Transport's Eton
Page 60
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By The Haw)
flOIN many bus companies can equal the record of United Automobile Services, Ltd., in producing top-ranking transport men ? This question came to the mind of Mr. D. E. C. Hayes as he was reading C. S. Dunbar's article on U.A.S. (The Commercial Motor, October 19). Mr. Hayes, a U.A.S. "old boy," was formerly managing director of Dar-es-Salaam Motor Transport, Co., Ltd., and Kenya Bus Services (Mombasa), Ltd., and is now managing director of Windsorian Motor Coach Services, Ltd. Among those who passed through the Darlington company on their way to the top, Mr. Hayes remembers Mr. B. V. Smith, director and general manager. Southern and Western National Omnibus Companies; Mr. H. Bottomley, general manager, Ribble Motor Services, Ltd.; Mr. 1. C. Dean, director and general manager, Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd.; Mr. L. H. Balls, director and general manager, Eastern Counties Omnibus Co., Ltd.; Mr. W. D. Reakes, general manager, Bournemouth Corporation; Mr. S. J. B. Skyrme, general manager, East Midland Motor Services, Ltd.; Mr. W. M. Mayes, general manager, Darlington Corporation; Mr. K. W. P. Kirton, traffic manager, Ribble Motor Services, Ltd.; Mr. A. Allpress, general manager, Nyasaland Railways, Ltd. and Mr. A. 1 Romer, director, ACV. "There are a lot more," he says, "hut I cannot recall then names." Perhaps those who have been omitted will speak up for themselves
Welcome Visitors
COR the first time, Mr. R. N. Ingram. a national vice' chairman of the Road Haulage Association, sat-in at a meeting last week of the national organizing committee of the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition. His presence was warmly welcomed as an earnest of the Association's wish to give practical assistance to the movement at the highest level.
Another welcome visitor was Mr. Gilbert Lesage, representative in Britain of Les Routiers. He freely admitted that his organization had learned something about the conduct of drivers' contests from the British competition, and hinted that the international event might be modified to fit in more with the lines of the British contest Representatives of Slough were again absent from the meeting. Having regard to their lack of interest in the proceedings of the national committee, it is at least questionable whether their competition should be allowed to rank as an eliminating round for the title, " Lorry-Driver of the Year."
B.E.T. Sparklers
TO mark their Diamond Jubilee, the British Electric Traction Co., Ltd., published on Wednesday "The Sixth Decade,by Roger Fulford. Describing the company's activities in the period 1946-56, it continues the story related in " Five Decades of B.E.T." by the same author who, incidentally, is a Royal historian.
There is little that is new in this latest chapter of B.E.T. history. And as it is concerned with the activities (plant hire, laundries, road haulage [in Canada], radio and television, etc., as well as buses) of the whole group, its interest lies more with the economist than the -busman.
On the bus side the accent is on consolidation, necessitated by the threat of nationalization. Progress there has been, too, though this has been mainly overseas.
The Fight
wHAT is worthy of note in "The Sixth Decade" is the recounting of the part played by the B.E.T. in the fight against nationalization of the bus industry, a battle made all the more difficult by the "capitulation "—at a cost to the Government of £24.8m.—of Thomas Tilling, Ltd. (The relevant chapter is appropriately titled "The Golden Bait "!)
c20 Of this decisive period, Mr. Fulford observes: " Thi provincial bus•services afford the only instance where publii opinion was able to exert an effective pressure, throne local opposition, on the Government and to stop a measure of nationalization. Without the B.E.T. as a rock of resistance on which to build that opposition, the objectiorn would have been diffused and ineffective. If B.E.T. hac trotted torpidly in the wake of Tillings, the story of the Government's attempt to take over passenger road transpori must have had a different ending."
Big Men for Big Jobs
ATAPE-MEASURE ought to be part of the equipment of bus company officials charged with the duty of selecting drivers and conductors, judging from a medical survey of sizes of unform worn by London Transport staff. The survey revealed that at all ges, bus drivers measured more round the chest and waist than did conductors. Further, it was found that those drivers who had been promoted from the platform had the same physical characteristics.
Whether or not the difference in physique between drivers and conductors is related to the difference in the psychology which makes one group wish to drive and the other to conduct is unknown.
Round the Bend
THE installation of heaters in Stockton Corporation's buses has engendered heat between the Amalgamated Engineering Union and the National Union of Vehicle Builders, both of whom claim the right to bend the copper
pipes. In an effort to prevent another " hole-boring " strike, the corporation have asked the unions to refer the dispute to arbitration.
Raising the Standard
VIOST hauliers in the Midlands seem to be ,wholeheartedly IVI behind the Licensing Authorities' effort to improve vehicle maintenance by making more frequent spot checks on the road and by being more stringent in examinations. Some, however, appear to expect the Ministry examiners to act as unpaid fitters who will visit them at their depots and point out faults in their vehicles. I have also heard the suggestion that British Road Services' vehicles are sometimes permitted to pass unexamined through check points. Mr. F. W. Buckland, clerk to the Licensing Authority, Mr. W. P. James, assured me that no distinction was made in road checks between privately owned and B.R.S. lorries. He added that it would be physically impossible to organize regular inspections of vehicles at operators' premises. That, I should have thought, was obvious to anyone.
Double Prohibition
ANY operator who, in a spot check, is served with a prohibition notice has only himself to blame. In one instance, an immediate prohibition was imposed on a vehicle carrying a valuable load from the Midlands. A relief lorry was sent and that suffered a similar fate. The operator concerned should have given up haulage and opened a breaker's yard.
Cryptic
IT has been suggested several times that papers, instead of resolutions, should be discussed at the Road Haulage Association's annual conference. This practice is followed by the Automotive Transport Association of Ontario, who held their 30th annual .convention in Toronto this week. Various subjects of general interest were discussed, but the one that intrigued me most was an address by "Jimmy" Swan, of Trailmobile Canada, Ltd., entitled " My Experiences .. . or I Should Have Stood in Bed." If this refers to the playing of the National Anthem, it is carrying patriotism too far.