T HE luncheon of the Commercial Motor Users Association, held in
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London, was the most ine: -portant function of the week, and some interesting speeches were delivered. A full report is given in this issue. [Page 224.
' PREPARATIONS are now far advanced for the app,roaching motor coach season, and we deal, in this week's issue, with arrangements; which are being
made by several 'proprietors. [Page 235.
IN our "Opinions" page appears a letter from Mr. L. E; de 'Mole, the Australian engineer, to whom is given rthe credit of first evolving a workable idea for a " Tank." He writes upon the subject of multiwheeled chassis and deals with criticisms of an in.ventien of his which have appeared in our columns.
THE cause of flats appearing on the treads of front wheel solid tyres has long been sought, arid various theories .have, been advanced to account for thorn. It is hotted that the theory set out in this issue will give a lead to imechanical'adjustrnents in the chassis, which will, in most cases, put a stop to this method
by which waste occurs. [Page 228.
DISSOLVED acetylene has proved its importance in many branches of work connected with the commercial.vehicle industry, and more especially in connection with. welding. In this issue we have an interesting article on the subject of the uses of this gas.
[Page 240.
THE queetion of providing parking places for visiting motor coaches would appear to have escaped the notice of quite a number of municipal authorities. Our inquiries about these arrangements have had the effect of attracting the attention of these authorities to the need for such facilities. In this issue we give the parking plans for Canterbury, Exeter and Weymouth. [Page 226.
A NEW 30-40-cwt. chassis is described and illustrated in this issue. It is of special interest in that it is constructed, in the motor works of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, and will only be supplied to local co-operative societies after the requirements of
the C.W.S. itself have been met. it will not be
available for the public at all. , [Page 234.
THE transport of furniture by road is of special interest, as this is a particular phase of the work in which Journeys to places very far distant are undertaken as a general rule, because of the great advan-
tages of door-to-door delivery. In this issue we describe the fleets and methods employed by some of the biggest furniture retailers ahd removal contrac
tors. * * * [Page 230.
WE are able to give in this issue the statement which was issued to Menibers of Parliament on behalf of the Association of Municipal Corporations in
opposition to the Railways Bill. [Page 223:
Registering the Undefined Vehicle.
1T HAS been laid down by the King's Bench Division that it is legal to register, under para. 6 of the second schedule of the Finance Act., 1920, a motor vehicle in respect of whieh the owner is unable definitely to state that it is "used solely in the course of trade or in agriculture," or that it is "constructed or adapted for use and used solely for the conveyance of goods in the course of trade," or that it is "a hackney carriage as defined in Section 4 of the Customs and Inland Revenue Act of 1888." The sixth paragraph of the schedule .embraces all vehicles which cannot be charged with. duty under the other provisions of the schedule and fixes the duty on such vehicles at 21 per horse-power. It had probably never been the intention that a 30 h.p..or 40 h.p, vehicle with a lorry body which the owner intended to use, and did use, sometimes for the conveyance of goods and sometimes for carrying passengers, should escape with a maximum tax of 230 or 240 per annum, as the case might he Such a vehicle would be liable to a duty of 230 per annum if used solely for goods transport, or of 270 or 284 (according to the area in which it was operated) per annum if used as .a hackney carriage, the higher duty being payable if used in both capacities.
But the loophole has been given and the King's Bench judges could only interpret the law as it was framed. It seems to us that a vehicle registered on the horse-power basis would not be liable to additional duty if it were used for drawing a trailer, because this particular duty only applies to vehicles coming in the category of para. 5 of the schedule.
The. Court (as we reported in our last issue, when dealing with the appeal of the Norfolk County Council in their cise against Wright and Co., which appeal was dismissed) was asked to give a ruling as to the legal position qf lorries generally when lent on hire for use as hackney carriages, but, wisely, the judges refused to give views which could only be in the nature of °biter dicta and could not be binding kt.s precedent in any Other case But it. must be clear, to our way of-thinking, that a vehicle registered as a lorry may not be used as a hackney carriage unless the appropriate tax be paid.
The Scheme of Taxation to be Re-examined.
N BEHALF of the Ministry of Transport, its Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Arthur Neal, M.P., has now made an official announcement
(foreshadowed in this journal a few weeks ago) of an intention to ask the Departmental Committee, which ii considering the whole question of the taxation A29 and regulation of road vehicles, to examine the present scheme of taxation of motor vehicles in order to ascertain if the various charges can be adjusted so that they are more nearly proportionate to 10er. The great complaint against the fixed charge based Solely upon (1) horse-power, (2) unladeri weight, or (3) seating capacity is that, in respect of the vehicle which uses the roads to but a small extent, exactly the same tax must be paid as if it used them. to the full extent of its ability. A tax on fuel was fair, because it was as nearly as possible based on user and was nearly proportionate. to the amount of wear and tear of road crust and foundation. But the difficulties about the retention of the fuel tax were, first, that it did not cover the uses to which paraffin and the heavier fractions could be put as fuel ; secondly, that the Customs authorities experienced grave trouble in drawing a:dividing line between motor spirit and the oil that should be duty free; and, thirdly, that, if the import duty were retained, the oil companies had an incentive to import petroleum in a more or less crude state, distilling it over here. . This would have necessitated an enormous increase in the staff of Excise officers, and the cost of collecting a given revenue in comparison with collecting it by way of import duty would have been proportionately increased. The loss of net revenue available for road improvement would have been very great.
The question must arise as to whether the original agreed proportioning of the total amount required to be obtained from motor taxation, between the private motorists and the users of commercial motors, is strictly fair. And, in this connection, it will be necessary to determine whet proportion of the amount derived from taxation under para. 1 of the second schedule of the Finance Act, 1.020, that is from .motor-bicycles and tricycles, and under para. 6, that 15 from vehicles taxed on the basis, of horse-power, Should be regarded as coming from commercial vehicles. The present contention is that goods vehicles, hackney carriages, road locomotives, and tractors now pay their fair proportion of taxation, and that any further impost must simply result in an additional handicapping of the industry in its fight against the railways.
Coach Catering for all Classes.
APPEARANCE is often deceptive, but, in spite -of this, it counts for a great deal and' particularly so in the motor coach trade. The public, as a whole, have strange likes and dislikes, and cannot always be counted upon to do what is expected of them, but, in the majority of cases a clean, comfortable-looking coach, which is not cases, conspicuoes, appeals to them far more than the blatant, -violently-coloured and even pertly-named machines, which have become only too common.
The frenzied football enthusiast and the one-day tripper probably appreciate riding in a canarycoloured vehicle rejoicing in the name of " Pretty. Poll," but the owner of such a machine can hardly hope to cater with any great success for the vast middle and upper-middle classes, .amongst which there is ample scope for extending the coaching habit, provided that suitably designed andfinished vehicles are employed.
The average Britisher infinitely prefers to enjoy his pleasures in comparative privacy. He has a great fear of being classified as a rowdy, and the sight of the types of people which the vivid coach attracts is often enough to deter him from employing the same means of locomotion and enjoyment.
We are of the opinion that the nearer the finish of a motor coach approaches to that of a private car— particularly in the case of the smaller coaches—the more will the trade benefit by the attracting of better-crass passengers ; in fact, the present tendency appears to be towards the establishment of distinct types of machines to meet the various requirements 00 of different passengers. At one extreme is the large , open coach, which, owing to the numbers it carries, " can cater for the multitude at reduced fares, whilst at the other is the small, luxurious, all-weather vehicle whith is almost, if not quite, as comfortable and select as the private car. This gradual divergence of types is all to the good and should satisfy everyone.
Road Upkeep and the Cry for Higher Taxation.
T. HE House of Lords allowed itself to become rather perturbed last week upon the question of the wear and tear of the roads by heavy motor traffic. The complaint was that the amount of money paid in respect of motor coaches, lorries, and other heavy vehicles through taxation towards the cost of the maintenance of county and district roads was inadequate; their contribution of ten millions sterling being only one-fifth of the yparly cost of road upkeep. But, if the ratepayer pays the other fourfifths (which includes the cost in respect of all the roads over which through motor traffic does not pass), he reaps the advantages in icheaper and quicker travel and goods conveyance. So, it is merely a case of paying out of the left pocket instead of the right. And the person (if any such can possibly exist) who can claim to reap' no advantage whatever fron. the existence of our wonderful network of roads, he pays tjust the aame—ifor wasting this opportunities and privileges, shall -we say'?
We are glad to have Viscount Peel's assurance that due heed is being given to the demands of those who are knocking at the door of the Ministry of Transport and praying for reduced taxation on motor vehicles, and that, any way, it is regarded as early days to consider a reimposition on the heavier class and a redistribution of taxation on the ether classes.
Transporting Furniture by Road.
THE transport of furniture is divided into three main sections, dealing with new, second-hand, and-removals, and. of these, so far as the volume of work is concerned, the last-named is by far the most important.
Much of the new furniture is still carried by rail from the factory to the retailer, although why this should be the case is difficult to understand, in view of the manifold advantages 'of transport by road ; but delivery to the customer by rail is becoming the exception rather than the rule, and the motor pantechnicon, often hauling a pantechnicon trailer, is becoming increasingly popular. In fact, 80 much is this the case, that, except for removals over distances of a few miles the horse vehicle has .been almost entirely superseded. The value of single pieces of furniture may be anything from a pound or two to hundreds of pounds, but all are comparatively delicate, and very liable to damage if carelessly handled. When sending articles by rail the sender immediately loses touch with his consignment, which may have to pass through many hands, and be loaded and unloaded several times ; thus the possibility .of damage or loss is considerably increased, whilst the time of delivery cannot be stated with any certainty.
Now examine the case for mechanical road trankiport. Articles can be carefully packed by the sender, and delivered right to the door of the customer without any intermediate handling, and, usually, within an hour or two of any specified time, whilst unloading is done by the trained men accompanying the vehicle, and the risk of breakage is, consequently, practically negligible.
The economical limit of transport by road is considered by many users to be in the neighbourhood of 150 miles for ordinary purposes, but in the case of motor removals the advantages are so many that journeys of 300 miles or more are of frequent occurrence, the slight extra cost being more than counterbalanced by safety, expedition and convenience.