Bird's Eye
Page 66
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ViewBY THE HAWK
On speaking terms!
"FURTHER EDUCATION" took on a new look last week when 90 members of the London Transport Managers Club met in the Hanover Rooms. The results could be startling. The guest speaker was Mr. J. H. M. Whitton, director of the Tack Organization. His subject: The art of effective communication by the spoken word.
His first point was: "Only speak because you want to".
Retorted one member: "If it's a job and the price is right we all want to speak".
Pie in the sky
TAUTOLOGY rears its head in diverse places. "Planning" no longer suffices for the with-it-boys: it must be "forward planning"— in contrast, presumably, to "hindsight".
Thumbing through a list of railway top brass the other day I came across a whole breed of "planning officers", all with bracketed subtitles. One choice designation: "Planning (Reshaping) Officer"! How about "Planning (Standfast) Officer"?
Or why not merely two planning officers: "(Pre-Dr.)" and "(Post-Dr.)"?
Chairman's speech
SPEAKING is Anthony W. Allen, chairman of Atkinson Lorries (Holdings) Ltd:— GI would like to assure everyone here today that we continue to flourish and that the indications to date are that the profits for the present year should at least equal last year, a more definite statement than that it would be unwise to make at this stage.
A point which I would, however, like to bring to your attention is the proposed Transport Bill due to be published in November, particularly the clause relating to vehicles over five tons gross weight, which means every vehicle we sell.
In practice, it would appear to be the intention that, before such a freight vehicle can operate on any particular journey in the United Kingdom, it will have to prove that it can do so more efficiently than the railways.
What is meant by "efficiently", no one knows. All we do know is that, at the moment, the railways are losing millions of pounds of the taxpayers' money every year and refuse to disclose any of their detailed accounts to the general public, and it would seem they have no intention of doing so in the future.
We are quite prepared to compete on equal terms and would agree that it is in this country's best interests that the most efficient means of transport is used, but we do not need another bureaucratic dose of rules and regulations to do that. It can be decided by the user, quite simply, "by price per mile", taken in conjunction with the service provided./ (Occasion: the company's annual general meeting a few days ago. Reception: warm applause.)
A matter of horses
ARCHIBALD PRENTICE is busier than ever—despite the fact that he retired a few months ago from the post of transport manager of St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Association, Edinburgh. So busy, in fact, that he hasn't yet found time for a holiday. "I've been looking at transport fleets up and down the country," he says, "and advising on costs and efficiency. A deal of travel is involved, but it keeps me occupied doing something I like— helping other people."
His work as chairman of Edinburgh Accident Prevention Council also occupies part of his week—as well as regular visits to St. Cuthbert's stables there to see all the milk-float horses. "They still know my voice," says Mr. Prentice. "They're wonderful animals."
Re: That afterthought
A BRITISH RAILWAYS BOARD spokesman had this to say about my item last week headed f420,000-plus afterthought: "It is true that we withdrew our application, but the reason for this was quite different from the one inferred in your item. In fact, we decided, for commercial reasons, to reallocate some of the vehicles to other London depots as well as Willesden, and will submit a revised application as soon as possible. There is no question of our saving around £420,000 nearly spent on vehicles."
Dram after dram after . . .
AT THE handing-over of a 5,000gal Therrnotank-built whisky tanker to the Glasgow haulage firm Archibald Brechin Ltd. (CM, page 53, last week), director Eric Pitt had this to say: "If you took a glass of whisky a day, there would be enough in the vehicle to last you 876 years."
Tankards for the memory
AND while we're on the hard stuff, here's a letter—to the editor of the Belfast Telegraph: "It seems odd that men who have received awards for careful driving over a number of years should be presented with tankards. We are continually reading 'Don't Drink and Drive,' and there is a constant campaign for road safety, Northern Ireland being a very black spot. So why a presentation of tankards? Surely some less suggestive gift could have been given?"
(Signed) "Curious."