Liability Doubled in New R.H.A. Conditions
Page 34
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
IN new conditions of carriage, which have been prepared by the Road Haulage Association and are to be received by members this week-end, the limit of liability for goods in transit is raised from £400 to £800 per ton. The time limit for notifying non-delivery is extended from 14 days to 28 days, and the period for making a claim is increased from 28 days to 42 days.
B.R.S. Bid for Eight New Vehicles Unopposed
THERE was no opposition to B.R.S. I. (Parcels), Ltd., when they successfully applied to Mr. S. W. Nelson. Western Licensing Authority, at Bristol last week, to acquire eight vehicles of 31 tons 16 cwt. for work mainly in the west. It was explained by Mr. R. A. Webb, for B.R.S.. that they had never objected to similar applications by private concerns, and consequently they were not opposed.
Parcels traffic had greatly increased recently and there was a growing demand for transport. The additions included six tractive units designed specially to relieve some of the traffic problems in congested areas. The western division of B.R.S. now had 83 such parcels vehicles compared with 69 a year ago. During the ensuing period traffic had increased by £23,155 and 467,400 parcels, said Mr. Webb.
The parcels service in the Bristol area at the moment, he. said, was working under strain and some 60 tons of traffic was left over every day. A .B.R.S. spokesman said that they could do with even more vehicles than they were applying for. Hiring in 1959, from the British Transport Commission and private hauliers, cost £7,388.
Representatives of three national commercial concerns, including H. I. Heinz and Co., Ltd., spoke of their dependence on B.R.S.. One of these companies paid B.R.S. over £12,000 in the period May, 1959-May, 1960, it was stated.
DATE AWAITED FOR PAY HEARING
NO date has yet been fixed by the Road Haulage Wages Council for consideration of the claim by the unions for an increase of £1 a week in basic wages. The unions are also demanding another 2s. 6d. a day subsistence payment and a large increase in the pluspayment of ltd. an hour for casual workers.
The claim is so large that it is likely to be hotly resisted by the employers' side of the Council, although some hauliers in areas where competition for highly paid labour is particularly acute have sympathy with it. They are probably already paying at least £1 a week above the statutory minimum and see no reason why others should not do so.
A representative of British • Road Services told The Commercial Motor on Tuesday that they had not yet received a similar claim from the unions.
n30 The new conditions have been drawn up by a sub-committee,of the Association's rates and carriers' liability committee, of which Mr. R. B. Brittain is chairman, with the help of Mr. H. 'Norman Letts, legal adviser to the R.H.A.
Nearly two years have been spent on the revision of the conditions, which have been reduced to a size that can be accommodated on the back of an ordinary sheet of letter-headed paper. Certain of the old clauses have been deleted, in some cases because they merely restated the position in law.
Mr. Brittain emphasizes that extra conditions may be required for certain specialized traffics and functional groups of the R.H.A. are being asked to consider these points. Pe advises that operators carrying dangerous goods should look carefully at their liability, as it may not always be covered by the conditions. The new rules refer to the transit of goods, and not to the liability that a haulier may incur as a warehouseman.
Members of the Association are advised to notify their insurance companies of the new conditions. If they wish to print them on the back of their stationery, stereos costing E2 2s. each may be obtained from the R.H.A. head office. Printed copies of the conditions are also available from head office and the areas.
LIVERPOOL CONTEST OFF THE Liverpool round of the Lorry 1 Driver of the Year Competition, which was to be held on July 17, has been cancelled. It has been impossible to find a suitable site.
New Leyland 40-seater With Rear Engine
A NEW rear-engined 40-seat single('1 deck deck bus, based on the Atlantean double-decker chassis, has been produced by Leyland Motors, Ltd. The first example—part of a fleet of 60—is on its way to America for Highway Products Inc., of Kent, Ohio.
A repreSentative of Leyland told The Commercial Motor on Monday that further details would not be available until nearer the Commercial Motor Show.
Negotiations are still continuing between Leyland and the Board of Trade for a factory to he built in Dunbartonshire to relieve pressure on the Albion plant. The Albion works cannot be extended
Output from the Leyland Group has been stepped up to meet the high demands. In the first half of this year, home orders for goods vehicles were 53 per cent, greater than in the comparable period of 1959, and demands for buses rose by 42 per cent.
Overseas orders for goods vehicles went up by 62 per cent., whilst more than twice as many buses were delivered.
Chassis to the value of more than £325,000 are to be consigned to Spain. They comprise 31 Buffalos, 36 Super Hippos and four Super Beavers. All will have power-assisted steering.
B.R.S. GO-SLOW SPREADS
QEVENTY employees of British Road k-) Services at Cowes, Isle of Wight, on Monday joined men at eight London parcels depots, who, as reported in The Commercial Motor last week, have staged a go-slow movement. They claim that there has been undue delay in providing them with a bonus scheme. The National Joint Negotiating Committee of B.R.S. met on Wednesday to continue discussions on the subject.
INTEGRATION AGAIN
'UR. C. EVANS, president of the IVINational Union of Railwaymen, in his address to the Union's annual conference at Torquay, said on Monday that the problem of road congestion, now costing £500m. a year, and expected to -cost £2.000m. in seven years' time, would be solved only by a co-ordinated and integrated transport system.
GREATER DISCRETION WANTED
GREATER local discretion in respect of making additional payments to bus workers, in an effort to maintain staffs, is called for by the Manchester Transport Committee. A motion to this effect is included on the agenda of the executive committee of the Federation of Municipal Passenger Transport Employers.
FORD CLAIM ON JULY 18 •
REPRESENTATIVES of the Ford Motor Co., Ltd., and 22 unions will meet on July 18 to discuss a claim for a big increase inwages, a 40-hour week for day workers and a 371-hour week for night workers, a third week's paid holiday and an increase in the annual bonus from 15 to £25.