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Uneconomic Rates Offered On Motorway Projects
Page 67
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THE importance of and the respect with which The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs were held by members of the Road Haulage Association
were mentioned at Bristol last week, when the Western Licensing Authority, Mr. S. W. Nelson, referred in scathing terms to advertisements inviting operators to apply for haulage work on new road-making projects in the south west. It was alleged that a number of operators had been made bankrupt as the result of what were described as misrepresentations.
Two operators, R. Steager and C. Allford, both of Gloucester, applied for short-term B licences for hauling hot asphalt to a site on the new BirminghamBristol motorway near Tewkesbury.
Although the applications had been published, neither applicant put in an appearance; nevertheless, the Authority decided to hold a formal public hearing :la that the facts should be ventilated. It is understood that the applications were withdrawn at the last minute.
Mr. T. D. Corpe appeared for a number of licensed operators who contended that they could undertake this work at an economical rate. There was no need for additional vehicles, they said, and the urgency of the work stressed to the Licensing Authority's office prior to the hearing appeared to be misleading.
Short-term Ban Mr. Nelson said it had come to his notice that advertisements had been published asking for lorries for this kind of work, and in some instances applicants for the job had been disappointed. " I am not going to grant any more short-term licences in respect of these projects." he said, "unless there is proof of need."
It was stated that lorry drivers all over the area had answered the advertisement referred to, only to discover later that they had been misled.
Mr. Corpe said that the rates offered were not economic, and he suggested that operators accepting them had in some cases been forced into bankruptcy. The firm advertising for the operators had, he said, misled the applicants as to the urgency of the work. This sort of thing was wrong and very serious.
Low Rates The rates offered by one firm to operators were much below the Cost Tables published by The Commercial Motor and accepted by all members of the Road Haulage Association.
Mr. J. F. Cox, assistant secretary, Western Area R.H.A., referred to quotations of 2s. 9d. per ton by a firm who had been supporting the present applicants, presumably as agents for the contractors, but who did not themselves operate vehicles, and showed that the rates appeared to be based on Is. 3d. a mile. The R.H.A. members' quotation of 3s. 9d. a ton worked out at Is. 74-d. per mile.
Referring to the 1960 Commercial Motor Cost Tables, he submitted that the Is. 7-1d. per mile was in line with this schedule. He added that he believed there had been certain reductions in rates since then.
Members of the R.H.A., he said, stood rigidly by The Commercial Motor Cost Tables; they were not quoting unreasonable rates to contractors.
Mr. C. H. Lewis, an independent operator, of Cheltenham, confirmed a statement made previously by Mr. Corpe, that a company supported by licensed tipper operators in Gloucestershire was in course of formation and could and would meet all requirements for tippers on the Birmingham-Bristol road which was now being surfaced. They would be ready to do everything in their power to help the project if called upon to do so—at reasonable rates.
Mr. Nelson said he would grant no more short-term licences for the motorway without publishing the applications, so that operators could, if necessary, oppose and rebut the evidence.
The rate of Is. 71d. per mile did not appear to be excessive. It was in line with The Commercial Motor Cost Tables and appeared to be quite fair and reasonable.
He was pleased to see that tipping operators in Gloucestershire had formed a body to undertake and quote to contractors for major road projects. It was in the interests of everybody that this— he hesitated to use the word, he said— scandal, should be stopped.