GOODS BY RAIL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 355, 26 April 1911, Page 7

GOODS BY RAIL.

NEW METHOD OF HANDLING.§ ADOPTED FOR NEW ZEALAND. A new system of handling goods for transport on the railways of the Dominion will be brought into operation by the Department of Railways on May 1. It wili greatly relieve the shortage of trucks, which has been a long-standing source of inconvenience, and it will also obviate many delays in the transport of small consignments. The work of the goods department of the railways is greatly increased by the tremendous number of small consignments which are received at ad the principal stations for delivery to country stations. Many of them consist of parcels of groceries, drapery, and other household requirements, consigned in some instances to private individuals »r to country storekeepers, and the large stores of the principal towns send out many of these parcels daily. It has been th; practice of the Railway Department, actuated by a conscientious care for the interests of its customers, to deliver these consignments by the first available train, and very often a waggon has had to be added to a train, and hauled many miles to carry a few hundred-weights of goods to some wayside station. The system has been expensive, for rolling stock and haulage power are wasted when every waggon does not contain its maximum load. When it has been possible, economy has been effected by carrying an accumulation of these small consignments over a stage of their journey, and then distributing them into separate waggons for transport to their final destination. This practice has involved delays of indeterminate periods, and consignees at country stations have often had to make several journeys over long distances before obtaining the expected good 3. Much of this inconvenience will be obviated by the operation of the more economical" system. Its method is the accumulation of consignments for stations with little goods traffic for transport on two, three, four or five days of the week, according to the amount of traffic. Goods will be received at the principal stations for any specified station on certain days of the week, and forwarded on the. following days. The consignees w ill know on which days their consignment must be delivered, and the consignors will also be informed as to the days on which their orders, will be fulfilled by delivery by rail. It is believed that the system will be of benefit to the merchant and his customers, especially in the assurance which it affords of less delay in transit, and of quicker delivery. It will not operate in the case of a consignment amounting to a truck load, which will be sent forward on any day of the week. The details of the system have been carefully planned for the Auckland district, and within a few days a circular will be issued to all consignors by the district traffic manager, setting out the days for receiving goods for all stations in the district. Copies of the circular will also be available for consignees. The system is not untried,for it has been in successful operation in Australia for some years. It is quite probable that there will be some objection to its adoption, but the officials of the Department hope that it will be given a fair trial, before it is absolutely condemned.