk ing a standard truck on a standard route for a standard wage, or whether he will be a free individual with the right to choose his own employer— an employer who is a practical man, willing to listen to any complaints or difficulties which arise, and able to alter, amend and put things right on the spot.
The traders, the merchants and manufacturers who depend on quick, clean and efficient transport, must decide whether they are willing to help in the fight against nationalization or whether they will stand by and watch the haulier tackle it alone. • They shciald bear in mind that this is a case of the State versus the Little Man, and, should remember, too, that their own freedom of choice and prosperity is bound up with his.
The transport contractor must make up his mind once and for all that this is a fight to a finish, and that half-measures and milk-and-water methods will not avail him much. Conciliationand appeasement have been tried and found wanting.
Signed on behalf of a number of Northern Leeds, 8. Operators.
G. R. DYER.
IS FU EL " FIDDLI NG " GROWING?
AFTER six years' absence from the motor trade on war service, my brother and I reopened our White Hill garage and petrol station at High Wycombe in June.
From the commencement our sales of petrol to private-car owners proved, to be very satisfactory, and at(first there were promising signs of a good commercial connection; but, without exaggeration, sales to commercial vehicles have since fallen at least 50 per cent.
This is entirely due to our continued refusal to falsify drivers' receipts. " Fiddling " was widespread before the war, and seems to have; gained additional impetus since the introduction of petrol rationing. Nowadays some drivers will pocket the cash difference between the value of the petrol actually supplied and that shown on the receipt (often a matter of five gallons or more), whilst certain unscrupulous garage proprietors or employees turn the surplus coupon value to their own use in the black market.
Can anything be done to curtail this racket? A few days ago a " fiddler " of bolder type, before taking any petrol, asked for six gallons with a receipt for 10, and upon being refused drove on. Some drivers seem genuinely surprised to meet with such a refusal; and on more than one occasion we have been bluntly told that we shall lose custom. Unfortunately, we are only too well aware of this fact—the word soon goes around in transport cafes, .etc.—but we object to being blackmailed by those who, while nominally representing their employers' interests, are yet free to boycott straightdealing concerns and patronize others willing to co-operate in defrauding transport owners.
We have a large double runway, the latest electric pumps, and are25 miles from London on a trunk road; thus situated we are in a good position for serving longdistance haulage. In spite of this, we find our commercial sales are dwindling week by week, and, naturally, feel resentment that these drivers can, with impunity, work against the interests of both their employers and those petrol retailers who would be glad to supply them on a legitimate basis.
After the long interruption we are endeavouring to rebuild our pre-war trade, and through no fault of our own are obliged to watch others take away our legitimate profits, and by dishonestly augmenting them gain a still greater advantage in the post-war field of competition.
We should be interested to learn the views of transport owners or executives on this important subject.
W. HARRISON.
(For A. W. Harrison and Sons, Ltd.) High Wycombe.
IS THE DOUBLE-DECKER OBSOLESCENT?
ASHORT article entitled "Has the Double-decker Outworn Its Usefulness?" which appeared in your issue dated November 29, referred to a question raised by Mr. T. H. Parkinson, motor vehicle rolling stock engineer, of Leeds Corporation. This happened during a discussion after a paper on "Structural Problems of the Commercial Vehicle.read before the I.A.E. in that city by Mr.. V. W. Pilkington, of Leyland Motors, Ltd.
Mr. Parkinson suggested that there was a field in city traffic for the big American type of single-decker with large seating capacity. He appears, however, to have ignored or overlooked the following facts:—
(1) These big American vehicles are mostly employed on long-distance work over fine trunk roads between cities.
(2) They are equipped with much more powerful engines than those which we find ample for our needs here. American operators are not so concerned about m.p.g. as they are about rapid, reliable and comfortable transport over great distances. Actually, the conditions of service are entirely different from ours. (3) If the double-decker, has outworn its usefulness, surely the largest bus company in the world, London Transport, with engineers who have had many years' experience, would not order hundreds of this type, as it has done recently, for the most congested city traffic in the World?
(4) Again, the numerous orders for double-deckers received during recent months by A.E.C., Guy, Leyland and other makers, and referred to in the Press, appear to give the correct answer to this leading question. (5) In any case, considering the tremendous difficulties and the obstruction from official quarters which are encountered in this count& when operators or manufacturers ask for even a few more inches in the width or length of a bus, or, in fact, of any other vehicle, what chance would one of these huge singledeckers, with its great length, have of obtaining permis sion to run on our roads'? W. H. GODDARD, Leeds, BUILDING A FURNITURE C 0 NTAI NER pLEASE give me any information you can concerning furniture containers k wish to build one, and the width of the chassis on which it will be used is 7 ft.,. but, if possible, I want to make the centainer 7 ft. 4 ins. wide. I understand that a container is not considered.
as part of the vehicle T S. Lincoln.
[Such a container as you suggest making would not constitute a part of the vehicle if it be built as a separate unit which can be removed complete. It seems, therefore, that it would have to be carried on a platform body and form a " lift " van. We can see no objection to your making one with a width of 7 ft. 4 ins., as the legal limit of width for such a vehicle is 7 ft. 6 ins.—En.]
FACTS CONCERNING THOR NYCROFT MODELS BEING interested in the Thornycroft Sturdy petrolengined 6-tonner, I would like to know if you base carried out a road test of this model. If so, some notes on its general performance would be -useful.
Do you think that the 25 h p engine -would be powerful enough to operate in hilly country?
Incidentally, have you had any details of the Thorny.
croft 30 h.p. oil-engined vehicle? E C Oxford [The date when we last tested a Sturdy petrol-engincd machine was September, 1936, the report appearing in our issue dated September 4. On this occasion the fuel figure worked out at 11.6 m.p.g.. giving 92 gross ton m.p.g. and 62 pay-load ton m.p.g. The test hill used had a maximum gradient of 1 in 8, and the vehicle made easy work of this. Whilst we are inclined to favour an oil-engined job for 5-6-ton loads in a hilly district, we have no reason to doubt that the Thornycroft Sturdy with a petrol engine would give satisfactory service. Regarding the Thornycroft oiler. our road test report of this appeared in our issue dated November 9, 1945.—En.)
TURNING A PARTNERSHIP INTO A LIMITED COMPANY AS a regular reader of your helpful paper, I would like to know something concerning the advantages or disadvantages.of forming a firm or partnership into
a limited company. CONTRACTOR Birmingham.
[The formation of a Private limited company is satisfactory in many ways, and it places matters upon a much firmer basis than does a partnership. The main advantage, however, is that the "Limited "means a limitation of liability. i.e., if the company fails, the members cannot be called upon to sacrifice more than the money represented by their fully paid share-holding. In the case of the failure if a partnership which is not "Limited," the members might be required to pay,,a large amount of money to reimburse creditors. With a plivate limited company, there is no need to publish accounts, but there are certain regulations regarding the bolding of annual meetings and the carrying out of audits.—ED.1