SHORTAGE OF WAGGONS

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25307, 6 October 1947, Page 8

SHORTAGE OF WAGGONS

CONGESTION IN GOODS SHEDS

RAILWAY DEPARTMENT’S DIFFICULTIES

Some of the difficulties which the Railway Department has to overcome in its attempt to keep up with the demand for waggons were explained to a reporter of “The Press” on Saturday, when he paid a Visit to the goods sheds in the' Christchurch railway yards. Last week a correspondent to “The Press” suggested that the statement made by the railway officials at an Aid-to-Britain conference, that goods ■were often held up in the sheds through lack of import licences, was a “smoke-screen.” but on Saturday a considerable amount of floor space was taken up. by such goods. One consignment, of 1000 chests of tea. had been on the floor for more than a week, it was stated. A sheds officer said that goods often came into the sheds under bond, awaiting an import licence, and frequently’there was no indication of the owner. They carried a code number only, and were often difficult to identify. In D shed, the only carriers working on Saturday were those taking delivery of consignments of fruit, a regular Saturday procedure. An official said that seven Chris x church firms with large consignments in the shed had been advised on Friday afternoon that their goods were awaiting delivery, but most of them had said that they did not work on Saturdays, and none of them removed any goods from the shed. There were 338 wa°gons under load at the shed, but a fu 1 ! day was worked yesterday, and it was expected that the total th ; s morning wonld be about 230.

Although there seemed tn be a great quantity of goods in E shed, which handles inward shinning cargoes, shed officers s? ; d that it was “oractically empty.” There w*»re I*o waggons under load in th*> shed, but it expected that they would be unloaded bv last evening. the goods would then be niled well up towards the too*. Th*»re were no i n th** shed, although, it was stated, firms had been adv’sed of th® arr’va 1 of their goods. Tn an arrad® riding a rake of 15 trucks contained sugar awaiting delivery, which h®en held un ofi im-'orf l : **ence. Tn the ~p _ delivery lines wo’--

Sorting of Cai go One of the greatest factors against the quick discharge of waggons was the need to sort the goods when they reached the sheds, said several officers from whom inquiries were made At the beginning of the war. they said, all the sorting of goods was done at Lyttelton, but the waterside workers had been offered bonuses for the quick turn-round of shibs. and those bonuses were still applicable. When a train reached Christchurch, it was explained, a consignment for one particular firm might be distributed among seven or eight waggons. A great deal of time was spent in sorting cargo—it took a gang of three men between an hour and a half and two hours to sort one waggon. “If they were sorted at Lyttelton. 30 per cent, of the waggons we work would not have to come info the sheds at all.” one officer said. “Further. the w’aggons are never loaded to capacity. Sometimes they are only two-thirds loaded, and a great deal of valuable space is lost in this way ”' It is clear, from the answers to the reporter’s Questions, that employees in the sheds’feel that the present copgestion can be overcome only by attention to the .following points:—(l) the sorting of goods before they are put into trucks: (2) the filling of trucks to capacity at Lyttelton: <3l the elimination of delays caused by lack of import licences and customs clearances: (4) the prompt taking of delivery by consignees: and (5) the 40hour week, worked bv business firms when shed employees work 59 hours