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SIX SOUND MEN 11 ant

twee associations

SERVING Scotland's transport users calls for a different technique from that demanded by the corresponding activities on behalf of the various associations south of the Border. Instead of more or less local responsibilities, the Scottish area in each case is of national scope, comprehending the problems of the industrial belt, the agricultural districts, and the Highlands and Islands. All these interests must be welded into a balanced whole and appropriate action must be taken in the light of the different circumstances and legal framework existing in Scotland.

Whilst local officials take their proper share, responsibility for the wellbeing of the various sections of the road transport industry rests principally on the area chairmen and secretaries of the Traders Road Transport Association, the Road Haulage Association and the Passenger Vehicle Operators Association. Six sound men, their experience qualifies them for the offices which they fill with distinction. They arc: THAT Mr. E. C. Eggleton, Scottish 1 divisional chairman of the Traders' Road Transport Association, is a man of many parts is immediately clear when one learns that he is a Fellow of the Corporation of Insurance Agents, a Member of the Industrial Transport Association and an Associate of the Corporation of Secretaries. But those formal qualifications give little clue to their holder's colourful career. In earlier days Mr. Eggleton was one of the leading figures, and a successful sporting competitor, in the Scottish motorcycling world, as well as being well known in musical circles.

A member of an old Glasgow family, Mr. Eggleton's father was entomologist and naturalist at Glasgow art galleries and museums for 50 years; his brother, the late Mr. James Eggleton, was a director of Glasgow's art galleries, but Ted Eggleton's talents lay in other directions. Returning from service in the Royal Air Force in the First World War, he was soon in the thick of the motorcycling movement, becoming a founder member and secretary of the old Glasgow St. George M.C.C. Soon he was racing at St. Andrews in the Scottish speed championships and he won the first pillion reliability trial held north of the Border, Between the Wars he served in the Territorials and the Army Cadet Corps with the rank of Captain and also found time to give active support to amateur theatricals. The Second World War saw him quickly return to the Royal Air Force, from which he ultimately retired with the rank of Squadron Leader. His musical qualifications resulted in Ted Eggleton being appointed to conduct a famous R.A.F. dance band and this in turn led to his appearance at many popular variety theatres. His service with the R.A.F. continued in India and Burma as senior administrative officer. Whilst in Ambala, India, he became a member of the Ambala Cantonment Board, being appointed to the buildings, law and education committees. His enthusiasm for the entertainment field resulted in him again conducting the R.A.F. band in India, with broadcasts over All-India Radio.

Sufficient has been said to show that Mr. Eggleton is the sort of man who is at home in any company and his business life exhibits the same adaptability of spirit. Although brought up in the world of insurance he is a power in Scottish road transport, among other things being life-president and founder member of the Scottish Transport Managers' Club. Prior to joining Rowan and Boden Ltd., of Paisley, the furnishing and flooring contractors, as group transport manager 10 years ago, he had spent a quarter of a century with leading insurance companies specializing in motor accidents and claims.

The Rowan and Boden fleet is extensive and distributes throughout the country, it being a point of honour to deliver at the time the customer requires the item. In many cases new furnishings are supplied for ships which must turn round at a port within 48 hours and in order to meet the very tight schedules involved delivery by the company's own vehicles is essential. Mr. Eggleton has served as Scottish divisional chairman of the Industrial Transport Association, retiring owing to pressure of other duties, and for the past five years has been either vice-chairman or chairman of the T.R.T.A. Scottish division. He has spent 10 years on the T.R.T.A. divisional council, latterly also being a member of the national council and of its highways and traffic committees.

FROM all over Scotland channels of communication on T.R.T.A. affairs run to Edinburgh and the offices of John Ogilvie Hastie who at the end of the Second World War was rather in the position of having greatness thrust upon him. A member of his family's firm of solicitors, J. and A. Hastie, he found himself at the death of his partner in 1945 charged with the secretarial responsibility for all R.H.A., P.V.O.A. and T.R.T.A.

Scottish activities. This business had previously been undertaken by Mr. John W. Loudon, Mr. Hastie's partner.

Road transport affairs at the time mentioned were just getting into their postwar stride, nationalization was looming up, and John Hastie quickly realized that to do justice to all three organizations on a part-time basis was likely to be a sheer impossibility. So it came about that the professional operators' bodies were in due course hived off and Mr. Hastie concentrated on the transport needs of the Scottish trading community.

John Hastie is a golfer, but probably, his chief relaxation is the game of bridge and his prowess in this sphere can be gauged from the fact that he has been " capped " on many occasions against England, Ireland and Wales. When he ceased to be an active member of the Scottish team he became their non-playing captain on many occasions and was appointed a member of the Portland Club card committee which framed the rules of the game.

T.R.T.A. members are spread throughout Scotland and apart from Mr. Hastie's own efforts to look up individuals in different parts of the country, the organization aims to arrange a meeting in some centre such as Dundee, Perth or Aberdeen at least once a year. It will, of course, be appreciated that the T.R.T.A. has part-time secretaries in Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Falkirk with whom constant contact is maintained. During the past couple of years four drivers' meetings have been held at which current problems have been discussed and the attendance at these has indicated a considerable measure of popular interest.

The inadequacy of roads in many parts forms a major problem for transport users in Scotland. Great areas in the north have very few roads, and where they do exist they are, in many cases, of single track only. As the responsibility for roads, bridges and ferries has been placed on the Secretary of State for Scotland, says Mr. Hastie, there has been a substantial improvement in the situation in respect of negotiations. An important aspect is that during the past four years it has proved a relatively easy matter to put problems personally before the Secretary of State.

Scottish operators are only just beginning to feel the effects of urban traffic restrictions with which the English transport user has been long familiar but already a high degree of co-operation in obtaining reasonable periods for loading and unloading has been secured as a result of T.R.T.A. intervention. An exception in this respect concerns the Glasgow restrictions, which are most extensive and against which the Association has lodged very full objections. Of the services given by the Association to its members, Mr. Hastie feels that traffic work comes high on the list.

I I= there is such an individual as the typical substantial haulier, then James Clelland, now in his second year as chairman of the Road Haulage Association in Scotland, may be regarded as a strong contender for the title. He exhibits more than average enthusiasm for association work and, in fact, has taken an active part in corporate road transport affairs for at least 35 years, having belonged to the old Scottish Commercial Motor Users' Association long before the formation of the R.H.A. Long devotion to duty has not dulled Mr. Clelland's keenness.

Certainly his own undertaking may be reearded as representative of a' successful family business. Mr. Clelland is senior partner in Hugh Clelland and Sons of Chryston, which lies to the north of Glasgow. With a fleet of 40 vehicles they perform general haulage, run medium and long-distance services, trans port bulk cement and similar materials, and also act as local carriers. Whilst building up his transport activities, Mr, iClelland, until a few years ago, also found time to engage in farming. At 63 years of age he is one with an important stake in the community and for years has been a Justice of the Peace. With his farming connections James Clelland is a keen follower of agricultural shows which he is often called upon to attend in an official capacity. For many years a keen swimmer, he is in action at the baths every week without fail. His hospitable approach to life is the visible sign of a deep and abiding concern for others.

• That having been said, it is not surprising to discover that James Clelland has always been keen on the • social aspects of the R.H.A. and its forerunners, his first appointment to the local social committee being in 1934. Largely as a result of his personal enthusiasm the Glasgow dinner-dance has been built up until it is the largest R.H.A. function outside London, the attendance last year topping 800—and it would have been more but for limited accommodation. Scotland is the only area of the Association to run its own full-scale conference, in which Mr. Clelland has been one of the driving forces.

Ideas are a two-way traffic to the R.H.A. Scottish chairman, who sets out not only to do his share of committee work but also to meet the rank and tile. He has visited practically every sub-area on his territory. including Dumfries and Stranraer. Ayrshire, Glasgow and the west. Edinburgh and the borders, central Scotland, Perth, Aberdeen, Dundee, Fife and Inverness. The only notable absentee from his list is the Wick subarea, an omission that will no doubt he rectified soon.

THE Sassenach treading Scottish ground must prove himself to the full before acceptance by the Scots, and this is precisely what Leslie John Stokoe,

Scottish area secretary, has done this past 13 years. As full time secretary for the road haulage interests in Scotland, Leslie Stokoe is lineal descendent of Hamish McDougall. who pre-war was the full time official responsible for the administration of the Scottish Carting Contractors' and Horse Owners' Association Ltd. A couple of years or so before the Second World War the question of amalgamating the various independent transport organizations north of the border was discussed; as a result five bodies linked up with the S.C.M.U.A., but a full state of unity was not reached until the R.H.A. was formed in 1945.

Mr. Stokoe took over the administrative responsibilities in 1950, after having been engaged at the R.H.A. northern area office in Newcastle upon Tyne from the beginning of 1946, when he left the Army following service in the Royal Artillery. Leslie Stokoe had established a reputation for administrative qualities during his service with that stalwart the late Frank Milton, who was then controlling affairs in the north-east. Apart from that experience in R.H.A. work, the Scottish secretary had served a first-class apprenticeship in road matters, spending his spare time in the years prior to the War as an enthusiastic cyclist who travelled far and wide—as he did so watching the road transport industry grow up around him.

When he came to Scotland Leslie Stokoe found himself in charge of an area which covers 25,000 square miles. From end to end, his territory measures 400 miles which means that, even with the assistance of part-time officials in certain sub-areas, the task of keeping in touch with members is no mean problem.

Although no longer a cyclist, Mr. Stokoe is fond of touring holidays, which permit him to follow his bent for studying historic buildings of all kinds and provide scope for photography in which he has recently started to take a serious interest. Mr. Stokoe became an Associate of the Institute of Transport in 1958.

Membership of the R.H.A. north of the border, he tells me, continues to increase, and a strengthening spirit of camaraderie is becoming evident. Within recent years the Scottish sub-areas have commenced to organize their own social functions and the opportunities so created for meeting operators from other districts have undoubtedly resulted in better working relations being established. The effect, says Mr. Stokoe, has been that representation at area meetings has been better than ever before.

On the more formal side of R.H.A. affairs the Scottish area provides a complete cross-section of operating problems. These in general are most effectively solved by direct representation on the spot and not by reliance on headquarters' approach in London.

The main headache in connection with highway problems is the prevalence of snow and frost, as a result of which routes may be closed, and constant representations are made to county councils with a view to getting gritting performed in good time. Reference has been made earlier to the scheme for loading restrictions in Glasgow, a subject on which the R.H.A. has made representa lions to the corporation and, from the national angle, to the Secretary of State. On such questions as these co-operation is maintained with the T.R.T.A. and with British Road Services.

Considerable study has been given to the plans for railway closures in Scotland, particularly to the suggestion that services should be suspended north of Inverness. With the possibility of all goods traffic in the north needing to be sent by road the R.H.A. has instilled into the members the need to be ready for action in this connection, and to be prepared to provide facilities for work in connection with the building of hydro-electric schemes, facilities for hydro-electric and power station projects.

MORE than 40 years have elapsed since IV.1 the entry into the bus business of William Drew Dodds, now national chairman of the Passenger Vehicle Operators' Association and Scottish area chairman for more than 10 years. His father, the late Mr. James Dodds, started a garage in Troon in 1910, but departed to join the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. The elder son, John, then left school at the age of 12 to keep the business going with the aid of his mother and his younger brother, W. D. Dodds. This meant a considerable curtailment of the formal education of the two brothers but, by the end of the War, in 1918, they were both firmly established. Two years later, at the age of 16, we heard of W. D. Dodds obtaining a licence to drive a car on the understanding with the local police that he would give up using his motorcycle!

By this time he was taking an interest in the passenger transport business and in 1922 he persuaded his father to invest in the first Dodds' bus, a 14-seater G.M.C. which, in the fashion of those days, could be used to serve as a lorry during the day and a bus at nights and over the week-ends. At this stage of development one of the most remunerative sources of revenue comprised the " bona-fide travellers" who went from Troon to Prestwick and Ayr, and vice versa, for a Sunday drink. The fleet was later extended by the purchase of a Reo SpeedWagon, a Guy char-h-bane, a Rea Pullman and then three Lancias. In 1928 the firm turned to the local product of Albion and a succession of these vehicles were purchased up to the start of the Second World War. By this time the Dodds firm, as part of one of the famous r12 Ayrshire associations or " co-operatives " as they have been called, was operating four service routes out of the town to Ayr, two extending over 23 miles to Ardrossan and Stewarton and one over 15 miles to Irvine, the last one being over seven miles to Annbank.

The passenger side of the family company is operated by Dodds (Coaches)* Ltd. and other interests, including car sales, garage services, radio. and television rentals and sales, come under James Dodds and Sons Ltd. Mr. W. D. Dodds is a director of both companies and chairman of A.A. Motor Services Ltd.

William Dodds started taking an interest in P.V.O.A. affairs when the Scottish area was established, and, with more than 10 years to his credit as the area chairman, has a thorough knowledge of passenger matters throughout the country. Something like 85 per cent of passenger road transport in Scotland is in the hands of the nationalized undertakings, but a high proportion of the independents belong to the P.V.O.A., including quite a number of proprietors in the Islands. In those remote parts, and on the mainland as well, many complaints are heard of illegal mini-bus competition. In these days of complaints regarding the increasing cost of bus travel it is interesting to observe that the Dodd's tour fare to Girvan (60 miles) is at present 5s. return, the same as it was in the early 1920s.

The Scottish area of the P.V.O.A. hold regular monthly meetings with the exception of July and August, and social events are arranged throughout the year. Outstanding among these is the Turnberry Week-end. This fixture was started a number of years ago as an incentive for the operators from "over the border" to attend the Scottish area annual dinnerdance, offering them a two-, threeor four-night week-end with a full programme of social events. This has become such a success that the Association takes over the whole of the Turn berry Hotel.

Throughout his career William Dodds' job has not only been his business but his hobby as well. He has always had the urge to travel and now, at long last, with two of his sons in the business, plus his three brothers and the son of one of them, he is making plans to satisfy this ambition. Study of various aspects of international travel has stimulated Mr. Dodds to circulate details of his package tours in America and other countries with the object of encouraging interest in group travel, especially by transAtlantic holiday makers.

FOR the past 10 years Mr. William James Morris of Ayr has been hon. secretary of the P.V.O.A. Scottish area, his appointment coinciding with the election of Mr. Dodds as -area chairman. Since their offices are only seven miles apart there is clearly much to be said for this as a working arrangement, their proximity to one another facilitating quick action.

William Morris. for 14 years general manager of A.A. Motor Services Ltd. of Ayr, came up through the mill of the passenger transport industry, joining his present company as a clerk more than 30 years ago. A.A. had been founded in 1932, its object being to co-ordinate the services provided by three operators in the area and the title being inspired by the terminal points of Ayr and Ardrossan.

A total fleet of 42 is now operated in central Ayrshire, covering Ayr, Prestwick, Troon, Irvine, Stevenston, Ardrossan. Saltcoats and Annbank. Whilst A.A. forms the operating entity the vehicles are supplied by the three partieipating cornpanies, each of which retains one depot. Wm. Young Ltd., represented on the board by Mr. J. B. Young, is located at Ayr; Galles Coaches (Irvine) Ltd., represented by Mr. R. Tumilty, is situated at Irvine, and Dodds Coaches Ltd.. represented by Mr. W. D. Dodds, at Troon. During the pre-War period Mr. Morris obtained a deep knowledge of the working problems of passenger transport in the area, but not long after the outbreak of hostilities he left for service with the Royal Army Service Corps, wherein, until he was taken prisoner at Tobruk, his operational training was put to good use.

On his release from the Forces, William Morris returned to the staff of A.A. Motor Services, taking an important part in the post-War redevelopment of the undertaking. Since accepting the P.V.O.A. Scottish secretaryship, in addition to his own managership, Mr. Morris has had his hands distinctly full.

The Association, he tells me, is maintaining both its membership and vehicle strength, with supporters coming from as far afield as Aberdeen, Inverness and the Hebrides. In many of the areas which they cover the passenger transport situation is likely to be seriously affected by the proposed reorganization of the railways and, whilst in the past the railways have worked hand-in-glove with the, big bus companies, the P.V.O.A. has been urging the need for the independents to watch the situation so that they can apply for authority if they so desire to participate in the replacement road services. Despite the distances involved Mr. Morris through his contacts up and down the country maintains a close watch on the passenger transport situation throughout Scotland. A.T.