RAILWAY FREIGHTS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 10 March 1923, Page 3

RAILWAY FREIGHTS.

HOW THE FARMER IS AFFECTED.

i REASONS FOR USING LORRIES. J Complaints ■ have been made to the Farmers' Union concerning the apparent anomalies in freight charges on the railways, aud the carriage of cream is cited as a'definite instance. It is con-J sidered that having to pay 8d on a can of cream from Waverley to Okoia and lld for a can from Fordell to Okoia1 does not tend to increase, the business' done by the Railway Department. Nor is the explanation about minimum charges and extra for handling deemed to be satisfactory, when motor lorry men will conic to "the door and load up. At the meeting of the Farmers' j Union in Wanganui last week the sectary, Mr D. S. Strachan, presented the \ following report: '. ! Following upon a communication! from the Dominion secretary, I have to report having made some investigations locally with regard to the freight charged by the Railway Department on the carriage of cream and butter. A local firm, which controls the secretarial work of several butter factories in this locality, advise that the Railway Department apparently adopt .a sliding scale when calculating freight on cream. In many instances it is a difficult matter to reconcile the figures shown cm the freight accounts. For instance, items were quoted to me as follows: One" can of cream from Waverlev to' Okoia, Sd. . Two cans of cream from Fordell to Okoia, Sd.. One can of cream from Fordell to Okoia, lld. These figures are not consistent. It i seems a strange thing that one can of cream can come all the way from Waverley to Okoia, and quite likely be shifted from one train to another at Aramoho, for Sd, while the same amount is charged for a can from Fordell to Okoia, a distance of a few miles, with no changing of trains. It is possible, of course, that a difference in Aveight.may account for the difference. The dairy companies report .that in dealing with the railway they are entirely in the latter's hands. The carnage of empties from the factory to their proper destinations has often; given trouble. A fetter was showrn the Avriter ftom a Wav.erley supplier inti-1 mating that a missing can had turned up after a month's absence. It was stated that the can in question had been thrown off at some wayside station, where it had remained until the factory concerned moved in the matter. Several local factories contend that it is better to do business with lorries rather than put up with any inconvenience caused as the result of railing their goods. ° One local factory informs me that it delivers all its butter sold to retailers in Wanganui by lorry, carts its own butter from the factory direct to cool storage at Cas'tleeliff,. and even carts its own coal from Wanganui to the factory yard. Time has not permitted (at least up to now) to go exhaustively into this matter with the Railway Department. The following information was gained over the telephone: ' ~ 1. That the freight on cream is id per gallon, with a minimum charge of Bd. 2. That before-the war the minimum charge was 6d, but during the war period an extra charge equal to onetenth of the whole freight consigned on a consignment was added, with a minimum increase of 2d, bringing the minimum charge for freight on any one consignment up to 8d (i.e., if a consignment of cream of 100 gallons was railed the freight at Id would be fifty pence—4s 2d. The war charge would be one-tenth x of fifty pence—sd, bringing the total freight accohnt-to is Yd. That if the cream is loaded by the Railway Department an- extra aharge of 3d is made. Thus the minimum charge for one can of cream loaded by the Department would bo lld. Many cooperative dairy factories are vitally concerned 3 it comes to freight on dairy produce, and the Domiuion executive are making close enquiries throughout the dairying districts in New Zealand, in the hope that the information obtained will be of use in an effbrt to bring about a reduction in the railway charges. This executive is asked to discuss the matter, and consider submitting a report to Dominion headquarters before 31st March next