§ 40. Captain Stricklandasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport why, under the instructions of his Department, road vehicle 5 S. 10/50 was sent empty from London to Wisbech, on 5th February, to fetch potatoes and carried a total of 16½ tons 824 in two journeys which occupied the whole week to 11th February at a cost of £3 per ton as against the standing charges of 17s. 6d. and 22s. 6d. per ton under private enterprise and ran 188 unloaded miles in the two journeys.
§ Mr. Noel-BakerBetween 5th February and 11th February Lorry No. 5 S. 10/50 lost one and a half working days owing to unloading difficulties, for which the Road Haulage Organisation was not to blame. It carried, however, loads amounting not to 16½ tons, but to 35½ tons. Besides potatoes, the loads included paper and cement. The loaded mileage was 243. The rate charged by the Organisation for the transport of potatoes from Wisbech to London is 17s. 6d.
§ Captain StricklandHas the hon. Gentleman endeavoured to compare this cost with the actual cost involved; and what steps did the Department take to provide a load to Wisbech?
§ Mr. Noel-BakerThey took every possible step to provide a load. On the question of cost, I have made inquiries and I am afraid the hon. and gallant Gentleman's intelligence service has let him down. Allowing for demurrage and overheads, the cost per ton was not £3, as he alleges in his Question, but 18s.
§ Captain StricklandIs the hon. Gentleman aware that the owner of the vehicle asked the controller whether he could send a load and was told, "No"?
§ Mr. Noel-BakerIf the hon. and gallant Gentleman will give me the information, I will make inquiries.
§ Mr. James GriffithsCan my hon. Friend give any indication whether the number of empty journeys run now is greater or less than before the war?
§ Mr. Noel-BakerIt may be greater than before the war because now we have to carry out urgent war jobs which are essential in the national interest. During peace time there are many empty journeys. Every operator knows the phrase "a lost journey."
§ Mr. A. EdwardsIs my hon. Friend not aware that many hauliers throughout the country are complaining of wasted journeys and that a haulier carrying loaded cases from Liverpool to Scotland, 825 is not allowed to pick up available empty cases for return load, while at the same time empty lorries are sent from England to carry these crates to English ports? There is a tremendous waste of transport hours and will the hon. Gentleman inquire into it?
§ Mr. Noel-BakerI am inquiring into it every day. It is not in the public interest to carry goods by road if they can better travel by rail or canal.
§ 61. Captain Stricklandasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he is now in a position to explain the uneconomic use by his department of seven lorries sent empty from London to Warrington on 5th February, involving 1,500 unloaded vehicle miles and of two six-ton lorries sent from London during that week on a round journey involving 822 unloaded vehicle miles.
Mr. Nod-BakerOn 5th, 6th and 7th February, about 150 vehicles were sent from London to Warrington to help in clearing a heavy congestion of traffic. Outward loads were not available for all the vehicles; each of the six vehicles, belonging to O.N. Transport Company, Limited, and A. E. Taylor and Company, ran about 200 unloaded miles. One vehicle was loaded from Warrington to Birmingham with heavy packing cases, at the request of a Government Department. This movement was wrongly represented as urgent; arrangements have now been made for such packing cases to be dumped locally until they can be sent as back loads or by rail. The two six-ton lorries sent to Widnes were also engaged on urgent clearance work, and no outward loads were to be found. On their return to London they were sent to Cambridge; in their subsequent movements there was some avoidable empty running, due to the misunderstanding of instructions.
§ Captain StricklandIs the Minister aware that these vehicles were sent to Cambridge on urgent business, and were expected to be packed up at Cambridge? How was it that they went from Cambridge empty, on to Bishops Stortford and afterwards to Epping empty? Is there not a telephone in the Department to see whether there was a load for them?
§ Mr. Noel-BakerThey went to Cambridge, in accordance with the usual practice, to collect potatoes. In Cambridge, owing to a misunderstanding, the driver went to the wrong office, and the office did not know that the vehicles had come from London and thought they were on ordinary business, to be operated in the ordinary way. We are carrying thousands of tons of potatoes every week from Cain-bridge, and occasionally a slip-up of this kind must happen.