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The Future of Goods Transport
Page 91
Page 92
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ATTENTION must be given to many factors whea considering the-future of goods transport. The legislation proposed in the Road. and Rail Traffic Bill and the heavy increases in taxation contained in the Budget are most obviously intended to restrict road transport in respect of the tonnage of vehicles in service and to force up the operating costs, so that higher rates will have to be charged to trade and industry.
That the actual taxation suggested is not quite so high as that recommended by the Salter Conference does not affect the injustice of the case. It will strike at a vast number of ancillary users who cannot be considered as being in any way responsible for the railways' loss of freight, because to give efficient service to their customers they may be practically . forced. . to employ their own transport.
Anomalies which should be Removed.
It 'is not as if the additional duties were in respect of only the heavier vehicles. There is some justification for Adding steps to the present scale, which stops at vehicles weighing over 5 tons unladen, but none for raising the licence fees in the categories below these, down to the vehicle under 2i tons unladen but exceeding 2 tons, and. there are some obvious anomalies. which should certainly be removed. For instance, since 1031 the articulated vehicle weighing under 5 tons has paid duty on its unladen weight complete, and where the weight is over 5 tons a trailer duty of £6 is added. Under the Budget proposals, such a vehicle of slightly tinder 5 tons unladen will pay a single duty of £70, but if a little over this weight the duty will become £00 for the vehicle, plus £20 for the trailer portion, cloaking a total of £110; so that the addition of anything up to 1 ton will cost £40. This is manifestly unfair, and the trailer duty on such vehicles should be abolished. • Another anomaly is that the articulated vehicle is placed at a grave disadvantage as compared with the separate vehicle and trailer, for although it occupies only 33 ft. length of road space, it pays much more than the latter, which may well occupy 52 ft. of road space.
Again, one of the most important services rendered to manufacturers has been the transport of exceptional loads. This work is of a purely occasional nature, and yet the essential vehicles are to' be taxed at an almost prohibitive rate. As an example, a machinery transporter of the articulated type to carry 45 tons will bear an annual tax of £438 Os. 8d., whilst the famous articulated 100-tanner will have to pay nearly £1,000 per annum, because, in addition to weighing about 30 tons, it is equipped with an oil engine. The mileage of these big hut necessary vehicles is extremely small, for they travel at a maximum speed of 5 m.p.h. or less, and are employed comparatively infrequently. Thus the additional cost of operation per mile will be enormously increased.
There are other vehicles which carry out their work in what may be termed a spasmodic manner, and the need is showing itself for the issue of monthly or even weekly licences, whilst to meet seasonal requirements, and in view of the suggested increases, we consider that the 10 per cent, now added to the quarterly licence should be abolished.
The Effect on Road Haulage.
So far as the haulage side of the industry is concerned, the future for the established concerns appears to be fairly bright, provided that certain of the objectionable clauses in the Road and Rail Traffic Bill are removed or sufficiently modified, and already the representatives of the industry are making definite moves with this object in view.
As at present constituted, however, the Bill is a bar in the path of enterprise and gives far too much power to interests which may object to any forward step in road transport.
There will undoubtedly be a considerable development in the production and use of the lighter classes of vehicle, light not only in n17 respect of the load carried, but from the constructional point of view, because the taxation Is to continue to be based on unladen weight, and not on. vehicle capacity. This system did not matter so much when the taxation was moderate, but with considerable increases the danger presents itself that the construction may fall below the safety factor, or, if this does not happen, the practice of overloading may become even more prevalent.
Traffic Tuition for Schoolchildren
IT is distinctly disquieting to learn that, of the total pedestrians killed during the latter half of 1932, one-third were schoolchildren, most of them under seven years old. The fact points, with growing force, to the vital need for a more intensive system of traffic education in schools, and education authorities would do well to set aside a recognized time, say, twice a week, when schoolchildren might be given simple hints on how to avoid traffic dangers, the risks that are run being made clear by the use of easy-to-understand blackboard diagrams.
It may be difficult to restrain the impetuosity of youth, but the children are impressionable, and regular mind training is, in the vast majority of cases, likely to achieve a lasting and beneficial result, if conducted on sensible lines.
Slum Clearance which will Stimulate Road Haulage
rrHERE is general agreement throughout the -Ihaulage industry that increased activity in the building and allied trades would do much to improve conditions in road transport. We do not suggest that there is a preponderance of hauliers who depend upon the building trade for their livelihood, but rather that there are many who do. They, for the time being deprived of an outlet for their energies in the customary direction, are competing with the general body of haulage contractors in all sorts of ways, and by accepting work at uneconomic rates, are lowering the standard of the haulage business generally. It is, therefore, matter for congratulation that considerable increase in building activity is in prospect.
The Minister of Health has just circularized housing authorities throughout the country recommending considerable acceleration in the rate of clearance of slum areas and progress with rehousing schemes. Some of the work. we understand, is likely to go forward immediately, and there is this about the class of work to which the circular refers : it offers a double share of business to the road haulage contractor in assisting both with the work of demolition and that of rebuilding.