Chaff or Petrol?

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 202, 15 November 1927, Page 8

Chaff or Petrol?

BRINGING BACK THE HORSE Effect of New Taxation PETROL taxation may re-instate the horse in the dignity of chief carrier to the city again. . . Master carriers are thinking of calling a Dominion conference of protest, and many merchants are demanding relief from the burden of taxation which falls on motordelivery vehicles.

TF no relief is given by the Government some of these firms are bound to find that chaff is cheaper than motor spirit. For short trips, entailing much waiting the horse has never been displaced, and so carts and wagons congregate at the wharves and the railway station. MOTOR-LORRIES HIT The petrol tax is going to hit the firms which have big motor deliveries solidly. One of the city’s commercial

men estimates that the three-ton lorry, of which there are many in Auckland, will be paying £64 a year in taxation. To begin with, there is 10 per cent, on the cost of the chassis and 10 per cent, on tyres. Then the solid-tyre tax mounts to £5, and the heavy-vehicle taxation to £36 a year. Petrol tax, he estimates, will be another £lB. The sum is represented like this: Heavy vehicle tax £36 PetrPl tax .. 18 Registration fee 5 Tyre tax 5 Chassis tax 10 Total £64 The Government, he says, has certainly said that the solid tyre registration tax will be reduced, but the reduction is so minute that it is almost

unnoticed in the total. For three-ton trucks the £5 is to be reduced to £3, and for lighter vehicles the £3 is to be decreased to £3 10s. The four-ton lorry pays £4O a year in heavyvehicle tax alone, and the five-ton vehicle now costs between £BO and £SS without petrol tax. EXPENSES GOING UP “All carriers’ charges and overhead expenses must go up with the petrol tax,” said the merchant. “At present our main objection is that the money collected in heavy-vehicle tax does not go toward the upkeep of the roads we use. The majority of the buses in the city do not go further out than Otahuhu, but they have to pay for highways all over the province. It surely is a fair thing that the users should pay for those roads.” Comparison of the motor-car with the pneumatic-tvred motor vehicle showed that the first paid £2 in registration, 5s for driver's certificate, 2s 6d for number plates, and £3 in petrol tax, a total of £5 7s 6d. The 30cwt vehicle would cost £2O in heavy traffic fees, £6 in tyre and chassis tax, £l6 in petrol tax, and £2 12s 6d in registration fees, a total of £54 12s 6d. This lorry would have to do 1,000 miles a month and carry full loads to make it pay. ADVANTAGE OF HORSES With the horse-drawn vehicle the capital cost is less, the overhead expenses are low, and much taxation is escaped. For short distances, like trips to the railway station and the wharves, the motor, the big advantage of which is speed, is beaten by the cheapness of the horse. Tractors and trailers are not encouraged here by the regulations. Other cities have gone back to horses for congested areas and short hauls, the horse-drawn wagon being able to turn in its own length, and Auckland may do the same. Carrying companies may adopt on a bigger scale the principle of hiring out teams and wagons by the day to firms which do not think it would pay to keep a small number of animals. However, it is not likely that horses will ever be used on long-distance deliveries again, because of the expense, not in money, but time. The majority of the lorries in Auckland are carrying foodstuffs, building materials and commodities essential to the life of the community, and the carriers consider that £lO or £2O a year, in addition to the present taxation, is far too great. "Why should every lorry be taxed because of a few which used to compete with trains?” they ask.