U.T.A. Losing 000 ; 000 a Year to "Pirates" U TPWARDS of £300,000
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a year is being lost by the Ulster 16-.1 Transport Authority as a result of the 'illegal activities of lorry owners. According to the U.T.A.'s sixth annual report, published last week, this is a conservative estimate. Illegal carrying for hire is stated to be widespread and increasing. "Despite a good deal of difficult and most distasteful work on the part of the Authority's staff specially employed for the purpose," says the report, "it has not been possible to make any serious impression on these inroads into this business."
U.T.A.'s biggest competitor in road transport is, however, the ancillary user, "and this competition is manifestly on the increase." In 1953 there were 22,048 lorries in Northern Ireland, of which only about 675 were owned by U.T.A.
In the year ended September 30 last, the Authority made a trading profit (170,461) for the first time in five years, but it was not enough to meet in full loan interest and capital redemption charges. Once again the railways incurred a trading loss (£248,019), but the buses showed a trading profit of £137,780 and road goods transport, £111,306. The railways have been responsible for £1,733,000 of the accumulated deficit in six years, of £1,780,310.
During the year the buses covered 31.7m. miles and carried 97.5m. passengers—a decrease of 263.867 miles and an increase of 274,104 passengers on the previous year's figures. Regular time-table bus services were run on 2,625 miles of road. The average number of buses in use was 867. The report states that the question' of permitting the free use of 8-ft.-wide buses in Northern Ireland is under examination.
On the goods side, the Authority's lorries covered 11.8m. miles (121,235 fewer than in 1952-53). They carried 1.24 tons of goods (a decrease of 186,259 tons) and 1.5m. head of livestock (an increase of 435,004).
Use of the Preston-Larne and Preston-Belfast ferries was greatly increased. During the year, 9,778 trailers were hauled on the ferries by U.T.A. tractors, a figure 3,346 higher than in 1952-53.
In the near future, extensive replacements of road vehicles, particularly for freight, will be necessary, says the report.
"The improvement of £82,000 in the results for the year, following on the improvement of £221,000 in the previous year, can," U.T.A. says, "be regarded as reasonably satisfactory and indicates the possibility of further progress towards the ultimate goal of becoming self-supporting. It is, perhaps, a sign of weakness that the improvement has been brought about more by a process of reducing expenditure than by an expansion of business, but, in the prevailing circumstances, this is no more than can be expected."
New claims for increases in wages for practically all the staff have, however, been made and "their ultimate effect on the cost of working the services cannot but be serious," it is stated.