"Traders Must Support Hauliers"
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A CALL to traders to transfer their
short-distance business from the Road Haulage Executive to private hauliers, and a warning to directors of large concerns that they must all recognize the threat to C-licence holders, were heard at the Traders Road Transport Association's West Midland Area dinner in Birmingham last week.
Mr. C. E. Jordan. transport controller of T.I. Group Services, I.td.. chairman of the transport committee of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and chairMar of the West Midland Area of the Association, stated that he would ask his committee ()facially to approve support of free-enterprise concerns, but emphasized that illegal action would not be approved. If the transport committee, and subsequently the general purposes committee of the Chamber,
sanctioned the proposal, other Chambers of Commerce would be notified. "Lip service is not enough," said Mr. Jotclan, "and Birmingham must take the lead."
Col. A. Jerrett, president of the Association, spoke of the mistaken policy of many C-licence holders of attempting to keep in the background to avoid notice, and suggested that many directors of trade organizations "were. not doing a job by their own set-up." The railways were suffering from loss of traffic and workers were 154 demanding higher wages. It would be advantageous to the British Transport Commission to acquire the C-licence traffic and one day an attempt would be made to "push them into the bag."
Col. Jerrett had recently returned from an international transport conference in Geneva and said that he had become convinced that the economy of the railways in all parts of Eurepe. including Britain, represented the basic transport problem. It was universally agreed that the railways were dragging along at their heels the more efficient road transport.
The transport of perishable products by skilled operators was represented as a part of the production machinery by W/Cdr. H. Maynard Mitchell, D.F.C.. a director of Mitchells and Butlers. Ltd. Referring to his own concern, he said that the transport manager knew all the men personally and if control were vested in a remote authority in Whitehall, the result would be disastrous. The R.H.E. had claimed that C-licence competition was unfair. This was a pathetic comment to make.
Referring to contract vehicles. W/Cdr. Maynard Mitchell said that a replacement lorry was guaranteed in the event of a breakdown and the promise was ahsays kept. The R.H.E. showed up badly in comparison.