TRANSPORT CONTROL

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 1, 26 September 1939, Page 9

TRANSPORT CONTROL

Eliminating Uneconomic Mileage WAR MEASURE APPROVED Unanimous approval was given at a fully-attended meeting of road transport operators in the Gisborne district and on the East Coast, held recently, to the principle icf full co-operation with the Government in a scheme to eliminate uneconomic mileage in the transport business as a major step toward economy in the consumption of petrol, says the “Gisborne Herald.” The scheme is primarily a war measure, planned to conserve to the greatest possible degree the available petrol supplies. It will operate for the duration of the war, and the owners of transport vehicles later will have the opportunity to decide whether it will 'be continued. The immediate effect probably will be that all road transport will come under the supervision of a committee for the district, on which the Government, the Railways Department, and the private operators will have representation. The need for a uniform system of national control of transport for war purposes was explained by Mr. H. J. Knight, the national secretary of the Transport Alliance, and Mr. Gunn, a representative of the Transport Department. It was pointed out that there are to be 21 transport districts in the Dominion, and that each would have its own committee, responsible for the control of operations in its own locality and for bringing the general management of transport within the scope of the petrol-economy scheme approved by the Government. The operators would have an effective voice in the control of their business, the district committee being empowered to make recommendations as to how the system of control should be applied, and the transport association being the body which would administer the scheme in the district. Membership of the association will be made compulsory for all operators and awards now in existence will not be affected by the change in control. Road passenger services will not be required to vary their system of operation in any material way except that, should it become necessary, schedules will be cut down and means will be devised to give the public the fullest possible service compatible with the necessity for conserving petrol. The continuance of ancillary services running parallel with railway services will depend upon their service to .the public, it was further explained. The Government desires to effect the greatest possible economy in the use of petrol, consistent with efficiency. Mr Knight made it clear that the Minister of Transport was confident in the ability of the operators to develop an organization which would take care of the industry’s needs, and meet the Government’s wishes for petrol economy, without dictation from the Government. Economy and rationalization had had to come, and the war measure merely hastened what the more progressive operators had foreseen as a natural development. Town ami area transport operators, and taxi companies alike, would be affected to the degree that resources must bo pooled, and central depots created, he added. After a long discussion, the following motion was carried by the meeting: “That this meeting of transport operators of Gisborne and the East Coast expresses appreciation of the opportunity given by the Minister of Transport for the operators themselves to devise means to put the war measures into effect, and pledges its support to the Minister in the application of co-ordination, primarily as a war measure.”

Mr. R. F. Gambrill was nominated as the transport operators’ representative on the district committee, and the nomination received unanimous en.dprsement..