The Shape of Things to Come
Page 25
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
MANY of those haulage people who are mainly engaged in longdistance transport await with almost bated breath any news relating to the implementing of the terms of the Transport Act in connection with their businesses. Some hope that it will be a very long time before they are acquired, others may be anxious to have the matter settled once and for all so that they may be able to proceed with any other schemes that they may have in hand or, at least, discover whether they are to be employed or discharged. As was announced in our issue dated July 2, the Road Haulage Undertakings (Notices of Acquisition, etc.) Regulations require that the British Transport Commission must, in normal cases, serve notices of acquisition between October 1, 1948, and January 1, 1950, and must give at least 10 weeks' warning that an undertaking is to be taken over. Where the Commission makes an agreement not to take over a business and the operator concerned breaks the conditions of this, notice of acquisition must be given within two months of the date when the breach was discovered.
In the case of a haulier disputing the legality of a notice, his objection must be stated within a month of its receipt, whilst a period of eight weeks is allowed where the operator is concerned in other undertakings and, for the purpose of these, wishes to retain certain properties or contracts.
Progress Report From Mr. Barnes Last week the Minister of Transport, replying to a question in the House of Commons, gave some further information as to the progress made up to then. He stated that agreements had been arrived at and were either signed or about to be signed for the acquisition of shares in 115 road haulage undertakings, but many of these are associated or subsidiary companies. They own between them 3,490 vehicles and 364 trailers. In addition, it is the intention of the Commission to begin the issue of notices of acquisition early in October, but he would not announce the names of those concerned as, in some cases, it would not be in the public interest."
One part of the question referred to road passenger undertakings. In this connection the Minister said that the Commission had arranged to acquire three which are vested in the British Electricity Authority, and that negotiations were proceeding in certain other cases. With the passenger side, however, acquisition was proving to be a little more complex than in the case of road haulage in view of the fact that, in the main, the services depend on area schemes.
An interesting point mentioned was that facilities for acquisition by agreement are open to small concerns as well as to the large ones. Questioned as to the possible vesting date after which the appropriate sections of road transport could no longer operate under private enterprise, Mr. Barnes retorted that the next stage would be the Order for the compulsory acquisition of road haulage undertakings and the getting of the organization into being.
A Cahn Before the Storm It seems that although the total number of vehicles concerned is not great, this cannot be said of the difficulties which are being encountered, and so far as we can gather there appears to be a lag in bringing some of the negotiations to a head and in entering into others. It is probable, therefore, that not much more will happen until after some of the notices of acquisition have been issued in October and subsequent months.
In the meantime the Road Transport Executive is building up its higher personnel and arranging its policy. For example, it was announced last week that for the purpose of administration on the freight side, the country would be divided into eight divisions, and managers have already been appointed to five of these, whilst it is stated that those for the .remaining three will be announced shortly. In some cases the Road Transport Executive is going to the railways in search of talent, and it is noteworthy that its newly appointed Public Relations Officer has been in railway service for 45 years. We quite realize that there are not many men in our industry who could claim such a lengthy experience and still be on the active list. What was formerly the Great Western Railway, with which the officer in question was associated, had for many years operated a considerable amount of road transport. He should, therefore, be no stranger to this side of transport. In addition, as the result of his previous appointment, he is well known to many members of the Press on both the lay and technical sides.
Work of the Negotiating Committees
SOME two years ago, on the resumption of normal goods-vehicle licensing, there were set up, as a result of a joint road-rail agreement, negotiating committees designed to, as it were, clear the way for applications to the Licensing Authorities.
At first, these committees were under a certain amount of suspicion, not only by would-be applicants, but also by certain of the Authorities themselves, who inclined then to take the view that there might be interference in the work of the Traffic Courts. In the main, however, such fears have vanished and in some cases applicants have even been advised at public inquiries to discuss their problems with negotiating committees.
In practice only one in five of applicants invited to discussions have faded to attend, and this shows the value of a reasonable analysis of each case and that the advice tendered has been appreciated.
There is little doubt that such negotiations have reduced the time occupied by a considerable number of applications, partly for the reason that where claims were considered to be excessive they could be pruned and at the same time submitted in the most suitable form, and partly because when a negotiating committee had given its blessing the number of objectors was naturally reduced.
Figures prepared for the benefit of the Central Licensing .Sub-committee of the Road and Rail Conference show that nearly 60,000 applications for A or B licences were published during the two years up to June 26, 1948. Of these no fewer than 27,515 were the subject of discussion by the committees; amongst these, again, in over 15,000 cases it was found possible to reach agreement, the result being that road and rail objections were withdrawn before the applications were heard.
Although the members of the committees freely give their time to this work, the Road Haulage Association has had to bear its share of the cost, which has included the need for maintaining a secretarial organization in each Traffic Area. However, time and expense have been saved in the case of both applicants and objectors.