SMALL TOWN CARRIERS

Evening Star, Issue 22447, 18 September 1936, Page 14

SMALL TOWN CARRIERS

IMPROVING EFFICIENCY LICENSING EXEMPTIONS ABOLISHED [From Our Parliamentary Reporter.] September 17, With the object of placing tho carrying business in the smaller towns on a more efficient basis as well as securing a reasonable standard of efficiency among rural carriers, it has been decided to abolish with certain exceptions the exemption from licensing which applies at present to carriers operating within six miles of the Post Office of a borough or town district. An announcement on these lines was made to-night by the Minister of Transport (Mr Semple). The Minister stated that the Transport Goods Order, 1936, which was gazetted on July 18, provided that goods services in which goods were hauled solely within a radius of six miles from the chief Post Office of any borough district or within special areas surrounding the four main cities, did not come under the licensing system. In view of the representations made to him recently by four new licensing authorities who had just completed inspections of their respective districts, and also in view of the representations from various interested organisations, it had been decided to abolish the six miles exemption except in cases of the following towns :— Whangarei, Hamilton, Rotorua, Gisborne, Napier, Hastings, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Masterton, Nelson, Greymouth, Timaru, Oamaru, and Invercargill. The special exempted areas around the four main cities remained unaltered, as also did the statutory exemption of goods services carried on entirely within the _ boundary of a borough or town district. The new provision would come into effect to-mor-row. “ The main reason for the alteration is that the local _ authorities in smaller towns exerejse virtually no control over local carriers,” said the Minister. “ Inquiries show that out of a total of 134 boroughs and town districts of under 6,000 population, only 36 have by-laws controlling local carriers, and very few of these use their by-law powers’. The result of this lack of control is the intense competition, which is reflected in the generally unsatisfactory conditions, not only in local carrying business, but through the whole of the trqck industry in rural areas. Tho competition in uncontrolled areas drives down the general standards of operation and forces unlicensed operators to extend their activities beyond the six miles’ limit. In_ the face of this uncontrolled competition it is almost impossible to maintain reasonable standards of driving, hours, wages, vehicle fitness, etc., on the services that come under the licensing provisions.” The Minister- strongly urged those carriers who would now require licenses to lodge their applications with tho Commissioner of Transport in Wellington without delay. He pointed out that carriers who did not run beyond the boundaries of any borough or town district did not require licenses. “ The future policy to be followed in the larger towns, where the sixmile exemption still applies, and in special exempted areas around the four ma‘in cities will depend on the results of the investigations which I have arranged to b© carried out in these cases,” the Minister concluded.