INCREASED RATES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27391, 17 May 1950, Page 6

INCREASED RATES

Demurrage Charges On Rail Wagons A FASTER TURN-ROUND Merchants who are slow in unloading railway wagons will now have to pay more for their tardiness. The new scale of railway charges which came into force this week includes increased demurrage charges. For every day after the first eight hours a four-wheel wagon has been ready to unload, the merchant concerned will have to pay 255, an increase from 18s 6d. The daily charge for a double-bogey wagon has been increased from 37s to 50s. A Dunedin railway official said yesterday that the purpose of these increases was to speed the turn-round of the department’s wagons, which were insufficient to handle the present record freights being carried. Almost all goods sent by freight are affected by the increased rates. The charges have been altered according to the class of goods carried and the mileage to be travelled. This has made the (ask of railway staff engaged on the work of preparing the new schedules a difficult one. Parcel rates have also increased, but in this case a complete new table of charges has been prepared.

A consignment of ordinary goods, groceries, sundries or draperies, which previously cost 85s 10d a ton from Dunedin to Christchurch, will now cost 100 s 2d. For the same consignment, the freight charge from Dunedin to Invercargill has been increased from 71s 5d to 80s 4d. There will be an increase of 12| per cent, up to 150 miles for wool and miscellaneous goods. Over 150 miles the charges rise by 66 2-3 per cent. A general increase has been made of 12£ per cent, for livestock. Another general increase of 20 per cent, will be charged for timber consignments. A steep rise is shown m rates for cereals, grain and potatoes, which, including demurrage, cranage and wharfage charges, are increased by 33 1-3 per cent. A consignment oi 561 b of fruit or vegetables was previously carried anywhere for lid. Now it costs is 6d for the first 100 miles with increases up to 450 miles. The charge starts at 281 b. Possibly the smallest increase is that placed on delivery charges. These have risen by Id to 9d.