"Ban Through-goods Traffic" Says B.R.S. Chief
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HE licensed operator should be limited to stipulated routes, for instance by-passing towns (where such roads have been provided) if his vehicles do not have to collect or deliver there. Issue of a carrier's licence could well depend on the provision of adequate premises from which the transport could operate. These two revolutionary suggestions were made last Friday by Mr. T. G. Gibb, chairman of British Road Services. He was giving a paper, "The public carrier in Great Britain," tO the Northern section of the Institute of Transport in Newcastle.
Although the pattern of transport had remained constant for the past 25 years, said Mr. Gibb, the detail had undergone remarkable change. Private transport, a completely new factor, had emerged. The unsettled state of transport generally since 1948, particularly on the political front, had no . doubt stimulated this remarkable growth: But there was little evidence to suggest that the trend would have been any different had the ownership of the major . part of the nation's transport networknot been an issue. r "Do-it-Yourself" How were all these changes. going to govern, the pattern' of transport? Industry was disperSed throughout the land and depended on transportaS the connecting link. Was it likely to be satisfactory to allow a public transport system,--road or rail, to slide into disuse merely becauSe a percentage of the users wished to adopt a " do-it-yourself " policy whenever it suited them?
The country wasnow wanting the best of all worlds, and this was something that could only be had at an unreasonably great and unpayable cost.
What was apparently wanted were frequent, fast trains between all points, bus services giving frequent service between every town or hamlet, and an unlimited supply of road haulage to take any consignment anywhere.at a moment's notice. But all these .facilities were to be used only when the family car was not available, or the trader's lorry was otherwise engaged.
On Tap
At the same time it was reiterated that these services, which must be there on tap, must also pay their way while, again. if public opinion was to be the criterion, their charges were already exorbitant and any suggestion of increase must be fought off like the plague, It was not his intention, said the B.R.S. chairman, to argue that there should be limitations on the indiVidual, whether person or firm. . It would be a sad day if anyone were prevented from running his own ear or lorry in his own interests. But everyone should know and understand what was happening and what, in the majority view, was desired to happen.
As an industry grew; some law and order must be achieved, and it was clear that the carrier by road must be prepared to accept some rules which ought then to be obeyed.
Road congestion had become a major problem. It seemed reasonable to suggest that a licensed operator should be limited to the use of such routes as would enable him to transport his goods from point to point For instance, the by-passing of towns, wherever by-passes have been provided, should be enforced on all those commercial vehicles not having to collect or deliver within the town concerned. • The restriction should be imposed through the holding of a carrier's licence. The issue of a licence could well depend, not only on there being a need for transport but also on the provision of adequate premises from which that transport would operate, so that each carrier would have to be self-supporting and not reliant on public places in which to conduct his essential work.
Conversely, carriers should then expect a' reasonable return to conditions in Which they could perform their duties. Roads were built for the movement of goods and passengers, not as car parks. There: was a need to get back to this basic thinking. The great problem was not so much road v. rail as public v.. private, RegulationReasonable
Today, could anyone seriously maintain that, with such an availability of private transport of all kinds, some regulation of fair competition between rail, road and water was not reasonable? How else could the industry; and particularly the road haulage industry, attain a satisfactory standard of service to the public combined with good employment for its workers?
To say that a licensing system should be preserved was not to say it should remain unaltered. There Were grounds for thinking the original law had become too exacting. An A licensee, fettered with limitations (particularly those relating to normal user), was hardly a general carrier any longer. As the industry sorted itself into larger units. licensing to an exact weight based in an exact spot would seem to be both burdensome and wasteful. Alternatives there certainly were, and the system seemed to be well overdue for revision.
Carriers would continue to develop their own wares and make them even more attractive, but they would not be able to do so if they were neglected and treated as an occasional convenience_ In the end, it must be in the interest of the public itself to make full ose of an industry which comprised one of its most valuable assets.