East Lancashire Association and Merger
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Scheme
BLACKBURN'S pre-eminent position in road-haulage organization was mentioned by Miss P. D. Bridge, secretary of the East Lancashire Road Transport Association, at the recent annual meeting. She said that the local, district was one of the best organized in the country, with a greater percentage of members than even the large cities. In some sections it had a membership of 100 per cent., and in others this mark was almost reached.
.The National Transport Federation merger scheme, so long awaited, had now taken definite shape and had formed the subject of much local negotiation. The main difficulty was that of finance.' Locally, the Association did not see how it could function efficiently if 60 per cent, of its revenue went. for national and regional purposes. Subject to satisfactory' arrangements of the financial position and the retention of the local association, it would Support the merger. -Blackburnhad an interest in, the suggested grouping of small operators for the interchange of surplus traffic, etc. This grouping movement seemed to be gaining ground in other parts of the country. Hired operators tinder Government control had had some of
their financial grievances ameliorated. although full satisfaction had not been reached on working conditiOns. Some opefators felt they were losing pre-war contacts which would be detrimental to them when peace 'came
It was becoming increasingly difficult, said the speaker, to place more tonnage on the roads; operators with vehicles idle were refused permission to bring their tonnage to the pre-war standard on the ground. thatthe need did not. exist. The Association was carefully watching events and it was asking for a restokation of the status quo when the war ended. Considerable traffic had -been diverted to the railways, which, to-day, were in a good position-.
Mr. J. Ainsworth said that the East Lancashire Road Transport Association had been linked up with the C.M.U.A.. since 1922. • The Association had nat yet made any arrangement to work with the suggested N.T.F., although negotiations were still on foot.
Messrs.G. Ball, II. B. Ashworth and F. H. Lloyd were appointed to the executive for Aand B-licence holders; Messrs. J. Ainsworth and W. Conroy for C-licence holders; and Mr.. A. Bolton as public-service vehicle representa live.
THOMAS TILLING PROFIT UP
THE report of Thomas Tilling, Ltd., for 1944 shows a profit of 2562,956, compared with 2550,614 in the pre-. vious yea:'.. After deducting the preference-share dividend for the year (216,500) and the interim dividend of 5 per cent paid on the ordlnary,stock (2206,000), ' and adding 2.196,311 brought in, there is a balance of 2536,767. A final dividend of 5 per cent., less tax, will account for 1206,000, and an allocation of 2100,000 is made to general: reserve, so that £230,767 reniains to be Carried forward.
SUCCESSFUL R.I-LA. COVENTRY MEETING 'THEfirst meeting of the new 1 R.H.A., held in Coventry on February 9, was exceptionally well attended, tho principal speaker being the organizer, Mr. L. Patrick. • The first chairman of the Coventry Area is Mr. W. Eagles; vice-chair man, Mr. L J, iFulford, and national delegate, Mr. W. Mousley. A tribute was paid to the honorary secretary, Mr. T. C. Cross, who was reappointed.
A new committee was set up, and consideration was given to future procedure' under the N.R.T.F., also to post-war policy, licensing, and a subarea drive for 100 per cent. membership.
LARGEST HAULAGE CONCERN IN THE WORLD •
WHAT is claimed to be the biggest .111( individual haulage organization in the world is the Persian Gulf Command, the, personnel for which was recruited through the efforts of Amencan Trucking Trucking Associations. • Its work is.r.the supply of essential .requipment to Russia. According to " Transport Topics," of the total of 4,380,000 tons from America sent urgently to 'Russia, Britain has delivered one-sixth, the remainder, being pushed across Iran'. over some-) of the most difficult and varied terrain by the above Command.
During the past go months', over Some 435 miles at highway, has streamed equipment to the' extent of more than 260,000,000 ton•miles_ The drivers have clocked up almost 100,000,000 miles, Originally, the distance was even greater, is supply receiving station being set up at Kan/in, an Iranian village 644 miles from three ports. British engineers assisted by constructing 474 miles of gravel surface and occasional asphalt; later, U.S. engineers improved and reworked half of that stretch.
. Early in. 1942 an assembly plant for lorries was set up, and others followed, a total of 143,000 vehicles being delivered to help in gaining the Russian victories..
BLACKPOOL TRANSPORT .
PROFITS DURING THE WAR
DtL,ACKPOOL Corporation forecasts a L./profit on its transport department of £250,000 for the five war years 18401944. The transportmanager, Mr.. W. Luff, rePorts the income in the period to be £3,604,783 and the expenditure 22,271,046, the gross balance thus being 21,333,737.
In the oeriod 42,500,829 'miles were run by the buses and trams and 475,088 081 passengers were castied. The figures for the respective years are as follow: 1940:—Income, 2503,229; expenditure, 2345,381; balance, 2157,848;
m I-1 e a.,g e, 8,103,468; passengers, 475,088,081.
1941:—Inconie, £619,385; expenditure, 2402,661; balance, 2216,724; Mileag e, 8,542,013; pasSengers, 85,688,950..
1942:—Income, £796,102; etirpenditure, £494,777; balance, 2301,325; mileag e, 9,233,663; passengers, 103,234,360. '
1943:—Income, £831,464; expenditure,. 2528,192; balance, £303,272; mileag e, 8,688,597; passengers, 106,050,509.
1944:—Income, £854,603; •expendil ture, 2500,0135;• balance, 2854,568;
mileag e, 7,933,088; passengers, -106,375,591.
Mr. Lull rldubts whether revenue 'will be maintained and believes that expenses will increase rather than .decline. Moreover, repairs had been deferred and these would have to be met at a time when costS were .high. It would, he adds, cost £1,000-,000 to keep Blackpool on. top of the transport world.
PERSONAL PARS
MR. RALPH YOUNC, secretary of Newcastle-on-Tyne transport and electricity undertaking branch of the Transport and General Workers' Union for 15 years, has retired through illhealth and has received a presentation from his colleagues.
MR: CLIFFORD TALBOT has been appointed by the Minister of War Transport to be divisional road haulage officer for the South-Eastern Division of the R.H.O., with headquarters at Tunbridge Wells. He succeeds Mn. 'J. B. GARRETT, who has taken up a Military appointment.
ildx. C. C. ALLEN, manager of :the Liverpool -depot of Oswald Tillotson, Ltd., . at Rocket Showrooms, 782, Queen's Drive, has resigned this position as from February 28 next.
MR. L. R. BRELSPORD, manager of the company's Manchester depot, will also assume' control of the Liverpool depot as from the beginning of next month.
MR. R. A. BISHOP has been appointed publicity manager to Morris Motors, Ltd., with headquarters at Cowley. Since early in 1940 he had been in charge of an aircraft depot. Previous to that he had acted as publicity manager, at various times, to Guy Motors, Ltd,, Singer .Motors, Ltd., and the Standard Motor Co., Ltd. We wish him every success. •
Ma. J. T. Roowm..r., of Wombwell, who recently resigned , his office as a sub-district manager under the M.O.W.T., was the recipient, a few days ago, of a silver coffee service, the .presentation being made by Major F S. Eastvkihd, the North-Eastern Regional Transport Commissioner. Mr. Rodwell resigned through pressure of other work, having been appointed chairman of Barnsley and District Transport, Ltd., a combine Of some 85 operators engaged in transporting outL-op coal. He is also .chairman of the Yorkshire Section of the Road and, Rail Central Conference. •
, CARBON-BLACK HAULAGE MEN WANT DIRT MONEY"
IVERPOOL carriers who handle JL.i loads of carbon black -have experienced difficulty in cleaning their vehicles after they have been. used for that purpose. . Employees also _have a grievance and, owing to the damage , sustained by their .clothes when .they handle this traffic: they have asked to be compensated by the payment ofwhat is known. as " dirt money:" Others are not so much concerned about this mpney, as they are by the difficulty of obtaining additional• clothing coupons to permit the parchase of new oVeralls. It is understood that representatives of the transport men's union have put the case to the Area Road Haulage Officer,
OPPOSITION TO TROLLEYBUS BILL WITHDRAWN •
SOTJTI-I SHIELDS CORPORATION has been informed that the Northern General Transport Co., Ltd., and the Economic Bus Co., will withdraw their opposition to a Bill being prompted by the corporaticin if the municipality agrees not to rim trolleybuses over routes Nos. 16 and 17. The• corporation has agreed . to the proposal. The Bill seeks to. give powers to the Idealauthority to run
additional trolleybitses in the town. . ,
-SYNTHETIC-TYRES--FOR . " HEAVIES " ON THE WAY SPEAKING at Preston last Week, Mr. J. Warnock; RegiOnal Tyre Officer for the -north-west, Said that " it is sabotage to-day for anioneto ruin tyres. We cannot afford it." Even before Japan -joined the Axis, Britain faced a serious situation in productive capacity. Then, in 1941, we lost overnight-50 per cent of our raw rubber supplies at a time when we were preparing to go over to the offensive. The Ministry of Supply consulted the-heads
of the tyre industry and a scheme was drawn up. • In 1939, we had 27,000 people dealing in tyres, but that number was .cut to ,1,400 authorized tyre dealers. Depots for retreading and repair work had functioned excellently.
Synthetic tyres for large commercial vehiCies would be made, said Mr. Warnock, but much experimental work had vet to . be done Until the war with Japan finished, we would continue to face a serious. rubber shortage,
DEALER APPOINTMENT BY . VULCAN MOTORS '
\Vare advised that Freeheville al-ages, Ltd., Birley Mbor. Road, FrecheVille, Sheffield, has been appointed by Vulcan Motors, Lid., Maidstone, to be its official dealer for South Yorkshire -and North Derbyshire, We regret to learn of ,the death of Ma. T. B. RE4er_axp, one of the directors of the North London Engineering Co., Ltd., the commercial bodybuilding and motor engineering concern of Cobbold Road, .Willesden, London, N.W.10. He was 60 years of age and had been associated with the company for 25 years. He was well known in the conimercial-vehicle trade and was 4 member of the Council of the National
Federation of Vehicle Trades. • VEHICLES 8 FT. WIDE WOULD HELP EXPORT TRADE
rFIIE. f. Road Transport Section o Liverp661 Chamber 41Commerce- has asked the Association. of British Chambers of Commerce to .keep under constant review the Motor Vehicles (Construction •and Use) Regulations,. 1941. The Section is particularly interested in the permitted width of vehicles, which it considers should be. 8 ft. itstead of 7 ft. 6 ins.
At a recent meeting, it was stated that the Government wa's stressing the importance of the export trade in the post-war period, but by its refusal to permit manufacturers the right-to con, struct 8ft. vehicles for use in this country, it was stifling export trade. .
DARWEN PLANS TO ABANDON LAST• T7ZAMS
DARWEN CORPORATION plans the construction of a new central bus station, at an estimated cost of E50,000, the widening of roads, and the use-of buses instead of trams on the Darwen-Blackburn route—the last remaining tram route in the town. The corporation is also seeking permission from the North-West Regional Transport CorrimisSioner to abolish workpeople's cheap fares on the Municipal-transport undertaking,