One of the UK’s oldest motoring organisations today changed its name to embrace modern transport.
The FTA, which can trace its origins to campaigning for operators rights since 1888, has become Logistics UK.
Following the 1888 Railway and Canal Traffic Act traders were given a right of complaint to the Board of Trade if they felt that railway rates or services were unreasonable, according to Wikipaedia.
That resulted in an influential group of traders coming together in July 1889 and creating an organisation called the Mansion House Association on Railway Rates. Amongst its first members were Mr J J Colman of Reckitt & Colman, and a Mr Thomas Blackwell of Crosse and Blackwell.
The arrival of the internal combustion engine led to the formation in 1904 of the Motor Van and Wagon Users’ Association, which changed its name to the Commercial Motor Users’ Union in 1907.
In 1921 the third and final segment of the FTA was formed – the Traders’ Co-ordinating Committee on Transport.
Over the years the work of the Mansion House Association expanded into more road orientated matters and in 1931 changing its name to the Mansion House Association on Transport.
In 1944 the Commercial Motor Users’ Association decided that each of its constituent sectors needed its own identity and was reformed into three organisations. The own-account sector became the Traders’ Road Transport Association.
In 1964 the Mansion House Association changed its name to the National Traders’ Traffic Association and finally, in 1969, the three groups – the Traders’ Road Transport Association, the Traders’ Traffic Association and the Traders’ Co-ordinating Committee – joined together to become the Freight Transport Association.
In 1979 the group was further strengthened when the British Shippers’ Council representing exporters and importers, became a part of Freight Transport Association.
In the mid 2000s the business abbreviated itself for publicity purposes to FTA and now it has changed again to Logistics UK from 27 July 2020.
