§ 8. Lieutenant William Shepherdasked the Minister of War Transport if he will state the numbers of empty miles run by road haulage vehicles operating under the control of his Ministry during the past 12 months.
§ Mr. BarnesThis figure is not available. The hon. and gallant Member may, however, be interested to know that a sample analysis in 1944 showed a percentage of loaded running of 81. While loaded mileage figures obviously vary from time to time according to the incidence of traffic. I have no evidence to suggest that this figure has altered materially since then.
§ Lieutenant ShepherdIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that both operators and drivers are fed up with the waste that the present bureaucratic system involves?
§ Mr. BarnesNo, I am not aware of that. I am rather impressed by the fact that it has only just been discovered since the Lord President of the Council made his statement.