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News of the Week

R.H.A. ISSUES MANIFESTO AND CHALLENGE

A T a National Council meeting of the

R.H.A., held on November 28 and 29, the 115 representatives, covering the whole country, were gathered together to express not only their own views, but those of practically all the industry in their respective areas.

It was apparent that there was a general feeling of quiet determination to adopt what they believed to be the right course in the interests of the Nation at whatever risk there might be to themselves, and there was not the slightest disposition to surrender or to take a pessimistic view of the future.

It is significant that the motion: "That the Road Haulage Association is absolutely opposed to the nationalization of road transport in any shape or form as being inimical to the national interest. The Association firmly resolves to employ all constitutional means to convince the Government, Parliament, trade and industry, and the country generally that nationalization of transport would be disastrous to the economic life of the Nation," was earned unanimously

This is only one move in the battle which is to be fought. Another is the issuing of the excellent manifesto and challenge, which is being very widely distributed and is published in full on page 339.

I.R.T.E. BRAINS TRUST

THE first two meetings of the inaugural session held by the Institute of Road Transport Engineers have been most successful. Each of the lectures proved most interesting and instructive, although of widely divergent types. At the third, at 6 p.m., on December 12, at the Royal Society of Arts, this variation will be even greater, for it will be a brains trust, with Mr. Noel G. Brookes, M.1.R.T.E., chief engineer of the Aldershot and District Motor Traction Co., Ltd., as question master.

THORNYCROFT TRADING AND DIVIDENDS .

INrespect of the year ended July 31 last, John I. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., is paying the following final dividends:-3 per cent. on the cumulative preference shares, 51 per cent. on the participating preferred ordinary shares, and 121 per cent. (making 171 per cent. for the year) on the ordinary shares. The profit for the year amounted to £127,989. The directors propose to transfer £50,000 to general reserve, to provide a further sum of £46,434 for deferred repairs, and to carry forward £101,707, against £110,718 brought in.

33,814 LORRIES UNDER R.H.O. CONTROL•

.t1.

A TOTAL of 33,816 vehicles is con trolled by the R.H.O. Of these, 11,891 are operated by controlled undertakings under agreements, whilst a -further 7,871 are on long-term hire. The balance is made up mainly of vehicles on charter and regular hire for the carriage of meat, and some 1,500 ex

s

Service lorries. No vehicles have been compulsorily acquired. This information was given in the House of Commons, last week, by the Minister of War Transport, Mr. A. J. Barnes, in reply to a question put by Mr. A. Davies.

In reply to further questions put by Mr. Davies, the Minister said that he will certainly consider publishing a report on the operations of the R.H.O., and that he is asking the Regional Transport Commissioners to furnish him with information relative to the number of vehicles, other than those of ancillary users possessing C licences, operating long-distance work outside the control of the R.H.O.

AMALGAMATION OF I.A.E. AND I.MECH.E.

A N extraordinary general meeting of

the Institution of Automobile Engineers will be held at 12, Hobart Place, London, S.W.1. at 6.30 p.m. on December 17. The business will be to confirm two resolutions concerning the amalgamation of the I.A.E. with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO NATIONALIZATION CALLED FOR ' I T is the intention of the R.H.A. to hold meetings in every part of the country, at which local hauliers and road-transport -engineers will discus nationalization. These meetings will culminate in a mass meeting to be held probably at the Albert Hall. Any resolutions passed at the meetings will be issued for publication.

Mr. H. T Dutfield, chairman of the R.H.A., gave this information at a Press conference held on Tuesday last in London.

In a letter to the Minister of War Transport, the R.H.A. has asked for a public inquiry into the whole question of nationalization. No reply has yet been received.

NORTH-WESTERN I.A.E. MEETING

A MEETING of the North-Western ri Centre of the I.A.E. will be held at the works of Leyland Motors. Ltd.. Leyland, at 7 p.m. on December 10. when Mr. V. W. Pilkington. M.Eng.M.I.A.E.. will open an informal discussion on British and American buses. Many passenger-transport operators are expected to be present at this meeting.

" TANTALUS " TO RESUME HIS CONTRIBUTIONS

D EGULAR readers will have noticed that the articles by "Tantalus," who writes trenchantly on current topics, have been missing from our pages for a number of weeks. He has been seriously ill, but we are pleased to report that he is now well on the road to recovery and hopes to resume his contributions at an early date. His comments on the, nationalization problem will, we feel sure, be awaited with much interest by many of his readers.

REFRESHER COURSES FOR LEYLAND SALESMEN

SHOkTLY after the outbreak of the war, Leyland Motors, Ltd., withdrew almost all its salesmen who had not joined the Services, and took them into the factory in connection with the coin:pany's war effort. Such men, after, nearly six years in the factory dealing' with Tank production,. or in the Services, are, naturally, out of touch with the company's latest design and transport-operators' problems. So as to re-acquaint these men with the company's peace-time products and the conditions which prevail to-day in the industry, the company has instituted a series of salesmen's refresher courses.

The course opens with a review of the company's war-time effort and a study of operators' post-war requirements, and how they are to be. met by the pro

posed new range of Leyland models. Current and contemplated legislation are analysed, and much time is devoted to the principles of engineering and of chassis and body design.

YORKSHIRE HAULAGE CONCERN CELEBRATES 75TH BIRTHDAY

APPROXIMATELY 450 guests rAattended a road-transport birthday party in the Victoria Hall, Halifax. last week, when they were entertained by the directors of I. W. Holdsworth, Ltd., the large Yorkshire concern of haulage contractors, at a ball held 'in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the company's foundation. In addition to the whole of the Holdsivorth staff, those present included representatives of numerous associated companies in both England and Scotland, and among ()filer guests were prominent personalities representative of transport and public life.

OBITUARY

We regret to report the death of MR. JAMES HENDERSON, LP., whose retirement from his directorship of the Unitell Steel Companies, Ltd., was announced a few days ago. During his 60 years' Connection with the steel industry he was closely associated with a number of significant developments.

The death is announced of MR. JOHN H. A. Osraous4oFF, managing director of John's Transport (Slough), Ltd.

CLEARING HOUSES OPPOSE NATIONALIZATION

ATthe first meeting of the newly elected Council of the National Conference of Road Transport Clearing Houses every member expressed his concern in regard to the Government's intention to nationalize long-distance road transport, as it would mean the ultimate nationalization of the whole of the industry. Such action, it was emphasized, would lead ultimately to a decrease in the efficiency of the servicegiven to the public and the trader.

SHORTER TITLE SOUGHT .

RUNNING a competition with a view to finding a new and shorter title for the National Conference of Road Transport Clearing Houses, now that that organization includes haulage operators, was a suggestion adopted in a resolution at a meeting of the Northeastern Area of the Conference, in .Leeds, last week.

Mr. Boyd Bowman, the secretary, said that the general opinion at the recent annual meeting was in favour of a change. Two titles which had been suggested were "National Conference of Road Hauliers and Clearing Houses' and "National Association of Road Hauliers and Clearing Houses," but he agreed with the view that a shorter title was preferable. The meeting agreed that a competition among members should be run.

WHAT HIGHER TRANSPORT COSTS WOULD MEAN A TTEMPTS to impose nationaliza

tion on the transport industry, or any part of it, would be firmly resisted, declared Lt.-Col. H. R. Caulfield-Giles, chairman of the South Yorkshire Area of the Traders' Road Transport Association, at a meeting at Doncaster, last week, at which it was decided to form a Doncaster Sub-area.

If transport costs were to be increased through either bureaucratic control or taxation, he said, then our exports would be reduced and our standard of living lowered, because transport had a direct bearing on the cost of living.

He added that the T.R.T.A. is pledged to support the principle of private enterprise for the road transport industry, believing that it alone can provide the necessary scope for the full development of technical progress and the use of the flexibility and adaptability of road transport.

It stood for the complete freedom of choice by trade, industry and the general public of any of the various available forms of transport. State transport had never yet proved efficient or a financial success. It was bolstered up either by subsidies which some people forgot came . nut of their own pockets, or by charging excessive rates.

FORD EMERGENCY FOOD VAN FOR .AMERICAN MUSEUM

AFORD emergency food van, representative of the fleet of 450 similar vehicles used in Britain during the war has been presented by the Ford Emergency Food Vans Trust to Mr. Henry Ford and is to have a permanent home in the Edison Institute Museum at Greenfield Village, U.S.A.

It is a memento of the gift of funds which Mr. Ford and his son, the late Mr. Edsel B. Ford, made to this country to provide mobile canteens for the relief of people affected by enemy action. Associated Ford companies and other British sympathizers donated Other vehicles, which were driven and staffed by members of the Women's Voluntary Services and maintained free of charge by Ford dealers.

.The van to be included in the stmiseurn is No. 1 of the F.E.V. fleet and It bears a plaque recording that it was inspected by the King and Queen before going into service. During the war it was stationed at Whitley Bay, Northumberland, where is was frequently in action relieving the distress of bombedOut families and supplying hot food and drink to rescue workers. During its three-and-a-half years' service it was also in almost daily use as a mobile caa:. teen, erving hot meals to outlying villages. Replicas, in wax, of the type of meal served by the van, including roast meat, vegetables and sweets, are shown in one of the insulated containers.

Americans will thus obtain a vivid impression of an important part of the war-time life of Britain, in the service of whose people the fleet of Ford emergency food vans travelled 5,016,718 miles and carried 81,649,741 meals.

CONTROL TO END WITH PETROL RATIONING?

SO long as petrol rationing is necessary, the Road Transport Organization cannot be discontinued. The Minister of War Transport, Mr. A. J.

Barnes, gave this information last week in a written answer to Squadron-Leader Hollis, who asked when war-time emergency control of road transport would terminate.

MOTOR VEHICLE'S INFLUENCE ON INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS

THE next meeting of the Institute of Traffic Administration will be held at 7 p.m. on Deceinber 13 at the Alliance Hall, Westminster, London, S.W. The speaker will be Mr. George W. Lucas, president of the Motor Agents' Association, his subject being: " The Motor Vehicle—Its Influence on the Industrial Progress of the Country."

NEW INSTITUTION OF • METALLURGISTS CROM the Institution of Metallurgists, 4, Grosvenor Gardens, London, S.W.1, we have received a booklet of notes on the objects and constitution of this body. It also includes regulations for the admission of members and an examination syllabus.

Mr. J. A. Dunnage has asked us to point out that he is Associate Editor of "Transport Management," the Editor being Mrs. C. Taylor, the only woman acting in this capacity for a transport periodical in Britain. DECISION PENDING ON WIDTH . OF BUSES

THE general position regarding the size of buses is under review, and a decision on the matter will, it is hoped, be made soon. Mr. A. J. Barnes, Minister of War Transport, gave this information in the House of Commons, last week, in reply to Colonel Errol, who asked if the Minister was aware of the views of Manchester Corporation on the subject, and if a decision could be made soon in view of the development of our export trade, and the comfort of passengers in this country.

Mr. Barnes said he was not aware of the • views of Manchester Corporation, but he was fully conscious of the advantages and disadvantages of a greater width for buses.

An illustration of this was given when Mr. J. Lewis asked if the Minister knew that the export market could be met only by buses of larger dimensions. "I am aware of that aspect of this problem." replied Mr. Barnes.

Colonel Clarke then asked if the Minister was aware that many country routes cannot be served because buses are too wide? " That is one of the problems of the other side of this 'picture to which I was referring," answered the Minister.

DUNLOP FRENCH FACTORY HONOURED

THE highest ienerican award for seri vices rendered during the war, the "Pension of Merit," has been conferred upon the Dunlop Rubber Co. in France by the Supreme Command of the American Army. Only 15 concerns in France have received this distinction. The Dunlop company's factory there had been returned to action just in time to supply the Allied Armies with tyres

M. Furet, the manager of the factory, said that, at the moment, 221,000 lorries were on the roads: It would be necessary in 1946 to produce 1,000,000 lorry tyres, in addition to 670,000 for touring cars. For military puposes, 125,000 of the former and 140,000 of the latter would also be required, as well as 30,000 for original equipment. At the beginning of 1947, however, it would be necessary to equip a further 50,000 lorries and 380,000 cars at present immobilized. HOW MANY LORRIES FOR EXPORT?'

AN overall export of 33* per cent. of the number of commercial vehicles to be produced is the aim for this country; what this will actually represent in numbers will depend upon the level to which manufacturers can increase their production. Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade, gave this information in the House of Conpnons, last week, in a written reply to a question put by Sir W. Wakefield.

ULSTER ROAD TRANSPORT UNDER STATE CONTROL

SET up in 1935 as a public trust under the Road and Railway Transport Act (Northern Ireland), the Road Transport Board provides passenger and freight

services in all parts of Ulster. The Northern Ireland Government, the policy of which is to secure full co-ordination between road and rail traffic. is examining the question of road transport.

In Belfast, public transport is under municipal control, and trolleybuses are now superseding trams. This information is contained in an illustrated booklet called " Ulster To-day," which is• issued by the Government of Northern Ireland. It can be obtained free from Information Services, Ulster Office, 21, Cockspur Street, London, S.W.1.

VEGETABLE TRANSPORT TO BE REVIEWED IN the meantime it is in a terrible the declared Mr. De la &re, when Mr. A. J. Barnes, Minister of War. Transport, said in the House of Commons, last week, that the problem 'involved in vegetable transport would be reviewed in the near future.

Mr. Renton had asked the Minister why, in the Eastern Region, A-licence vehicles are restricted to a 60-mile radius, whereas, in the North Midland Region, licences are granted without restriction, although similar conditions prevail in both areas.

Mr. Barnes replied that permits for such movements by vehicles outside the R.H.O. are granted in accordance with the general transpoirt situation in the locality concerned.

DEVELOPING ALUMINIUM AND • ITS ALLOYS WE had the pleasurP of meeting the YV newly appointed director-general.

Air Commodore W. Helmore, C.B.E., Ph.D., M.Sc., F.C.S., F.R.Ae.S., of the Aluminium Development Association, 67, Brook Street, London, W.1, at a reception given at Claridges last Friday to mark the establishment of that body's new headquarters.

He pointed out that A.D.A. has been formed to provide a central body of design and development technicians to represent the whole industry and be maintained by its member concerns. The primary object is to give the user a better and cheaper article in aluminium and its alloys than could be obtained in any other material. Its functions will be to initiate, produce. and, pioneer aluminium prototypes and to evolve new uses and processes for the metal, which is now in abundant supply.

It is for transport purposes that aluminium and its alloys are ideally suited. not,only for their light weight and high strength, which reduce frictional load and shock, but because they give a directly proportional increase in acce. leration.

DYSON'S LONDON OFFICE

AS from December 8, the London sales staff of R. A. Dyson and Co., Ltd., will be occupying new offices at 103, Cannon Street, E.C.4, from which address a spare-parts service will shortly be available.

PROPOSALS FOR BRITISH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

THE President of the Board of Trade has appointed a committee to frame detailed proposals for the formation of a British Institute of Management, and the Government is contemplating giving financial assistance towards its establishment. The chairman of the committee is Sir Clive Baillieu.

NEW 100 b.h.p. RUSSIAN LORRY "'THE best lorry in the world,"

1 according to the Russian newspaper "Izvestia," is to be mass-produced at Yaroslavl. It is a 5-tonner, known as the YA-200, and it will be powered with an engine of 100 b.h.p. A production rate of one vehicle every 12 minutes is aimed at. These machines are expected to make their appearance early in the New Year, says Reuter.

TYRE WITHOUT AIR—A DUNLOP DESIGN

ATYRE designed at Fort Dunlop, for use in the Burma swamps, not only runs without air, but has neither tube nor valve; it runs permanently flat at zero inflation. It has a bold crosscountry type of tread, which gives it the best possible traction when the vehicle to which it is fitted gets on to hard, rough ground. To reduce weight, wheels of light-alloy metal are used. No maintenance attention to the tyre is called for and there is, of coure, no inflation pressure to check. After being fitted to the vehicle it remains there until the service of the machine comes to an end, or, in the case of a military vehicle, the tyre is shot away by enemy action. RESISTING NATIONALIZATION THE BUSINESS -OF ALL SPEAKING at a big meeting of operators, held at Chester, last week, Mr. T Lawrenson, chairman of R.H.A. in the North-Western region, made some outspoken comments on resisting nationalization, which, he said, did not rest only with the transport industry but with the whole of the trades, professions and industries. He added that the ways of Civil Servants" were not suitable to the haulage industry.

Mr. R. B. Stockdale, of Motor Carriers, Ltd., 'Liverpool, said that under Government control they had masses of forms and multitudes of statistics, which took up a great deal of time and cost a great deal of money. Road transport had served the public faithfully and well. If the Government nationalized long-distance transport it would take only a stroke of the pen to reduce shortdistance transport from 60 miles to perhaps 10 miles. The industry must resist being sacrificed for a political idea, M.O.S. RESPONSIBLE FOR ENGINEERING INDUSTRIES

THE Ministries of Supply and Aircraft Production are to be amalgamated into one new Ministry as soon as practicable. This combined Ministry will carry the primary Government responsibility in the field of engineering.

Rearrangements of inter-departmental machinery have been completed for the transfer of responsibility from the Board of Trade to the M.O.S. This transfer took effect last Monday. From that date concerns in the engineering industry which, hitherto, looked to the Board of Trade for advice and assistance should normally make their approaches through the M.O.S. The headquarters organization concerned is Engineering Industries Division, Ministry of Supply, IC. House, Millbank, London, S.W.1.

CAR-HIRE OPERATORS ACTIVE IN BOURNEMOUTH AREA

THE second meeting of hackney-carriage and car-hire operators in Bournemouth and district was held recently under the auspices of the Passenger Vehicle Operators' Association to elect a sub-area committee and a chairman for Bournemouth and district. Mr. C. C. Pounds took the chair.

Mr. F. A. Walker, national secretary of the Association, outlined the trend of future legislation to stabilize the carhire industry, possiblY by the Government adopting the basis of control recommended by the Departmental Committee set up in 1938 by the Home Office and the Ministry of Transport.

Mr. Pounds was unanimously elected chairman of the first area committee with Mr. P. A. E. Pratt as vice-chairman.

It was decided that the area should constitute the boundary covered by Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch, Lymington, 'Ringwood and Wimborne. Any operator within this area desirous of obtaining particulars of the activities of the Association on behalf of the carhire industry should apply to Mr. C. C. Pounds, the Pembroke Garage, Poole Hill, Bournemouth, or to Mr. P. A. E., Pratt, 40, Charminster Avenue, Winton, Bournemouth.