A Man Who Thinks With a Capital " S "
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By The Hawk
ALTHOUGH he deprecatingly describes himself as "another one of these retired generals," there is nothing Blimpish about Maj.-Gen. E. H. Clayton, director and general manager of B.M.C. Service, Ltd. He lives very much in the present and when he refers to after-sales service he speaks with a capital "S." He brings into commerce the dedicated zeal of one who, from his earliest days, has had inculcated into him the ideal of service.
At the moment he is battling with the local planning authority for permission to develop 100 acres on which to erect a central store. If he wins, he will concentrate B.M.C.'s diffused service organization into a compact headquarters. It is an uphill fight.
Taken for a Ride
DERISIVE laughter in Liverpool Transport Department greeted a suggestion, originating from the correspondence columns of a contemporary journal, that petrol pumped from motorcycles before the crossing from Liverpool to the Isle of Man was used by corporation buses. The correspondent had asked a policeman on Liverpool pier-head what happened to the petrol and received the answer which prompted mirth in the transport department. Liverpool Corporation arc not yet running their diesel buses on petrol.
Sheep Instinct
LTHOUGH when peaks in passenger transport are ri mentioned one immediately thinks of the twice-daily mad rush to and from work, a problem of almost as great intractability is that occurring at the holiday season. Now that coach. operators are catering for increasing numbers of holidaymakers, suggestions for the alleviation of the July-August peak are of direct concern to the road transport industry.
134 I have been reading "Away From It All" (London Press Exchange, 5s.), the general purport of which does not suggest that the problem is likely to ease. An increasing proportion of the population is taking holidays away from home, and more than one in three people do so in the two peak months. Forty per cent. of them, however, would find it just as convenient to take their holidays at some other time. Sixty-two per cent, of the remainder were compelled to go at the peak time because of business arrangements, and 29 per cent. because of the fixing of school holidays.
Anti-projection Project
THE new draft Construction and Use Regulations, which propose further controls on overhanging loads, are to be considered by the vehicles committee of the National Road Transport Federation in about a month's time. I have an idea that they may not be warm in their support.
Constant Reminder
Y mid-morning coffee now stands on a circular cardboard 'VI mat advertising the seven-day rover ticket issued at £1 2s. 6d, by the Jersey Motor Transport Co., Ltd. It is a neat form of publicity that should go over well in hotel bars. Souvenir hunters are not restrained from taking them.
100 Years Back UNTIL I read their splendidly illustrated history marking . their centenary, I had always regarded the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co., Ltd., as rail-bound. This is far from being the ease. At one time they built many Arsedrawn vehicles both for passengers and goods, and constructed bodies for mechanically propelled buses, including the Clarkson
steamer. During the 1939-45 war they widened their scope still further by constructing Churchill tanks and were honoured twice by visits from Queen Mary.
Lifetime's Service
mR. C. F. WOLSEY, who will be host to the Municipal Passenger Transport Association at their annual conference in the Isle of Man next month, is the longest-serving municipal general manager at the present time. He is also unique in operating horse-drawn trams. He has been general manager of Douglas Transport Department for 28 years, having earlier served with the Lowestoft, Sheffield and Stockport systems.