CARRYING TRADE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23002, 3 October 1936, Page 14

CARRYING TRADE

CHRISTCHURCH TAXI INTERESTS AN AGREEMENT REACHED (Per United Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, Oct. 2. Subject to the approval of the Committee of Inquiry on whose suggestion the conference was held, a ipeeting fully representative of the taxi interests of Christchurch to-day agreed to operate generally under the conditions prescribed by the taxi drivers’ award of 1931 with the exception of the provision of that award as to wages, and with special provisions regarding any overtime worked by owner-drivers. A wage rate for taxi drivers of £3 12s 6d a week, plus overtime, was agreed on at the conference, and will be submitted to the Committee of Inquiry as a reasonable rate. The agreement reached at the conference will also, it is believed, end the illegal practices which have been complained of in the evidence before the committee. Having agreed that some reduction of the number of taxi licences in the city was desirable, the conference will suggest that this' should be brought about gradually by the natural lapse of licences or by voluntary surrender. The difficulties of private earners who had not the chance to take some of the advantages open to the big concerns were explained in evidence given this morning. Herbert William Wise, an ownerdriver carrier, and the representative of carriers operating on their own without any organisation behind them, explained the position of general carriers in relation to the big carrying firms and the carrying work done by the Railways Department. “We have to face competition from two large carrying companies (the Express Company and J. M. Hey wood’s), which is just as unfair as that of the railways. They have the truck system for sending goods to other towns. The trucks take such a quantity o f goods and are available at such a low rate that the firms are able to do city carrying to the trucks free. That gives those two firms a tremendous advantage. Ido not think this Government intends to encourage monopolies, yet that will be the outcome. Steps should be taken to stop this free cartage of goods. It is the cheapness of the truck that lets the big firms carry goods to the truck free. No individual carrier could get the volume of business to take advantage of the truck system.” The Christchurch sitting has now ended.