Kaitaia Carriers Amalgamate; New Company Formed

Northern Advocate, 25 January 1940, Page 4

Kaitaia Carriers Amalgamate; New Company Formed

Following the wishes of the Minister for Transport, who has requested carriers’ associations throughout New Zealand to co-ordinate their industry as much as possible, a merger has been finalised for the Kaitaia district. This information has been supplied by the interim secretary of the company (Mr L. G. Thompson, public accountant, of Kaitaia): The memorandum of association of the company is now with the Registrar of Companies for registration, and the name will be “Kaitaia Transport Limited.” First Shareholders. The following transport operators have signed the memorandum as the first shareholders of the new company: Messrs A. H. Stanton, J. T. Walsh, S. A. Christensen, Harrison and Thompson, J. Ryder and S. C. Masters, but it is not intended by any means to restrict the company to these seven original members. “It is confidently hoped,” said Mr Thompson, “that every goods service operator in the district will eventually join in with the new organisation.

“The chief reason behind the request of the Minister for Transport for this co-ordination is that it will result in a saving of petrol and damage to roads, will allow for a more efficient and economic service to the users, and will definitely do away with any overlapping of services. Reduced, Operating Costs. “The operators, for their part, realise that by working in together, instead of having senseless competition, they must reduce their operating costs.

"An illustration of what can be done by co-ordination can be seen in the handling of livestock. “This class of carrying is handled by Messrs Stanton, Christensen and Harrison and Thompson, who have certain well-defined areas, and, except on very rare occasions, they do not trespass in each other’s territory. "The policy of the company will be to carry this co-ordination to all classes of carrying and it is only reasonable to assume that after the scheme is in full working order there should be a considerable saving in waste mileage. Interesting Feature. “An interesting feature of the formation of this company is the fact that provision has been made for a rebate to the users of such transport of a portion of the surplus profits after adequately rewarding the operators for their services and capital. “Mr A. H. Stanton has been appointed provisional manager of the company and will handle all general inquiries, and each of the other operators mentioned will be acting .as district supervisors and will attend to all matters in their own districts. “By this means, users will in most cases be dealing with the same person, who has for so many years handled their carrying business, and it is felt certain that this will have a very strong appeal to most users. Fixed Prices.

“In case any doubts should exist that the merger ha's been formed with the idea of getting a monopoly and forcing up the cartage rates, it is only fair to the operators to state that the prices for cartage are fixed by the Transport Department and not by the carriers, and, in addition, the department will be keeping a very strict watch on the operations of the company.

“The company will be commencing operations 6n February 1 next.”