Cowboys continue
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Ithe truth were told, no one really 'wants to get rid of the cowboys— probably even less today than in 1955. Who is going to do all those "it's got to be there yesterday" jobs? Or squeeze on the extra couple of tonnes "to save another motor"? Or even take the load of rusty drums ("they might be hazardous, but the labels have fallen off")?
What is really wanted is the inconspicuous cowboy—five-gallon hat and no silver spurs—who will creep round quietly doing all the dodgy jobs without getting up too many noses and will only get pulled up when he gets too blatant.
It's no coincidence that in 1952 the first nationalised industry to be denationalised was road haulage. Industry had soon discovered that when haulage was run by the book it was not as cheap or as flexible as it had been.
In those bygone times, a friend introduced me to Motor Transport. One of the first editorials by the great Philip Edwards that I read was on the evils of cowboys and what the powers-that-be should be doing about them. There were more of them then; some were even household names in the industry. Then, as now, the Ministry made a lot of noise about them—which it backed up with a total lack of positive action.
How little has changed in my working lifetime.
Bob Rust,
Basildon, Essex.