Formative years of a wild child
Page 54
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WHO is better equipped than Charles Dunbar to describe the development of mechanical road goods transport during its formative years from wayward child to exuberant adult? He knew from the inside all those involved in its growth, and has the literary skill to tell a fascinating story fluently and concisely in The Rise of Road Transport 1979-1939 Ilan Allan, £7.95).
He presents enough pre-1919 background to make one wonder why the Government, among others, failed as late as 1921 to realise that the motor lorry was the transport of the future and that the railways would never again enjoy their pre-war profits and privileges.
His story starts — where so many hauliers, successful and failed, started — at the famous Slough dump for ex-WD vehicles. The book then glances at outstanding technical changes before hurrying on to the "young men rushing into transport, working without thought of time and travelling regardless of distance."
Mr Dunbar pays tribute to the efforts of Commercial Motor to stabilise rates by teaching hauliers how to calculate their costs. Rates were also germane to the road-rail battle and liaison on the subject was established between the two sides. While negotiations to set up a central consultative committee were in progress, some leading members of the trade associations secretly decided to form a standing joint committee of hauliers' national organisations, from which the post-war association structure emerged.
Not the least attractive feature of the book is its 140 splendid pictures. One is of the only cokeburning Clarkson steam lorry known to have been built. Another is of four Watson lorries — a make of which few people have heard.
I recommend the book as holiday reading for any dedicated transport man who appreciates impeccable English.
A.S.M.
an Allan, Terminal House, Shepperton, Middlesex