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THE chairman of the Yorkshire Licensing Authority, Maj. F. S. Eastwood, stopped the hearing of applications by 10 Yorkshire coach operators to run summer services to Torquay and Paignton when he learned that some of the objectors were entitled only to make representations.
He said it was a pity that the matter had not been settled in correspondence when the application was made in February. He doubted whether the applications would now be in time to be of benefit to the public this season.
Mr. J. Booth, for two objectors, applied for an adjournment, so that the question of appeal to the Minister of Transport could be discussed.
The hearing, which was expected to last five days, was adjourned until a date to be fixed.
Yorkshire Pool Services were authorized to increase their week-end services to London.
BRIDGE RECOMMENDED FOR FORTH CROSSING
THE technical panel, appointed last May by the Minister of Transport to consider the relative merits of proposals for a road crossing of the River Forth, have found that a bridge is to he preferred .to a subway on grounds of economy, suitability, and greater freedom from hazard during construction and when in use. There is little difference in the cost of the schemes.
The proposed bridge would he of suspension design with a main span of 3.300 ft. and suspended side spans of 1,260 ft. each. Provision would also be made for reinforced-concrete approach viaducts to link up with new approach roads. The total cost is estimated at £9.960,000.
The panel's conclusions are contained in an interim report published last week as a White Paper (Stationery Office, Is.).
30 M.P.H. LIMIT IN LONDON TO STAY?
IN a report to the Minister of Trans'. port. published last week, the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee recommend that the speed limit of 30 m.p.h. in built-up areas in the London Traffic Area should be continued, with no relaxation in the early hours of the morning.
A differential speed limit of 40 m.p.h. on certain sections of the main traffic routes in and out of London, including many at present not restricted. is also recommended by a majority of the committee.
SPALDING TULIP TOUR
THE route of the Spalding tulip fields tour has been approved, and copies of a publication showing the route can be obtained from the South Eastern Licensing Authority, Sussex House. Hobson Street., Cambridge. Doubledeck_ vehicles will not he permitted on the tour.
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Tory M.P. Tables Rural Service Motion
CONCERN at the difficulties facing
• ‘-• bus operators and the railways in maintaining services in rural areas is expressed in a motion which a Conservative M.P., Mr. Vane, has tabled for discussion when the House of Commons goes into committee on Civil Estimates.
The motion invites the Government to review regulations and taxation affecting public traniport in rural areas, • and to encourage technical development and experimental services.
Sir Brian Robertson, chairman of the British Transport Commission, last week addressed a meeting of the Conservative Transport Committee on the problems of rural transport.
. CANAL INTO TRUNK ROAD?
THE conversion of the 21-mile stretch of the Monkland canal into a four-lane trunk road from which pedestrians would be excluded was proposed last week by the general finance committee of Glasgow Corporation. Plan's for the project, prepared by the corporation engineering department, will be considered by the highways committee as an alternative to proposals by the British Transport Commission that part of the canal in the Blackhill area should be filled in.
The city's plan envisages a 74-ft.-wide trunk road with two lanes of traffic in each direction.
NEWBURY PARK SCHEME STARTED
WORK has started on a £274.000 VV scheme to remove a bottleneck on the Al2 road at Newbury Park, Eastern Avenue has dual carriageways eastwards from Wanstead except for about half a mile at Newbury Park. This stretch will he rebuilt to provide twin 30-it, carriageways, and the existing railway bridge (beside the wellknown London Transport bus station constructed as an arch) will be replaced by a three-span structure 72 ft, long._ The .Al2 carries some 22.000 vehicles on an average weekday and traffic flow at present is seriously impeded.
BETTER ROAD TO PORTS
WORK has started to provide twin carriageways and to improvethe layout on more than 2. miles of the
Winchester—Preston trunk road between the boundary of Stafford and Wood Farm, Aston. This is on the A34 road, which carries industrial traffic between the west Lancashire ports and the Midlands. The scheme is estimated to cost £230,000.
TRAM CONVERSION PLANS TEN single-deck trolleybuses are to I be run in place of trams by Glasgow Transport Department on the Mount Florida-Linthouse route. It was originally proposed to operate 20 trolleybuses, each 35 ft. long. The route has several acute bends and a steep gradient.
No Licences: £182 Penalty
FINES totalling £152, with £30 costs, I were imposed on Richard Stewart Swann, trading as the Paragon Warehouses (Processing), Co., 49-55 Paragon Road, Hackney, at North London magistrates' court last week for using vehicles without proper carriers' icences.
Mr. L. E. Barker, prosecuting, said that Swann held a C licence. The, summonses related to four of seven vehicles which were not registered in Swann's' name, although he was the owner. The four vehicles were used for hire or reward for a furniture company. Swann had received £535 14s. 6d. *for journeys all over England on dates mentioned in the summonses.
Defendant mentioned the difficulty of signing annual contracts with furniture makers because they could not foretell their output.
The magistrate said that Swann had tried to 'make a mockery of the law, and made himself liable to fines totalling nearly £1,000. There were • 19 summonses and Swann was fined £8 on each. The penalty couldelbe 1.50 for each offence.
FUEL SWINDLER JAILED FOR YEAR
AFTER pleading guilty to obtaining 26+ gallons of fuel with a bunkering card which did not belong to his own company, and to stealing a bunkeringcard belonging to Lakeland Food Industries, Ltd., Maryport, a hydraulic jack and other articles, Peter McMillan, lorry driver, Elba Street, Ayr, was jailed for 12 months by Westmorland Quarter Sessions Appeals Committee last week.
McMillan, who had seven previous convictions, was told that the sentence would have been 18 months had he not been in prison for nearly four months. He was arrested on Christmas Day.
DOCK DELAY MEETING DELAYED THE conference of 18 national organ' izations on dock delays, which the Road Haulage Association hoped to hold on April 26, has been postponed for about a month.
It is understood that the Ports Efficiency Committee are likely to publish this month a report which will deal with the question of delays. It is thought desirable that representatives of the 18 national organizations should have the opportunity of studying it before they meet again. The first meeting of the Committee was held last September.
OXFORD BUS INQUIRY
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A COMMITTEE is to be set up by Oxford City Council to inquire into the city's bus services, it was decided on Monday. Oxford's bus services are provided by a B.E.T. company, City of Oxford Motor Services, Ltd.
Dundee to Consider Merit Bonus
APROPOSAL for a merit bonus of I Is. a week for drivers and conJuctors employed by Dundee Transport Department is to be examined by a sub-committee of the Transport Committee.. It is estimated that, if granted, the bonus would cost the department 130,000 a year.
Moving that no action be taken, CM-. Alex. Peterkin said at a meeting of the transport committee: "They actually have the effrontery to say we must give !Is. a week extra to people who come to their work in time in the morning. If ever there was a farcical plea, this I5
Late Buses Cause Drop in Output
A DROP in production was attributed to the late arri,val of workers by the existing services by an official of a Birmingham factory when Mr. E. I. L. Owen (Vigo Coachways), Walsall Wood, applied to the West Midland Licensing Authority for permission to run an express service from Brownhills to Perry Barr. The service, which will cater for workers at George Ellisons, Ltd.. and the associated concerns of Tufnol, Ltd., and the Perry Bridge Works, was granted
Defective Form Used for 30 Years
E'OR at least 30 years, Worcestershire I Motor Taxation Department have been prosecuting drivers for using unlicensed vehicles by placing a defective form before the magistrates. This came to light last week when the deputychairman of Worcestershire Quarter Sessions explained that the words "on a public road" did not appear after "did unlawfully use a certain mechanically propelled' vehicle."
Horace Byng, aged 47, of no fixed address, appealed against a Convictihn by Bromsgrove magistrates for driving an unlicensed vehicle.' Although his fine was reduced, 13yng's appeal was dismissed, but the deputy-chairman refused to grant costs to the county council.
It was explained that the forms had been used for at least 30 years and were probably drawn up originally by the Customs and Excise authorities, FULL ADDRESSES WANTED
nELIVERY drivers are greatly handtII--, capped when a company's address does not include the name of the street or postal district, say Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, who seek national support for a campaign to secure the provision by companies of their full
addresses. • The Chamber ask members to encourage closer co-operation between purchasing and transport sections when orders are placed, so that detailed instructions for delivery are given, and to note street names and postal districts in addresses, irrespective of the size of premises.
SEAT PACKING COSTS CUT DY using waterproof paper and Sellotape to pack vehicle scats, H. and E. Halford, Ltd., Stirchley, Birmingham, have cut the labour and material costs for this work.
The earlier method involved the use of 4 yd. of corrugated paper and 14 yd. of sisal, and each seat took 12 minutes to pack. The material cost was 9d. Now a scat is packed with 3 yd. of waterproof paper and I ft. 2 in. of Sellotape in five minutes. the material costing 6d.
The new pack is also said to be stronger and more easily unwrapped
STUDYING U.S. STORAGE
TEN members of the National Association of Warehousekeepers arc leaving for the U.S.A. at the end of this week to study the storage and distributing industries. The merchandise division of the American Warehousemen's Association is arranging facilities in Chicago. Philadelphia and New York.
The team expects to be away for two to three weeks. Its members include Mr. A. W. D. Adams, of Adams and Adams, Ltd., and his son. Mr. G. Adams, of Graham Adams, Ltd.
Development of Double-deckers
LINES along which the double-decker was being developed were integral construction of chassis and body, lower overall height, lighter weight and higher seating capacity, apart from increases in dimensions made. possible by amended legal requirements.
Mr. P. Brunton, bus manager of Metropolitan-Cammell-Weymann, Ltd., gave this, indication when he spoke to the north-west centre of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (Automobile Division) at Leyland Motors, Ltd., last week.
Concerning the weight of passenger vehicles, Mr. Brunton said " The first few years after the war were the worst period. After years of austcrilv, patching and rebuilding worn-out bodies, a phase of elaboration and massiveness with little regard for cost occurred.
"As a result of high operating costs generally in the past two or three years, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction and the trend is very much for low cost and low weight. a trend which appears likely to persist."
Mr. Brunton urged greater standardization, but agreed that operators were becoming increasingly appreciative of makers' problems. "Before the war, almost everyone expected his own special contour, which meant, entirely special drawings and tooling. The practice is becoming the exception, and a builder's standard shape and contours are accepted as a matter of course," he said.
RAIL FREIGHT RATES UP
RAIL freight charges generally will be increased by 5 per cent. next Monday, but rates for merchandise in lots of less than a ton and consigned by a freight train and ifor goods sent by passenger train will rise by 71 per cent. The charge fore returned empties will he increased by 121 per cent. The rates will be re-examined in six months' time.
The Transport Tribunal recommended that the British Transport Commission should be granted in full the increases for which they asked, but the Government disagreed.
British Road Services last month raised by 5 per cent, charges for consignments up to a ton. Some other rates may be reconsidered in the light of the recent increase in wages.
Output a Record : Exports Bright
nuRING February, commercial1-." vehicle production, at 7,475 units, reached the highest weekly average yet attained. Although eXports were tower than in January, their value was nearly £.500,000 greater than it was in January, 1955.
Of the .28.899 units produced during February, 17.459 went to the borne market and 12,440 were for overseas. Goods vehicles, road-haulage tractors and special types totalled 28,927, of which 16,479 were under 15 cwt. carrying capacity, 4,761 from 15 cwt. to 3 tons, 5,328 from 3 tons to 6 tons, and 2,359 over 6 tons. Passenger-vehicle output reached 972 units.
The value of commercial-vehicle exports for January and February was 117,981,599, which is over £2m. more than for the first two months of 1955.
T.R.T.A. Winning Over Councils
OF 190 local authorities in the London and Home Counties Division of the Traders Road Transport Association who were asked to consult the Association before imposing restrictions on loading and unloading. about 100 promised to do so. Fort)more are considering the matter.
Mr. S. J. Lamborn, chairman of the Division, made this announcement at the annual meeting last week. He hoped the Minister of Transport would overrule the proposals to restrict loading and unloading in Romford.
Mr. Lamborn was re-elected divisional chairman, with 'Mr. J. Janes, Mr. F. H. Layton and Mr. T. D. Botterill as vice-chairmen. Mr. W. A. Willson, who is retiring from -S.P.D., Ltd., offered to continue as honorary treasurer and was re-elected. , Mr. Lewis D. Levy, past chairman of the Division, resigned and was replaced or the divisional committee. by Mr. H. B.
The traffic committee established Fec. the Division to fight restrictions or deliveries has been placed on a permanent footing. It consists of Mr. W. A. Winson, Mr. S. Hattan (Schweppes, Ltd.), Mr. B. A. Thompson (Whitbread and Co., Ltd.), Mr. R. D. B. Robathan (T. Wall and Sons, Ltd.), and Mr. G. F. Page (J. Lyons and Co., Ltd.).
In his annual report to the Yorkshire (West Riding) Division, last week, Mr. E. J. Chamberlain said that during the year membership had dropped from 1,755 to 1,602. There was a tendency in some quarters to believe that the barometer was set fair for the C-licensee and that membership.of the Association was no longer necessary. This was a dangerous fallacy.
Mr. Chamberlain, who is a director of Bentley and Shaw, Ltd., Huddersfield, and group transport manager of Hammonds United Breweries, Ltd., was re-elected divisional° chairman. Mr. H. Bradley (Barnsley British Co-operative Society), Mr. J. V. Braithwaite (Montague Burton, Ltd.) and Mr. R. E. Clough (Smith, Parkinson and Cole, Ltd.) were re-elected vice-chairmen.
,RANGE FOR MAXIMUM LOADS .1-1. A RANGE of Atkinson vehicles,
designed to conform with the amended Construction and Use Regulations, has been produced to supplement the models previously manufactured. All are available on the home market, the four-wheelers for a maximum gross load of 14 tons, the sixwheelers 20 tons and the eight-wheelers /4 tons, TYRE RATES UP
AN intimated increase of per cent. in contract rates for the supply of tyres by the Tyre Manufacturers' Conference -has been reported by Sheffield Transport Committee. The increase would cost the Sheffield undertaking an extra £1,000 a year.