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■ IAL CALL for road-tra
)ort services
WHEN this war began, nearly 16 months ago, a policy for transport, prepared in advance, was immediately declared to be operative.. ,This policy was to cut down the use of the most rapid, most economical form of transport—that by road—and throw as great a volume as possible of traffic, both of goods and of passengers, on to the railways. It was, perhaps, hoped that the canals would be able to do a little more. What part coastwise shipping would be able to play was, of course, unknown.
Acceptance of this policy was almost general, and the voices raised against it were shouted down by loud reiteration of the words—conserve imported fuel. It was said that as coal was home produced whilst the fuel for motor vehicles had to be brought from distant lands, there must be a drastic reduction in the consumption of motor fuels. That reduction was effected in two ways—the rationing of the amount of fuel allowed to vehicles and the progressive demobilization of vehicles consequent upon their lack of motive power and a restriction of their use.
This policy can be justified on only two grounds. First, that it was impossible to secure the supplies of fuel required, and, secondly, that no serious reduction in national efficiency would result. Time has shown that the greater part of the tanker fleets of the world are at our disposal and that, convoyed by the Navy, they can and do, bring in whatever quantities of motor fuel are considered necessary. With regard to the effect on national efficiency, no one to-day has any illusions of the grave difficulties that face us as a result of the stark inability of the available transport to do what is required of it.
The writer was speaking recently on road transport at a business men's meeting in one of the great ports, and following him a representative of one of the railway companies said frankly that there was a bigger volume of.goods pouring into the country than ever before, and that, so far as the railways were concerned, they simply could not carry any more.
That, in brief, is the situation now. Whilst the cutting down of consumption of many articles at home has reduced the demands on transit for the carriage of such goods, the development of the war effort, as it gathers speed, has enormously increased the volume of munitions and those goods more essential to national needs. The Prime Minister tells us that production must and
will continue to rise rapidly. The resources of the Empire and of our friends in the United States axe being directed to that aim. More and more transport will be required. How can facilities be made to keep pace with the demands? There is already a dangerous lag.
Going about in the past three months, visiting many of the principal ports, the centres of industry and population, also rural areas, in England, Wales and Scotland, inquiring into transport conditions, the writer has to record a rapidly growing uneasiness at the situation, together with a realization that, unless drastic steps be taken, in the near future transport may be unable to respond to any additional calls.
It is true that conditions are not equally serious in all parts of the conntry; but even in the most favourably situated areas, no one any longer believes that very great dangers can be avoided unless bold and courageous measures be taken without delay. Several factors had conspired to divert attention from the true circumstances of the country's transport conditions. The exceptional weather of the past winter seemed a fair explanation of the difficulties that were experienced in the earlier part of this year. Then the collapse of France •threw unexpected stress on everything and everybody. There has been time since to take stock and to take some measures to make our transport more adequate to our needs. But what, in fact, has been done?
Enemy Action Must be Counteracted
It may be said that enemy action has had some effect in interrupting transport. The answer must be that, as it is one of the enemy's aims to create the greatest possible difficulties for us, so must we organize our methods and powers of transport, not only to deny him that success, but to enlarge our capabilities to deal with our growing requirements.
Passenger transport more closely affects all those who have to use it than does goods transport, because it is personal. Unnecessary travelling has, rightly, been almost eliminated, but there remains an enormous amount of movement essential to the conveyance of millions of people to and from their work. As more men arid women are drawn into industry so will this unavoid
able travel increase. • It has been aptly said, "You can't 'go to it if you can't get to it." When new factories and plants come
into operation—and they are not always sited in the centre of existing work areas—fresh travelling facilities have to be created. 'A public-service vehicle operator who formerly had a fleet of 10 vehicles was granted licences. for 90 to make it possible for new workers to get to new factories. The coaches and buses made available by cutting down former services in the district have been. used up. When the next factory comes into operation; where are more vehicles to come from?
In many parts of the country the increased demand for passenger services consequent upon the setting up of military camps or other Service establishments, and the intensification of the industrial effort, is being met by allowing overcrowding. This is not only potentially dangerous, but it cannot go beyond certain limits. No permanent solution of present traffic problems can be found along these lines. London, having had special difficulties, called for, and obtained, 2,000 buses from other parts of the country. These vehicles were by no means surplus to the requirements of the places that sent them. It was simply. felt that London had greater and special needs at the time. A severer strain has consequently been thrown on the transport services of those places that answered London's appeal.
The difficulties of passenger transport are more spectacular and have received a correspondingly large share of attention in the lay Press. Goods held up in transit cannot themselves lift up voices in protest. Goods transport is a more Silent Service; but the time taken in moving goods about the country and, more particularly, the clearing of goods as thay come into the ports, is a very vital factor in the national war economy.
It may be said that great efforts are being made at the ports to clear the goods and enable vessels to make a quick turn round. The Port Emergency Committees are functioning with considerable energy. They arc, however, faced with certain difficulties which are not all under their control. Dock labour is not always co-operating to make the best possible use of existing facilities. Many great chicks, being railway-owned or built in the days. before motor road transport, have railway tracks • laid along the quaysides, which make it impossible for road vehicles to take up their positions near the ships.
Goods unloaded have, therefore, to be manhandled into and through the loading sheds, and can only then be put on the lorries waiting at the other. side or at the nearest points of approach: In few cases hag this difficulty been met by the levelling up of the rail tracks with old sleepers to allow road vehicles to come right on to the quays. There is here a quite inexcusable waste of time, manpower and potential facilities... The third difficulty confronting the Port CoMmittees is the supreme one of the inability of rail transport to handle any more traffic, and the present impossibility of finding enough . road vehicles to answer the demand.
In all areas the most urgent . problems may be summarized in three words—vehicles, labour and obsolescence, The taking over of vehicles for the Services and local authorities by impressment and requisitioning has gone on steadily—and iS still going on—since the war began. Quite properly it is the newer vehicles which have been taken. There are now very few—if any—spare vehicles in any part of the country, although almost everything that can be put into running order is being brought into service. Supplies of fuel have been made available in most areas to enable full running of the vehicles in use to be maintained; but even now there are instances of hauliers being unable to take urgent loads because by Thursday they have used their supplies of petrol for the week.
In places where there has iIeen a special need for vehicles, appeals to other areas have been made and Met. This temporary easing of the situation is, happily, possible owing to the mobility and flexibility of road transport, but it is most difficult to go on with this policy, for it is dependent upon a reserve of transport being available in one area or another. These reserves are now practically exhausted.
Me gh to drive and trained staff to keep vehicles in repair are increasingly difficult to find. The reserved ages are 30 for the drivers of goods vehicles of 30-50-cwt.
unladen weight and 25 for drivers of heavier Vehicles. Youths or much older men are unable to do the latter work. The black-out has imposed a vastly greater straiti on all engaged in transport, and all over the country passenger transport undertakings are finding the greatest difficulty in getting women as conductors, again because of the black-out.
Transport Men Lost to Munitions In some areas men with years of experience in road transport are being attracted to the newly set-up or expanding armament workS. -It is a case of transferring from one reserved occupation to another, a thing within the power of the Ministry of Labour to prevent, but up to the present there seem e to have been no exercise of that power.
In one of the most important centres of heavy induetry in the Country, where the urgenfneed is to get the raw materials into the works and immediately clear the finished articles to make room for the next lot, vehicles ready to work have been idle for leek of drivers. In this area efforts are being iiiede to secure the releiee. of trained men who although called Up in their trade capacity are in fget, 'bin* employed by the Ser.viceori other duties.
The, lack of men for Maintenance work IS acute in all parts of the Country. When vehicles are being hard
preseed and many are run 24 hours a day, "thrashed,' as one traffic manager put it, the impossibility -of proper maintenance can bring only speedily nearer the day when these vehicles can by no methods be made to run any longer. •
Obsolescence is a dark shadow, looming ahead of everyone engaged in road transport. New vehicles for replacement are virtually unobtainable. Old vehicles are imperfectly maintained and unduly stressed in service. Spare parts cannot be got at all or only after prolonged delays, and in this connection it has to be noted that in some areas of the country where there is a particularly large number of Service. establishments, Service vehicles are sent in large quantities to civilian garages for repair and have thus consumed what spares were in hand.
Vehicle Fitness and Insurance Difficulties
The rapid deterioration in the fitness of vehicles for the work they are urgently required to do is regarded as a very serious problem by those engaged in motor insurance. It will not be long before it will he difficult to cover many of these older commercial vehicles.
The fact has to be faced that the national war effort is being slowed down by insufficiency of transport and imperfect arrangements in handling traffic. Goods loaded into railway Wagons in the yards of a great armament works were taking. two weeks to arrive at another works 10 miles distant. Even in the new factories and most modern plants it often seems that little attention has been given to the planning of facilities to enable road vehicles to be used expeditiously and economically. In another direction, mines cannot clear the coal from the Pitheads, although there is a shortage of coal in many parts of the country. Appeals are made on every hand for the increased services of road transport. . new policy by the Minister of Supply is called for. It is supremely important that road transport should be enabled to serve the national need. For this new vehicles are neceseary, also spare parts to keep in operation those now running. The Minister of Labour must ensure the personnel required to operate the vehicles. The Minister of Transport must instruct every official of his Ministry to forget that it was ever part of his duty" to restrict the development Of road transport, and to secure that in future the rnaXimurn use is made of every vehicle available.
There is a danger point not far 'ahead. The transport sYsterns of the country Might be-eb jammed that at some pleeeS congestion may dominate truevdrrient; `...rigor mOrtis eechilcl theti set In. N-o.ietereSts Mirst be all-Owed to stand in the Way of the greatest possible efficiency in transport for eery phase of the whole war effortis dependent upon it