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The 'Q' and 'A' Bureau is a CM service. Its
Page 91
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expert staff will gladly answer your queries. Letters should be addressed to: 'Ct' and 'A Bureau, Commercial Motor, Dorset House, Stamford Street, London SE,.
n With the build-up of negotiations
towards Britain joining the Common Market we are being bombarded with lots of sets of strange initials. We have EEC and ECE, A ETR and many others; the latest set I have come across. IRU, has foxed me. I believe the organization is concerned with transport but could you explain what it does?
AThe IRU (International Road Transport Union) has little direct connection with the Common Market in that it was conceived long before our entry was first considered. It originated after the Second World War when trade in European countries began to build up and it was thought necessary to establish a body to bring together those organizations concerned with an expansion in road transport. On the initiative of the professional associations of the transport industries of Belgium. Denmark, France, Great Britain, Norway, the Netherlands. Sweden and Switzerland the IRU came into being on March 23, 1948, in Geneva where it still has its head office. At present the IRU has 48 members in 27 countries and four national associate members outside Europe, namely Australia, Canada, India and Japan.
The object of the IRU as laid down in its constitution is to promote the development of international road transport in the interests of the road carrier and the economy as a whole.
The IRU organizes a major Congress every two years and is involved with many international issues such as the reduction of Customs formalities at frontier crossings, the introduction of an international consignment note at present used in 14 European countries) and in the passenger transport field it has established the AMI network which provides, on easy terms, emergency repairs for breakdowns and the provision of replacement vehicles and drivers, lodgings and if necessary hospital treatment for drivers and passengers.
Among the many other activities of the IRU and one that is particularly worth mentioning is its efforts to secure the lowering of fiscal charges and the abolition of double taxation which, it says, "burden road transport-.
aWe are planning to enter drivers in the Lorry Driver of the Year competition this year but we are concerned about the question of the drivers' hours regulations and the records for the Sunday working. Could you tell us how it is possible to have the drivers working for a week and then to drive the vehicle again on the Sunday without infringing the regulations?
A This point was clarified with the DoE some time ago and its answer is that,
provided a driver is free to choose whether or not to enter the competition and does not combine travelling to or from the competition with any work on behalf of his employer, then the hours involved in that travelling and competing will not interfere with his normal working week or driving time. Such times will not need to be recorded on a journey sheet even though the driver may be using his employer's vehicle and fuel and receiving expenses as a competitor.
QIn some recent editions of CM the
American transport journal Fleet Owner has been mentioned. Where may I obtain copies of this or any other American journals?
AMost American journals are available
only by direct subscription but in the case of Fleet Owner the publisher's London office may be able to help you. Their name and address is McGraw Hill and Co Ltd, 34 Dover Street, London W1.
The American Trucking Associations Inc. publishes a weekly journal Transport Topics and for more information about this you should write to the Association at, 1616 P Street. NW.. Washington D.C. 20036.
am a layman interested in public transport, and I often see references in Commercial Motor to road passenger transport operators' associations. Which do you consider the most important of these associations, and which part of the industry or which type of operator do they represent (for example, municipal operator or private operator)? Also, what initials do they use?
AThere are four major associations rep
resenting the road passenger transport industry in Great Britain. They are as follows: The Public Road Transport Association (PRIA), formerly the Public Transport Association. This Association represents the "company", or "private" operators as they were sometimes called. These operators are now subsidiaries of the National Bus Company, or the Scottish Transport Group (Scottish Bus Group), with a few exceptions. Notable exceptions are London Transport, Lancashire United Transport, and several municipal undertakings which have joined the association. The new PTEs are also members of the PRTA.
Association of Public Passenger Transport Operators (AP PTO), formerly the Municipal Passenger Transport Association. As the former title suggests, this Association represents municipal passenger transport undertakings (such undertakings as Leeds City Transport, Edinburgh Corporation Transport, and so on) where a local council provides its own bus services. The title was changed to encourage Passenger Transport Executives (PTEs), set up under the Passenger Transport Authorities formed by the last Government, to join.
Passenger Vehicle Operators Association Ltd (PVOA) Set up in 1945. the PVOA represents independent bus and coach operators throughout the UK. These are—in most cases —the truly "private" operators, ie small or relatively small operators which are independently-owned, and are often family businesses.
The Scottish Road Passenger Transport Association (SR PTA), representing municipal, State-owned (SBG) and independent operators in Scotland.
Inevitably there is some overlapping of the various associations, with some bus undertakings members of more than one of them. For example, the PVOA is very active in Scotland, despite the existence of the SRPTA. However, it must be stressed that there is a very high degree of co-operation between all the associations.
Q Following a question (CM April 30)
regarding the tyre regulations, could you say where exactly it is stated that a cross-ply and a radial-ply tyre must not be fitted on the same axle? I know that the tyre manufacturers strongly recommend that tyres should not be fitted in this way and that one may be prosecuted if a vehicle is found to have such a combination of tyres, but nowhere can I find in the regulation specific instructions to the contrary.
AThe simplest answer to your question is that there is nothing in regulations which specifically says that you must not fit tyres in this way. What the regulations do say, howeVer, is that tyres must not be used on a vehicle if they are not suitable having regard to the use to which the vehicle is being put or to the types of tyres fitted to its other wheels. This is contained in section 83 (I)(a) of the 1969 C and U Regulations.
There is sufficient technical evidence available regarding the performance of tyres in use on vehicles during high-speed running, cornering and so on to enable tyre experts to prove that to fit a cross-ply tyre on the same axle as a radial tyre can be extremely dangerous.
The police for their part when framing a prosecution for this offence would use the section quoted and probably state in supporting evidence that due to the completely different method of construction of the two types of tyre their behaviour on the road, and particularly during cornering, would be such that they would be likely to cause instability of the vehicle and consequently a danger to other road users.