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DAILY INSPECTION

10th February 1931, Page 122
10th February 1931
Page 122
Page 123
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Page 122, 10th February 1931 — DAILY INSPECTION
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KEY TO SUCCESS

ACOACH or bus stranded by the roadside is becoming almost as rare a sight as the proverbial dead donkey ; this is in part due to the great improvement in design and in the quality of materials employed in modern passenger-vehicle construction. Much of the credit must attach, however, to better maintenance methods ; of these no factor is more vital than that of daily inspection.

Amongst the large bus-operating concerns in this country very few have a wider experience or obtain better results than the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd., Tramways Centre, Bristol. Its maintenance methods are thorough in every detail and the results of the system are revealed by the fact that the number of bus-miles covered for each involuntary, stop incurred is extraordinarily high.

In this article it is not our purpose to deal with that side of the organization which caters for overhaul and repair work ; this is a separate aspect of the question and was dealt with in our issue dated January 7th, 1930. For the present we will concern ourselves with the daily inspection and routine maintenance work which is thoroughly planned.

The depot of the concern• with which we deal in these pages is situated at D52 Lawrence Hill, Bristol ; it caters for 190 service buses and during the summer months 121 coaches as well. The chassis are, of course, all of Bristol make and are of four types, namely, the 2-ton. 4-ton, light passenger and heavy passenger ; all the bodies are singledeckers, ranging from 20-seaters to 32seaters. On the average each vehicle covers about 135 miles per day.

One of the underlying principles of the system is that one man shall perform one task and be definitely responsible for it. He thereby becomes proficient, works more expeditiously, and can be supervised more easily. It amounts to applying flow production methods to vehicleinspection duties. To balance staff arrangements, so far as possible, those who grease and inspect the coaches in the summer turn to their overhaul in the winter.

Naturally, with a fleet of the size in question there are many routine duties which have to be carried out by relief men, owing to the need for working a seven-day week. Each man works five consecutive days and then has a full day off. In addition, the spare personnel safeguards against labour shortage due to illness. On bus work skimping a task is unthinkable, and it is necessary to avoid. the possibility Of any man being able to plead ignorance of his task. To this end a system of duty cards is in vogue. This consists of the use of typed instruction sheets fixed into stiff folders; each is numbered in accordance with a specified duty. The 'departmental rota shows the names of the men, which are their days on or off duty, and which particular duty number they,assume on (3) In the tyre shop; 250.-lb. compressor outfit and a section of the wheel store. any specified day. It is impossible to overlook the execution of an allotted task, for every man has to enter upon his work sheet the numbers of the vehicles upon which he carries out his jobs ; this sheet is signed so that responsibility can be fixed. It has been found that writing down the bus numbers has an effect upon the men of ensuring accuracy. The use of a sheet with the numbers typed on it has been found to be conducive to scamping.

The duty-card s y a t e m eliminates overlapping, instructs new men, has a good moral effect and prevents the plea of ignorance. In the case a tasks which are performed at intervals it ensures the execution of duties upon the correct days.

A point of importance is that every particular task has been timed so that each 'man has under his care no more work than he can reasonably perform in the time at his disposal. Except in 1111forseen circumstances the jobs will be carried through with certainty, therefore the traffic department can count upon their requirements being met promptly—a vital matter in service-bus operation.

With regard to the frequency of operations, attention is first of all paid to safety. Brakes and steering being components more hound up with tfiis matter than any others, the night staff inseects the brake gear and steering mechanism, together with the connections, every night. The engine-oil level is checked nightly, but cylinder holdingdown nuts are inspected weekly ; these instances just show what is the basis of working. Every detail of the chassis is dealt with in the light of

experience of the particular vehicles— the Bristol concern is in the advantageous position of making the vehicles it operates, Turning now to the routine followed at the end of a day's work on the road, the bus is driven into one of five parallel filling bays and its fuel tank replenished. The quantity required is booked down; an excessive rate of use can be detected by the foreman and reported to the inspection staff. From the petrol pumps the runways to the washes slope gradually, so that the vehicles can be run down by gravity, thus avoiding the need for constant engine starting or waste running when the washes are full.

There are five needle-bath installa tions for thc buses after they leave the filling bays. As the washing is completed the night shunters take over the vehicles and drive them away to their running sheds. Those vehicles which come in late are kept for " late-out " duty next day, thus giving the night staff time to work upon them. Each bus is garaged in the bay allotted to the service upon which it will be engaged next day. The night foreman keeps up to date a board in the traffic office ; this shows the bus numbers assigned to any particular route; so that drivers coming on duty take the proper vehicles ; this prevents a man taking over an unprepared bus.

To ensure that the night staff know at what hour the vehicles will be wanted, there is a small blackboard in each bay. On this is chalked the numbers of the machines concerned with the particular route and the times at which they are due to leave. A quarter of an hour before the specified times the vehicles must be reported its ready or not ready, so that loss of time can bb avoided.

By checking the men's sheets against the numbers of the buses in the sheds it can be seen that all machines have received their proper attention. Further, any complaints made by the drivers must be investigated.

All documents connected with maintenance are duly filed so that it is possible to trace the history of -a defect or to allocate responsibility where necessary. This also facilitates " inquests " upon breakdowns.

All inspection and lubrication work is carried out in the running sheds into which the vehicles have been driven at

the close of their duty. Each examiner has a four-wheeled trolley which carries his box of hand tools and a supply of spare parts ; this supply is made up to a required standard daily and parts used are booked against the chassis concerned.

On each trolley are a battery and a portable lamp for inspection work ; the men are, therefore, independent-of wall plugs and lengths of flex about the floor are not necessary.

Those responsible for battery inspection make use of a trolley which has a turntable top ; the batteries are pulled out on to the turntable and can thenbe swung around to the most suitable angle for gaining access to the cells.

Lubrication is carried out by a group of men equipped with special devices. For replenishing engine sumps a wheeled tank is used ; it has a measuring pump and a special long nozzle which enters the crankcase filler direct, so that there is no need for a messy

funnel. Oil can only flow when a handle is depressed. SO that waste is eliminated. The oil is never exposed to the atmosphere so that the risk of grit getting into the engine is abolished.

Another special idea consists of a wheeled grease-gun for replenishing hulas, etc.; whilst it enables a high pressure to be obtained its capacity is the main thing. The need for constant trips to refill is removed.

So far as possible lubrication duties are grouped so that there is a minimum of time spent in reaching the job; fir

example, all grease points underneath the chassis are tackled by one man. The use of an ingenious "crawler board" saves rrinch time. This consists of a board large enough to lie down upon ; its two wheels are so placed that the operator can move it about by leg action, after altering his balance. When the major portion of the weight rests upon the longer portion of the board the contact with the floor gives a good grip so that the mechanic or greaser can exert a considerable amount of force upon his job. Another advantage of a device of this nature is that the clothes of the operator are not nearly

so liable to become soiled by oil or dirt on the floor.

Tyre upkeep is handled by a special section ; all tyre maintenance is done by

the Bristol concern. Pressures are checked every sixth day and the tightness of wheel-securing nuts every other night. If a tyre be only 7 per cent., or less, below the ,required pressure it is inflated by the portable compressor set. Should the loss exceed that figure the wheel is changed and the tyre examined. The compressor fills its reservoir to 250 lb. per sq. in., so that it can "top up" many tyres without stopping for recharging ; thus time is saved.

It is the practice of the concern to keep new tyres for the front wheels, fair ones for the outer wheels of the twin sets, and others for the iireer.

This arrangement, it is claimed, minimizes the tendency to puncture and equalizes the wear upon the rear pairs of tyres owing to the Eamber of the roads.

The foregoing remarks apply with equal force to the other depots of the company ; these handle from five to 58 buses each, and are situated at Avonmouth, Swindon, Weston-superMare, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Highbridge, Wells and Coleforcl.

Tags

Organisations: Tramways Centre
People: Lawrence Hill
Locations: Bristol, Gloucester

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