R.H.A. Impressions of the Bill
Page 25
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QTATEMENTS on the Transport Bill, s...) issued by the Road Haulage Association, point out that it has only one merit—it disposes of the legend, fostered to hoodwink the public, that the tentacles of nationalization of road transport were to grip only the longdistance haulier. A redeeming feature is that the whole country is now in a position to realize that the scheme is impracticable, unjust, and bad, To consider its demerits properly, the intended victims must be divided into two sections—the haulier and the trading community. As regards the former, the Government intends to set up a transport monopoly to buy out many undertakings on ridiculously inadequate terms, and to crush, with no compensation, those left under private ownership.
Certain short-distance traffics are alleged to be excluded, but the State monopoly, in taking over the railways and their controlled road-transport concerns, will, in fact, compete with the carriers of these special traffics as from January 1, 1948. Moreover, in absorbing concerns which deal specifically with long-distance traffic, but have fleets including a number of short-distance units, the Government will put itself into direct competition with the independent haulier for hauls within the 25-mile radius. The result must be a scramble for short-distance work. Few so-called " free " hauliers will be able to give in this radius the economic and efficient services now rendered., The unfairness of the permit system is exemplified by the fact that any permit to exceed the 25-mile radius must be obtained from the very organization with which the "free" operator is in competition, and there is no appeal. Is it likely that, faced with the need for paying its Way, the Commission will grant permits to competitors?
The 40-mile radius on the ancillary user must have come as a shock to the trading community. Now the trader will be constantly hampered by the permit system for anything over this distance. In contrast, it may be recalled that the Road-Rail Memorandum, stigmatized by advocates of nationalization as tending towards a monopoly, did leave the C-licensee absolutely free-from control.
The whole Bill is so preposterous that it is difficult for . any sane person to believe that it can really become law.
The R.H.A. comment on the word "compensation" is that the correct one to use should have been "confiscation." A small haulier with a couple of vehicles on which he and his family are dependent will be lucky to receive as much as £2,000, and will probably
receive not more than £1,000. The likely income from such a sum can be easily calculated.
Adequate supervision of the restrictions will inevitably involve armies of officials to shield the State monopoly from a competition so superior that, unhampered, it would be a deadly menace to such an unwieldy and slowmoving concern.