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Work Fis' 1 ehr reds ,
Several, weeks ago we were successful in being able to arrange with the manager of the motor department of Harrods, Ltd., of tirompton Road, for a "one day's work" to be carried out, on one of the motorva,ns belonging to this company and driven by a woman driver. As pressure of-business at that time was exceptional, the actual fixing of the day was left an open question. A few weeks elapsed and business 'pressure had somewhat subsided, so that we were able, •a Week or so ago, to make the final arrangements as to the date, time of starting, etc.,. for the day's peregrinations.
A Welcome Late Start.
We have been accustomed, on day journeys similar to the one we are about to describe, to arise from our beds in the "wee sma' " hours. To hear that the van, in this instance, was to commence loading at 9.30 a.m. came as a great surprise and a still greater relief to the writer. Of course, this hour of starting.was partly accountedfor by the fact that the machine was driven by a woman, and, as may be imagined, many of the vehicles driven by men in the employ of Harrods commence their working day at an earlier hour. In this instance the hour of starting was novel, likewise was a "one day's work" with a van driven by a member of the fair sex.
The Meteorological Conditions.
The early morning of the day chosen for us to accompany one of the vans was warm and bright, and a spotlessly-clear sky certainly gave rise to hopes of fine weather for our day's test. Our optimism was, however, short-lived. Black clouds gathered, which quickly but surely enveloped what had previously been an azure-blue sky, and a steady fall of rain turned our thoughts to rainproof coat and thick-soled shoes. We had been warned in time. We arrived at one of the garages at the back of Bromnton Road at the stated hour, and threading our way in and out of what appeared to be an endless stream of vehicles of various make-s and capacities which were in the loading bays, introduced ourselves to a representative of the company's motor department. We were transferred from this department to .anoth-ar, and eirentu ally found our way into the hands of Mr. A: Redgrave, who is the official responsible for the running of the company's fleet of vehicles. He informed us that the machine chosen for our purpose was number 404, an 18 ii.p. one-ton Overland, which +fad, up to date, covered 5658 miles, The Despatch Department.
We were taken down to the despatch department where a number of girls were employed in making out despatch sheets, and in allocating the various deliveries for the different districts served by the motorvans. From this department the various 'goods ai* taken by lift up to the loading baYs,'Where they are finally checked over. With the despatch sheets before being put into the vans.
' While the morning's deliveries Were being checked, we noticed that N.A.P. • Pneurrfatic4ube tires were fitted.on ail foar wheels of the van on whiCh We were to travel, 4;) that we took the -opportunity of carefully noticing:the behaviour Of these tires throughout the days run.
• The van was loaded with miscellaneous drapery goods, in varyingsized packages, most of which had been ordered the previous afternoon, and we were ready to start on our initial journey soon after 10 a.m. Although there was by no means a full load, we were informed that
a good morning's delivery was carried; this, as we found later, proved to be correct. The morn
lug's load, as we saw from the delivery sheets, consisted of 37 deliveries to be made, while six calls were detailed on a call sheet, which inferred that the driver had to call for goods which had been sent on approval, or else for articles, such as furs and other winter apparel, which were to be deposited at Harrods huge store rooms.
Our First Deliveries.
The van was backed out of a crowded garage, which served to display the driver's intelligent handling of the steering wheel, whilst the manceuvring capabilities of the van itself were also apparent. We were soon well away and turned into Knightsbridge, following behind lines of motorbus traffic. After a few minutes' run we made our first delivery at the French Embassy, where several small parcels of drapery were delivered. Further calls in Knightsbridge lightened the load, and after the last delivery had been made in this busy thoroughfare we wended our way through the morning's stream of traffic until we turned into Wilton Place, where several box and parcel deliveries were effected.
Scope for the Self-starter.
Many of the large mansions at which we called were separated by short distances, in some instances only a few yards, and owing to the fact that, in most cases, very little time was occupied in effecting deliveries, it was found unnecessary to stop the engine. We queried the driver the advisability from her point of view of fitting some satisfactory form of self-starter for the vans engaged upon this class of work, and we 'were informed that the company had one fit'.ed to an Overland van some months ago, but as it was found, after exhaustive ,trials, that the petrol con
A26 sumption was excessive, it had subsequently been discarded.
A Call for Stewpans. Wilton Crescent was our next ob
Belgrave Square' where a " call" resulted in the boy returning with a number of stewpans which were to be retinned. The boy, as a rule, made the deliveries, but very often two houses were visited quite close to each other, and in that case the driver herabli made one of the deliveries. This was the usual procedure, and, of course, saved a great deal of time.
A Word for the Tires.
By now the rain, which had been torrential at times, ceased, and a few minutes sunshine caused the roada to steam, whilst in many places a layer of top grease made the roads difficult to negotiate and called for skilful manipulation of the van on the part of the driver. While making deliveries in these squares, many awkward crossings are encountered which make it necessary for great care to be exercised, especially on a wet day, as the surfaces are. for the most part, asphalt, and fast-moving traffic coming in opposite directions seldom eases up." Although it was necessary to jam the brakes on hard once or twice, the van showed no tendency to skid, and the tires, which, as we have pointed out, were N.A.P., held the road well.
"Delivering the Goods."
It was surprising, while making our final deliveries for the morning, to notice the number of obviouslyconverted touring-car chassis on the road apparently busy "delivering the goods."
There was little of outstanding interest during the morning's work, and the van was back in the garage at 12.45. During the time we had been on the road, 43 calls in all had been made in about 150 minutes ; the number of stoppages accounting for only four miles being added to the figure on the dial of the mileage recorder which now stood at 5662.
Before leaving the garage to snatch a hurried lunch, we queried as to whether the class of deliveries 1,ve had so far made could not be carried out with equal facility and more economically by horsed vans. The response to this inquiry was in the negative. "You see, our informant replied, "the class of customer to which we deliver will not have a horsed van drawn up outside their houses ; they simply say it is not smart, and is very much behind the times, so that we are compelled to use the motorvans for door-to-door delivery in order to retain our extensive West-End business connection. Although it may be a little more expensive to operate the vans on short-distance delivery work, we certainly only hold the business by their use. The extra expense entailed, however, is not comparable with the amount of business retained."
"Mind Your Back, Please."
The luncheon interval was the next item on the day's programme. We were back in the garage by soon after 2 o'clock, and, although it was not raining then, the weather conditions were far from being ideal, a chilly south-west wind foreshadowing a showery afternoon. We were taken from this garage, which, as we were afterwards told, was for non-perishables only, to the bay for loading perishables, of which our afternoon's load was to consist. While waiting for the van to be loaded with the afternoon's deliveries, we were kept quite busy in trying to avoid the trolley-loads of goods which were being pushed about. The machine, in the meantime, had been loaded with fruit, vegetables, poultry and other edibles, and we were ready for the road againat 2.45, with the atmospheric conditions a little more pleasant, and the road surfaces
all kinds was made by the boy, who quickly returned with the emptied basket. a long and wide stretch of roadway, of which the driver took advantage, and we averaged for a considerable distance 25 m.p.h. We next tra,yelled along Pembroke Road, one of the worst surfaces we had, up till then, encountered. It consists of a series of deep pot-holes, whilst loose stones scattered here and there are not infrequent. The attention of the authorities might with advantage be drawn to the state of the road surface in this thoroughfare, which is used by all classes of traffic. In spite of the adverse conditions, the driver accelerated to a good speed, which gave us scope for expressing our views as to the adequate springing system provided.
Deliveries Large and Small.
A delivery consisting of a basket of raspberries was next made to a large house in Holland Villas Road, after which we proceeded to Ken, sington High Street and once again turned in with a seething mass of bus traffic. Argyll Road and Kensington Palace Gardens were then visited, and deliveries of perishable supplies, consistin% of such widely' differing commodities as broad beans and a substantial lump of ice, were made at several of the palatial residences in the lastnamed thoroughfare. Various other deliveries in Kensington exhausted the supplies we had aboard, and we returned to the garage at 4 p.m., the mileometer now reading 5671, so that the van had covered rime miles on the afternoon deliveries.
More Non-perishable Deliveries.
The rest of the day was occupied in making deliveries of non-perishables --'-in many cases goods which had been ordered that day—the van traversing almost the same route as had been , covered when engaged on the morning duties.' A Low Mileage.
These deliveries were made with almost monotonous regularity, devoid of all incident, the last call being effected well before 7 o'clock, so that the day's work for the van and ourselves was complete. The machine had totalled a mileage of 17 for the day's run, the nature of the deliveries accounting for such a low figure. The petrol consumption had been about a gallon and a half.
The Summing-Up.
The Overland ran throughout the whole day without a hitch under very trying weather conditions, and on both good and bad road surfaces. The flexibility of the engine was particularly noticeable, and it answered to the slightest touch of the accelerator pedal in good style, and the way in which it "picked up" on top speed was remarkable. The N.A.P. tires, of the behaviour of which we took careful note, performed well, and we can only call to mind one decided skid during the day, which could not altogether be attributed to the tires, and that was quickly and successfully checked by the driver. A word of praise should be said for the driver, Miss Cookson, who, the whole day long, handled and controlled the machine with considerable ease and intelligence, especially under traffic conditions. The large-sized steering wheel is undoubtedly helpful, whilst we were informed that the left-hand gear-changing levers are of considerable advantage. She did not take undue risks, but was sufficiently daring, now and again, to break a moncionously-regular day's work with a little exhibition of skilful work at the wheel.