Greater Leisure More Coaches
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THE increaSingly important part that coach operators would play to satisfy the greater leisure of industrial workers was emphasized by Mr. Gerald Nabarro, M.P., president of the -Road Passenger and Transport Association, at the ASsociation's 25th anniversary dinner on Monday in Birmingham.
The highway development programme was woefully inadequate, said Mr. N abarro. Without improvements it would be impossible to use the growing efficiency of vehicles and operators. British roads should match those overseas. ` The great service performed by coach operators in providing facilities for Birmingham people to visit coast resorts was mentioned by Ald. A. L. Gibson, Lord Mayor of Birmingham. He commended memberi of the Association for maintaining a close liaison with other Midland operators.
• Other speakers included Mr. W. P. James, West Midland Licensing Authority, and Mr. D. E. Skelding, manager of the Association.
VAUXHALL MAINTAIN EXPORTS: NEW RECORD
IN spite of increasing restrictions in a number of overseas markets, Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., exported 54 per cent, of theit 1955 outpUt--the same proportion as in 1954.Production in 1955 rose by 1.1 per cent, from 129,685 vehicles in 1954 to 143,567. Exports increased from 70,494 vehicles to a record total of 77,315, valued at £33m.
The effect of the company's £36m. expansion plan will not be felt .until 1957, and by 1958 facilities should' permit an annual production of at least 250,000 vehicles. Of the 1955 output, 67,933 vehicles were Bedfords.
260 HAZARDS DEALT WITH
QUT of 278 road hazards reported to the Royal Automobile Club in 1955, remedial action was taken or promised in respect of 260. The greatest number of complaints received was in respect of dangerous road surfaces, and the second greatest lack of signposting.
The R.A.C. have, however, complained of the "lamentable lack of interest" taken by road users in their annual appeal for reports of black spots, and they urge people to avail themselves of the service.
ACCIDENT ADJOURNS HEARING
A SITTING of the East Midland Licensing Authority arranged in Lincoln last Friday had to be adjourned because one of the members, Cllr. W. Mackinder, of Skegness, was involved in a collision with a lorry while driving his car in thick fog. He was the only member of the Authority who was to have sat with the chairman, Mr. A. G. Curtis.
Swiss Army to Test New Tractor
'THE Rotinoff Atlantic transporter 1 (The Conhnercial Motor, December 23, 1955), left Tilbury on Wednesday aboard the Empire Baltic" en route for Switzerland. The tractor will be driven to Thun from Antwerp by a crew of three and at Thun it will be taken over by• the Swiss Army for several weeks' trials under , winter conditions. The vehicle is standard except for the addition of a cab heater and Will work as a Tank transporter.
T.R.T.A. MEETINGS: S.P.D. CHIEF'S ADDRESS
THE Kent Area of the Traders' Road Transport Association will meet at the County Hotel, Canterbury, on January 18, to hear Mr. W. A. Winson speak on traffic restrictions. Mr. Winson, chairman of S.P.D., Ltd., is the leader of the committee conducting the Association's campaign against restrictions on loading and. unloading.
The Eastern Area meet on the same date at the Albert Hotel, Cowdray Avenue, Colchester. The speaker will be Mr. J. Janes, of the Thornyeroft concern, national treasurer of the T.R.T.A. He will discuss the Construction and Use Regulations.
HELICOPTER OUSTS CARRIER A HELICOPTER is to be used PA instead of a converted Bren • gun carrier to carry Materials for a dam project in Argyll: D. and J. MacDougall, Ltd., Oban, hope to cut three weeks off the_ time required to build one darn and seven weeks off that of another, by employing a Bell .helicopter. The carrier operates Up a Tough hilltrack and is subject to frequent breakdowns.
SCOTTISH TRANSPORT CAPITAL THE motor and 'transport industries L accounted for a record amount of the £730,550 invested in new Scottish companies in 1955. Among the new registrations were Road Services (Forth), Ltd., Denny, with .a capital of £150,000, and Highland Haulage, Ltd., Inverness, with £100,000.
GARAGES UP-RATED r_ARAGES and service stations in the Peterborough area show substantial increases in rating assessments following revaluation. The assessment of., Kennings, Ltd., Norman Cross, has risen from £8 to £80; whilst that of the Night Owl Garage, Chesterton, has gone up from £10 to £122.
ALUMINIUM WELDING REPORT
I-1 A SUMMARY of the work carried Out between 1944 and 1950 by the welding research team of the .Aluminium Development Association has recently been published. It is Research Report No. 27 and copies can be obtained, price 7s. 6d., from the Association at 33 Grosvenor Street, London, W.I.
Licences Restored After Hardship
BECAUSE of hardship suffered, three former partners in an Ayr haulage business, whose driving licences were suspended for 12 months in June last year, have had them restored by Kendal County Bench.
Suspensions were imposed because a vehicle was uninsured for third-party cover. The partnership dissolved after the sentence and two of the men had been unable to obtain other work.
A chief inspector of police said that there was no objection to the restoration of the liceoces and confirmed the hardship undergone.
Ian Sutherland, Thomas Clewlow and John McLaughlin made a joint application for the restoration of their licences.
COLOMBO BUS CORPORATION? rOLOMBQ bus operators have asked the 'CeylonMinister of: Transport whether it is his intention ti'. form a corporation or to permit them-to work out long-term plans. The Gamini Bus 'Co. have bought new vehicles to the" value of Rs.270,000 and ordered more chassis Worth Rs.360,000. In addition, Rs.120,000 has been invested in bodybuilding" facilities.
The-Choksi Commission have recommended that Colombo Municipality should he allowed to operate on seven routes in competition with existing companies and not on a monopolistic basis. .
It is thought that a corporation will not be established, because this would be beyond the Government's capacity.
DURHAM VILLAGES ISOLATED .
SOME villages in Co.. Durham have . no transport facilities of any kind, and in other places people have to walk .up to three miles to the nearest bus .stop. This has been stathd by Mr: S. Hunt, secretary of the Durham County Parish Council's ,Association, who are making efforts to obtain bettei transport services in rural areas.
Mr. Hunt advocates a mail and goods delivery service coMbined with bus operation.
CANADIAN OUTPUT UP
CANADA was estimated to have produced 71,000 commercial vehicles last year, compared with 69,892 in 1954, said Mr. W. A. Wecker, president of General Motors of Canada, on Monday. At the end of last year, there were 915,000 commercial vehicles registered in the Dominion. The industry aimed at the production of half a million vehicles this year.
' CHARGE NOT PROVED WHEN a conductress was charged at VI' Stockton for allegedly failing to ensure the safety of her passengers, the case was dismissed because the prosecution had not proved that an offence had been committed. A copy of the regulations regarding the duties of conductors had not been produced. Defendant pleaded riot guilty.
Limited Uses for Mobile Shops
A LTHOUGH excellent for building I-A up new business in housing estates, mobile shoo earn less money than static shops and offer no alternative to. a full service under cover and in comfort. This view has been put forward by St. Cuthberts Co-operative Association, who have replaced a number of mobile shops with permanent shops.
In one district where a mobile shop turned over £300 a week, the static shop which replaced it earned £800 in its first week. Scottish co-operative societies are reported now to be reconsidering the whole question of mobileshop operation.
At least one large co-operative has withdrawn its mobile self-service shop and substituted smaller vehicles with counter staff. The reason was the extent of pilferage from " help yourself" mobile shops.
MILK AND MEAT: R.H.A. ACTIVE A RRANGEMENTS by the Milk ,1-1, Marketing Board for paying milk hauliers are under scrutiny by the Milk Carriers' Functional Group of the Road Haulage Association. At present, economies effected by the operator— by replacing petrol vehicles by oilers, or instance—are likely to benefit only the M.M.B. The present system of pay ment is held to encourage inefficiency.
The Meat and Allied Goods Functional Group are examining the position created by the new Food Hygiene Regulations (The Commercial Motor last week). Meat carriers in the Yorkshire (Leeds) Area of the Association have sent a resolution to the national committee asking that the transport of unwrapped meat in other than properly constructed vans should be forbidden.
' STATIONS PURCHASED
SERVICE stations in Ashby Square and Bedford Square, Loughborough, operated by Seaton's Garages (Loughborough), Ltd., have been taken over by Jennens Bros. (Contracts). Ltd., Sutton Coldfield. The directors of Seaton's have a station at Sawley crossroads, Loughborough, which they plan to continue.
Leicester-Manchester Service Dropped
APPLICATIONS by the Trent Motor. Traction Co., Ltd., and the North Western Road Car Co., Ltd., for a joint service between Leicester and Manchester have been withdrawn following a decision of the East Midland Licensing Authority rejecting an application of Yellowa.y Motor Services, Ltd., for a licence to operate an eXpress service between Leicester and Blackpool.
This was rejected principally on the ground that: there was not sufficient evidence of need for increased road facilities from Leicester to Manchester or Blackpool.
The applications of Trent and North Western were, to some extent, linked with the Leicester-Blackpool proposals, in that there are existing connections between Manchester and Blackpool.
Applications by East Midland Motor Services, Ltd., and the Midland General
Omnibus Co., Ltd., for separate services between Mansfield and Llandudno (for which previous bearings were, postponed at the request of the two applicants) have now been superseded by joint applications of the two companies to operate an express service between Market Warsop and Llandudno, via Mansfield.
WESTERN WELSH COSTS UP 2+ TIMES INSTANCES of rises in costs over the I past 25 years or more were given by Mr. W. T. James, managing director of the Western Welsh Omnibus to., Ltd., last Friday, at a presentation of longservice awards to 30 employees.
Cost of operation-. in 1929, .he said, was 8d. a mile, whereas it Was now 21tunes that amount. Garages and buses were now some, three times dearer. The company's revenue 25 years ago was £177,000; today; it was £2,228,000 and the paybill £1,360,000.
Expenses continued to rise last year and wage awards in January and November added £200,000 to the payhill. As a result, an application for increased fares had to be made. Fuel tax cost the company a total of £250,000 a year.
New garages were to be built at Neatb, and in West Wales "extensions were being made at Crosskeys and a bus station was to be erected at Newport.
B.R.S. Adopt Equal Pay Principle
THEprinciple of equal pay for equal work has been accepted by British Road Services on the same basis, as other sections of the British Transport Commission, and will be implemented in respect of all future permanent-staff appointments.
This follows discussions with the Transport and General Workers' Union. Adoption of the principle is on the understanding that there shall be common recruitment, qualifications, conditions of employment and performance of duties.
The question of salaries is under consideration by the Union, who feel justified in asking for more money because of "developments which have taken place since our last settlement."
A B.R.S. spokesman could not say on Monday how many women workers were affected by the new arrangement.
STRAIGHT TALKING BY L.T.E. CHIEF
pUS workers who were not prepared
to pull their• weight should go and work somewhere else, Sir John Elliott, chairman of the London Transport Executive. states bluntly in' the current issue of the undertaking's staff journal.
London Transport could not look back on 1955 with much satisfaction, Sir John continues. Shortage of staff and street congestion affected services and, as a result, the London passenger did not receive the standard of service he had in pre-war years. Passengers could be e.pccted to tolerate higher fares only if the service was first-rate.
"Resist Higher Wage Gradinow 11
HE growing tendency in some I quarters to regard Grade 11 rates under Road Haulage Wages Council Orders as outmoded and to accept regrading in Grade T without demur should be resisted at all hosts," states Mr. G. Evan Cook, president of the National Association of Furniture Warehousemen and Removers; in a New Year message,
The Association are to have a• panel of rating experts to co-ordinate the activities of area and metnberS' •surveyors and valuers in England and Wales, and assist those members who seek advice on the revaluation of warehouses, Mr. Cook says.
CAR SERVICE: LEGAL ADVICE EGAL advice about his obligations under the road service licence granted to him by the West Midland Licensing Authority is to be obtained by Mr. R. Broad, Ilmington. As reported last week, the licence authorized Mr. Broad to carry in his car four other people into Stratford on Avon at a charge of 7s. 6d. a week each.
Under the terms of the licence, Mr. Broad is required to run the service six days a week, and he is now wondering what he will do when he is on holiday or away from work. because of sickness.
One of his passengers could probably drive the car if he was sick, he said last week. If necessary, he would pay someone to maintain the service when he was on holiday.
GLOVER, WEBB OBTAIN LODEK RIGHTS
SOLE rights for the Lodek vehicleplatform design, described in The Commercial Motor on May 20 last year, have been obtained by Glover, Webb and. Liversidge,. Ltd., 561 Old Kent Road, London, S.E.I, who are now offering it to municipal operators.
The prototype was produced by Liverpool Corporation's city engineer and the surveyor's department. The design permits the loading height of a refuse collector to be reduced by allowing the floor of the body to be lower than the tops of the wheels, without sacrificing a flush platform for unimpeded discharge. Each wheel-arch is of sector shape and is hinged at the rear. When the body is tipped, the top of the arch drops flush with the floor.
A Lodek body mounted on a Karrier Gamecock chassis with 7.00-20 tyres has a platform 2 ft. 7 in from the 'ground. The sides ate 2 ft. high, so that the loading height is 4 ft. 7 in. This dimension compares with that of a vehicle of conventional type equipped with smaller wheels and tyres.