What the Associations are Doing
Page 32
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Road Transport's Flexibility in War-time THERE were many distinguished guests at the A.R.O. (Western Area) dinner, at Bristol, last Saturday night Amongst them were: the Lord Mayor of Bristol (Alderman W. A. Winchester, J.F.), Messrs, R. Bernays, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health, H. Trevor Morgan, Western Licensing Authority, and Fred Organ, president of the Bristol Incorporated Chamber of Commerce and Shipping; Major Crawfurd, Mr. Roger W. Sewill, Mr. J. F. E. Pye, chairman, Metropolitan Area, ARC., and Mr. J. E. Corrin, national officer, Transport and General Workers' Union.
The occasion was notable for the excellence of the speeches; they were good in themselves and full of interest. Mr, G. Smart, chairman, set the ball rolling with a brief but pointed address. Its burden was that as Bristol flourished, so also did the haulage industry.
The Lord Mayor congratulated the audience On the fact that they were now organized and, as a result, much more prosperous. He referred to the defence scheme and asked hauliers to help by utilizing their vehicles as means for propaganda by carrying appropriate posters.
Mr. he will referred to a problem urgently in need of solution, namely, as to whether milk for dairy companies could legally be carried in C-licensed vehicles operated by those companies, under the plea that the milk was being conveyed for processing. He referred to the road-rail agreement and said that the haulage industry had elected its VEHICLE.COMMANDEERING NOT TO BE EXTENSIVE.
At a meeting organized by the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce, the A.R.O. and the C.M.U.A., Sir Henry Piggott (South-eastern Licensing Authority) explained the group system to A, B and C-licence .holders at Brighton, last week. He said that in an emergency operators would control their own businesses, subject to necessary supervision and control. He appealed to the licensees to organize their groups as quickly as possible.
In answer to questions, Sir Henry said that groups should be localized and centralized so far as possible. Questioned as to commandeering, he did not think there would be much of this except during the first fortnight.
Sir Henry said he was rather nervous about the position of lofty drivers who were in the Territorial Army and did not thlfIk they should be called up
s6 representatives on a consultative council. A.R.O. had 50 per cent, of the members.
Mr. Trevor Morgan said that he wondered whether it would be quite so good for the industry when the " permanent opposition " to renewal of road operators' licences was removed. He said that opposition often enabled him to appreciate all the circumstances connected with a licence.
An excellent address was that of Mr. Robert Bernays. I4e referred to the spirit of • enterprise which he said pervaded the road-haulage industry. In the event of war there would be a greater strain on road transport than was ever before experienced. In time of war road transport's elasticity would be a tremendous advantage. He said that it was every bit as important as A.R.P.
Major Crawfurd said that the railways, in their propaganda, demanded the right to deal on equal terms with other industries. He said he thought we should accept that offer and that when, for example, the Great Western Railway Co. wanted to put two new locomotives into service and 100 additional wagons, then Mr. Trevor Morgan would have to decide whether there was any real need for that additional equipment!
Captain J. W. Jones thanked the president of the Chamber of Commerce for the way in which he ensured that road operators should get a fair hearing. Mr. Organ ventured the opinion that road transport is just as much a national necessity as are the railways.
during the first three Of four weeks. A committee was set up to help in
• the organization of the groups, consisting of two representatives of each of the organizations.
Traffic Courts Castigated by B.R.F. Representative.
Traffic courts came in for criticism by Mr. W. A. Gibson Martin, of the B.R.F., when he addressed Carlisle Rotarians, last week. The idea behind the formation of the courts, lie said, was that they should be based on round-table principles in friendly conference with road operators. But the public needed, in his opinion, to be told some of the industry's handicaps.
C.M.U.A. Lancashire Officials.
Mr. William Patton has been re-elected chairman of the C.M.U.A. South-East Lanes Area, and Mr. Herbert Allen has been re-elected vicechairman. NON-PETROL BUSES IN TIME OF EMERGENCY.
The annual dinner of the Glasgow branch of the • Industrial Transport Association was held last week in Glasgow, 141r. C. Manderson presiding. Mr. E. R. L. Fitzpayne said in his speech, with regard to war-time measures, that investigations were being made into the possibility of using producer-gas buses and buses operated by compressed gas. The Government was not helpful in this connection, as buses were strictly controlled with regard to weight, which meant a reduction of seating capacity. So far as possible, they should pay attention to means for transport other than those depending on petrol. Under emergency conditions, battery-driven vehicles or producer-gas buses might be extremely serviceable for all the ordinary needs of the country.
Road Estimates—a Step the Right Way.
The British Road Federation states that it is pleased to note that the Civil Estimates, which were made public last week, show that the amount voted for expenditure on the roads during the year ending March 31, 1940, is 223,540,000 as compared with £21,650,000 for 1938. It is pointed out • that it should be remembered that the increase is off-set by, and will probably. be more than off-set by, a corresponding increase in the amount taken.frorn the road-transport industry by direct taxation. It is therefore evident that still greater efforts must be made to ensure that the money raised in motor taxation is spent, as it should be, on road improvement. .
This Year's C.M.1U.A. Transport Conference.
Having accepted the invitation extended by its North-eastern Division, the C.M.U.A. will hold its national road-transport conference this year at Scarborough, some time during the month of September.