New option for operators
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Within a few years operators of heavy trucks will have not only a choice of makes and configurations of vehicle but a new choice between fundamentally different types: between the diesel and the gas turbine. Both British Leyland and US Ford have announced their firm intention of producing turbine trucks around 1970; of course, there may be a dark horse among the world's other major manufacturers—virtually all of whom are working on turbine development— but 1970 seems the earliest date for real turbine hardware on the market. By then, operators will need to have assessed the potential of these first-generation truck turbine power plants.
In general terms the potential is already known—smooth, smoke-free power, competitive fuel consumption on long hauls, rather poorer mpg than the diesel on round-the-houses operations, lower maintenance costs. Unknown quantities are first cost and length of life, though encouraging forecasts have been made on both these factors.
But after the first generation—what then? As Leyland technicians make clear in this issue, the pace of progress on turbines, as on any such developments, depends largely on the amount of money devoted to the work. And the promise is of developments which would open new fields for turbine power on the roads. Early road turbines may nibble at the long-distance coach market. But the better-than-diesel part-load economy promised by such second-generation engines as the three-shaft turbine, coupled with the g.t.'s basic smoothness and high get-away torque would make it a "natural" for bus and coach alike, perhaps giving the public-service vehicle an entirely new attraction.
Not that the diesel will be swept away. For many, many years it will be the mainstay of commercial vehicle operation. But to have a new option is an exciting prospect for road transport engineers.
Glow-worms
Since January 1 it has been a legal obligation for most vehicles to show two headlamps on unlit roads during darkness, and two headlamps or one foglamp in fog. But during the dreary BST go-to-work darkness and on recent foggy days the "sidelights-only" brigade (lorry drivers included) has been as prolific as ever.
In anything thicker than a mist, the bulk of an oncoming vehicle is seen before the sidelights, which are of little use. Let's have a bit more light, please; you don't have to put a coin in the meter for it.
Ambitious project
The success of the detailed plan for comprehensive road haulage terminals in container-port areas, reported this week, depends upon financial backing being forthcoming. We believe that operators will hope fervently for its success. Certainly it may at first sight appear over ambitious; but surely this sort of facility is precisely what tomorrow's more professional, more demanding road transport will need. And existing providers of service have little to fear; there is room for plenty more service (with a capital S) before any pinch is felt.