ARIA CARTING

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4514, 3 July 1937, Page 5

ARIA CARTING

VARIED COMMENTS. ENQUIRIES AS TO POSITION. Enquiries made in Te Kuiti yesterday as to the convenience of the Aria transport services met with a varied response. One stock firm held that Aria was "the worst place in the world" to which to get goods. It had no complaints to make when it was possible to make up anything like a full load, while for small goods the bus service provided an excellent alternative, but for sending out heavy merchandise, etc., too small to make up a load, it was very difficult to make contact with Aria in good time. A regular lorry service went to Pio Pio and provided an excellent service; there were no difficulties to that point. On the other hand, another stock company had no complaints to offer — to send goods out to Aria was no more difficult than to other districts. Goods might be delayed for a day, but that was to be expected with any service. Taken generally, this firm's experience was that there were sufficient carriers in the Te Kuiti district to attend to their requirements. For sales there was sometimes difficulty in securing carriers, but this was only to be expected. A member of the Carriers' Association Executive when approached said there were at least a dozen carriers licensed to cart in the Aria district, and this should be sufficient to meet requirements. He pointed out that some time ago a service run by H. Roberts was able, because it was back-loading on a timber contract, to run goods to Aria on a tariff that no other carrier could contemplate. Also, any complaints might be conditioned by the fact that at the last meeting of the Licensing Authority the Aria Dairy Company was refused a license to back-cart to other than its suppliers. When the position was referred to another member of the Carriers' Association Executive, whose firm operates the Aria bus and does a considerable proportion of the Aria general .carting, he was emphatic that vehicles were now available that could provide adequate services. The bus was licensed to carry 18cwt, plus an extra 1501bs for every passenger not carried, and a service car was used when required. Freight rates were charged. Also, his firm's lorry service had never yet refused a job. Trips were made whenever these were warranted, and a daily service was run to Pio Pio. To prove his contention that every endeavour was made' to give early deliveries, he called his lorry driver to the telephone, who stated he had just arrived at Aria with about a ton of general goods on a lorry licensed to carry four tons. This lorry ran two or three times a week. He added, however, that a surprisingly large number of goods were consigned to Te Kuiti without any further address, and carriers had to prosecute inquiries as to the address of the man for whom they weye intended. This caused delay on '' occasion.