WA Transport History

The History of the West Australian Road Transport Industry

By Russell McKinnon

1975

It was decided at the March 19 meeting to employ a Manpower Development Officer, Mr J Stapleton, from March 31. The February 19 meeting heard from a Department of Labour person that a subsidy of half the person’s pay would be available for three years. His duties would be to develop, initiate, and be responsible for the training needs of the industry. He should also be capable of liaising with the management and other training establishments.

A Southern Western Australia Transport Study was commissioned under the joint directorship of Director General for Transport John Knox and the man who opposed his views, Jim Pascoe, who had succeeded Cyril Wayne as Commissioner for Railways. The study (SWATS) was not only the most detailed and comprehensive of its kind undertaken in WA, but pioneered new research techniques by world standards. Among other investigations, the team responsible for it constructed a giant computer model of WA’s rail and road transport systems, then obtained computer predictions of what tonnages would flow where, how and at what cost under various transport policies. Competition, they advocated, should be the basis of a new policy, which confined regulation of road transport to an absolute minimum and the Government, as owner of the State Railways system now renamed Westrail, should foster its development into a commercial entity with freedom to determine its own price structure and where and how it would operate.

At the July 30 meeting, an Industry Training Committee was formed, comprising Executive Council member L Hall, Executive Director W R Pellew, the Manpower Development Officer, two training liaison officers from larger companies and two training-minded members from smaller companies. The committee would be responsible for the future activities of the training activities to be conducted by the Association in accordance with the recommendations of the Training Needs Survey. At the August 20 meeting, the following names were forwarded for the meeting: N McBain (Mayne Stephens), D Chaplin (Grace Brothers), R North (R P North), R Bower (R J Coleman), and B Cox (J H Moullin). In April 1976, Mr Stapleton resigned through lack of “sufficient support regard to the future issue of freezer licences for the North-West. It was reported that the TAC had recently decided that the previous policy of retaining two licence holders should remain, however, both companies felt that they should have been consulted before the Association’s opinion had been presented to the Commission for Transport. In the case of Bell Bros, telephone calls and correspondence had resulted in a letter of resignation by the company. The President was attempting to discuss this with Bell Bros management, with a view to retaining the company’s membership and establishing company representation on the Executive Council. The matter must have been resolved as Bell Bros’ W Reuter was elected to the

Freezer licences cast a frigid spell on the Association when complaints were received from Bell Bros and Gascoyne Trading Pty Ltd, concerning the Association’s policy in regard to the future issue of freezer licences for the North-West

from the members” and all training courses were ceased.

The Association produced a 26-page report in September — The Manpower development and training needs of the Road Transport Industry in Western Australia (Ed: Copy held by Battye Library). A survey was held and every facet of the industry was represented from furniture removalists, freight forwarders, transport and shipping, long distance and parcel delivery companies. There were 54 respondents. The report analysed what training was not being done in the industry and what was required.

Freezer licences cast a frigid spell on the Association when complaints were received from Bell Bros and Gascoyne Trading Pty Ltd, concerning the Association’s policy in Executive Council on August 26, 1976.

The Commissioner for Transport moved to register hire and reward vehicles. The Association was in favour of this, provided that operators should be free to purchase more vehicles without approval of the Commissioner.

The Association backed the existing inter-State shipping service as an alternative method of transport between WA and Eastern States. However, because the State Shipping Service was operating at a substantial loss each year, together with the Government’s decision not to raise sea freight rates, road transport operators were continually facing cost increases, which necessitated increases in road transport charges — an unreasonable competitive advantage against private enterprise.

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