Al Service
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pattern for the seventies?
by Derek Moses A RECURRING THEME in Commercial Motor in recent years has been the security of independent bus operators in the light of the changing public transport scene. It can be assumed that such operators will still have an important role to play in the provision of stage services in the future, although the pattern of such services may have to be altered.
I believe we have already established that independent operators in rural areas are fairly safe from overtures from the State-controlled p.s.v. giants. The present leaders of these companies appear to recognize that rural services can most economically be provided by local independent operators. Even so, some of these operators are only surviving by diversifying into other fields to help their stage services pay their way, while others are seeking subsidies granted under Section 34 of the Transport Act 1968.
Urban independents
But what are the prospects for independents operating in more urban areas in direct competition with National Bus Company and Scottish Transport Group subsidiaries? The answer largely depends on the history of the companies concerned, and the strength and viability of their present business.
Undoubtedly. there is strength in numbers, and the elimination of wasteful competition found in some areas was called for by Mr. Edward Arthur Lainson, then national chairman of the Passenger Vehicle Operators Association, in an exclusive interview in 1966 (CM July 22 1966) when the present NBC /STG structure could not be foreseen. In the same issue I reported the existence of this type of competition among independent operators in the mining valleys of South Wales.
One reason why such competition continues is the natural one that independents want to retain their own companies. rather than merge with other operators. There is, however, a good way of doing the former while joining forces with adjacent competitors, and an excellent illustration of this in practice is the Al Service in Ayrshire, Scotland.
Co-operative
Forty years ago, when legislation for the 1930 Road Traffic Act was being prepared, and the days of unbridled competition by p.s.v. operators was about to end, 21 independent bus companies were competing with each other and the Western SMT company in the north-western part of Ayrshire. Realizing that their future was in jeopardy unless they took joint action, the 21 independents met and agreed to form a bus company, run as a co-operative.
A new company, Ayrshire Bus Owners (Al Service) Ltd., was formed, and each independent agreed to supply capital and buy a guaranteed share in the company. All the operators. who were located along the Kilmarnock to Ardrossan road, would provide their own vehicles and continue to own them, while the day-to-day operation of the services would be managed from a registered office at Parkhouse Road. on the way into Ardrossan.
It was decided to concentrate on a bus service from Kilmarnock (ironically the headquarters town of Western SMT, the largest operator in the Scottish Bus Group) to Ardrossan, following mainly the A71 road to Irvine and then A78 to Ardrossan, and the Ayrshire Bus Owners company successfully obtained a stage carriage licence for this service. A glance at a map of the area will show that the service passes through a number of towns, and that the route is mostly urban.
A common fleet livery was chosen, using the fleet name Al Service, and all buses carried the legal address Ayrshire Bus Owners (A I Service) Ltd.. Parkhouse Road, Ardrossan. Only the operators themselves, not to mention bus enthusiasts, could identify who owned a particular vehicle—to the layman the trunk service and its small offshoots has been known as the Al Service since that time.
That the company has survived 40 years and is still going strong is a testimony to the wisdom of the independents at the time—and is surely a lesson for other
independent operators in a similar situafroir today. The areas served by the co-operative are known locally as the territory of the A I Service, which is the major operator. and which also operates schools and works services. A good deal of industrial development has taken place in this part of Ayrshire which is a "growth" area, and Irvine is being expanded by a development corporation into a new boom town. I think it is very significant that when Al applied recently for a new service in Irvine, • and expected to receive a 50:50 licence shared with Western, the Traffic Commissioners in fact granted the licence on a basis of two Al buses for each Western bus.
Structure of company Today, 14 operators survive from the 21 of 1930, but some of these possess more than one guaranteed share, maintaining the total shares at 21. All the buses currently operated on Al Service routes are double-deckers, and the owners hold shares in relation to the number of double-deckers they possess; those with three buses hold one share, six buses two shares, while Thomas Hunter and Sons hold three shares.
The bus owners are working directors, and the companies represented, with the total of double-deckers in parentheses, are as follows, working along the trunk route from Kilmarnock to Ardrossan: Kilmarnock —J. McKinnon. Jnr. (6), Thomas Hunter and Sons. (9): Dreghorn-Andrew Hunter (3), Jim Brown (6) (plus four coaches); Irvine—T. and E. Docherty (7) (plus four coaches); Kilwinning—Mrs. J. McMenemy (3); Stevenston--Tom Hill and Son, trading as Stevenston Motor Co. (3), R. B. Steel (3), C. Dunn (3) and J. C. Stewart (4); Saltcoats—J. J. Murray (6), George Stewart and Sons (3) and Ardrossan—I. M. Duff (6) and W. Meney (3).
Ignoring the coaches, which are not used on the Al Service, this gives a fleet strength of 65 double-deckers. J. McKinnon is vice-chairman of the company, Thomas and Andrew Hunter are brothers and founder members, Tom Docherty and Tom Hill are also both founder members, and J. J. Murray is chairman of the company. A Leyland Atlantean and a Daimler CVG6 of J. C. Stewart were destroyed in a fire on Saturday, November 29.
The working directors still buy and own their own vehicles, though I was rather surprised when Mr. J. Garrity, manager of the Al company. told me that each owner did his own repairs, overhauls, and servicing of vehicles, while the painting of the buses was contracted out, apart from T. and Docherty, who do their own repainting. Mr. Garrity claimed that it was more economical than having a central workshops and, as each owner vied to possess the smartest vehicles, the fleet was kept in a good state of repair.
A regular meeting of the directors is held once every two months, to discuss such matters as vehicle policy, service revisions, new or extended services, and so on. One problem they do not have to worry about, seemingly, is the need for cutting back any,