The Customer is Sometimes Right
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I N his letter of March 27, Eric Cant makes it quite clear that his sole interest in retaining the 20 m.p.h. speed limit is that of the driver and as to how it will affect him. Is not this a selfish attitude when one must
.realize that from all quarters. the balance must be in favour of the abolition of this speed limit? For 25 years I have controlled the operation of transport both commercially and industrially and "I do not think that during the whole of this period it could be said that I did not have the driver's interest at heart, but on this very important issue there is something more to he considered. Let us take the customer angle, which in any transport organization, whether commercial or industrial, is of the greatest importance.
We might think, from Mr. Cant's expoundings, that if the 20 m.p.h. limit was abolished the driver would automatically lose money and that there is no solution which would enable the operator to overcome such a difficulty. He is quite wrong; what it means is this, that between points A and B the time taken will be reduced, in some cases considerably, and the driver will then be able to perform other duties and thus offset any loss occasioned by the reduction in these times.
Are we to understand that Mr. Cant thinks in terms of the 15-tonner or multi-wheeler as being the only vehicles subjected to this limit? If so, I would remind him that almost every vehicle with a carrying capacity of 7 tons or over is also subjected to it.
He goes on to remind Mr. Dunbar that in many parts these vehicles can be found crawling uphill at 6-10 m.p.h., but I think he is exaggerating when he says " many." This does not even apply north of the border. If he is fully aware of drivers' habits, then I suggest that he is incorrect in saying that the men who rush a journey and then while away time are in the minority.
I have had experience during the past two years of an allotted 10-hour journey (although completed within this period) involving something like three hours' wasted time. Mr. Cant may not be aware that for a 20-m.p.h.
vehicle B.R.S. agreed with the Union an average of 16.3 m.p.h., and on the particular journey to which I refer this involved approximately 158 miles. For him to suggest that Sunday work was not sought after by the men is far removed from fact. As in the majority of industries where the basic week is 44 hours, I know of few refusals of an opportunity of such work. Nobody wants to see a return to day and night working, but 1 still say that in transport or any other industry one expects value for money.
The driver is the man who can make or break the organization, and I am sure that he would be the first person to realize that customers' wishes must be respected, and it is only the efficient and prompt execution of these that brings him his livelihood.
Maidenhead. G. BOTTOMLEY.
Low-bridge v. High-bridge
Buses
vouu correspondent G. A. Hamill, writing in your 1 issue dated March 27, makes out as good a case as possible for the low-bridge type of double-decker. Hailing from the same part of the world as he does and served by the same bus company, 1 am interested but not convinced.
Less space and more, stuffiness on this type are serious considerations on a two-hour journey. I find the narrow side gangway less comfortable for movement and I have collected quite a few shoulder bruises in these vehicles. The high-bridge type, with handgrips on the seat backs or, better still, well-spaced pillars, seems to me to be decidedly better. The point concerning the convenience of the conductor will not bear examination; it is at least as easy to brace one's shoulder or haunch against a seat back as it is to lean against a wall and I have never yet met a conductor with experience of both types of vehicle, who did not complain of the difficulty in the low-bridge model of having to reach across three passengers to hand ticket and change to the fourth.
Apart from this, the central gangway is found in all single-deckers and often oil the lower deck of the lowbridge double-deckers, so that the conductor of the latter has to adjust himself to two systems in the one vehicle.
It seems, however, that the great advantage of the high-bridge bus is the good visibility from the upper deck. Before the Western S.M.T. took over in this area, Messrs. Young, of Paisley, always refused to standardize on low-bridge types throughout their fleet, although certain local services demanded their use. They did this for the simple reason that the high vehicles gave full value to their passengers of the remarkably beautiful route from Glasgow to Largs, via Paisley.
Paisley. (Rev.) C. I. G. Stoma.
New Emergency Braking
YOUR leader " Braking Heavy Vehicles," published I in your issue dated April 17, dealt with the question of providing emergency brakes for use when the normal braking becomes ineffective, as appears to have been the case in the accident at Lambourn. Accidents of this nature in the past may, however, help to form an opinion as to the cause of loss of control. •
In a recent bus accident in Liverpool, a front tyre burst and in my view that accident would have been less serious had the vehicle been equipped with an automatic emergency brake which could have retarded the vehicle while the driver tried to control the steering.
The engaging of lower gears before descending steep hills is the general practice and the value of the power absorption of the engine cannot be over-estimated as an aid to braking, particularly on heavies. If, however, the changing to a lower gear is left until the vehicle has started to descend the hill, the operation may become difficult and possibly dangerous. ft might be better to leave the gear in top and use the brakes.
I suggest a transmission brake, power assisted, electrically operated and controlled through the medium of a sealed switch, the sealing acting as a warning against its uses other than in an emergency, but anything short 01 almost instantaneous application would be useless. There is, however, a snag to overcome, and it may come as a surprise to many in the industry. it seems that the present Minister of Transport does not encourage the employment of emergency brakes of the automatic type. I have spent some time trying to get him to understand the problems of the heavy-vehicle driver and in recent months have offered to put at his disposal, for test purposes, a 2-ton lorry fitted with an automatic brake control which, at the time of offering the vehicle, had been under experimental tests for over six months. and at the time of writing, has been in constant use for more than a year.
The device is designed to reduce driving fatigue, minimize the human factor and speed up brake application in an emergency without interfering with the normal control. It is electrically operated and controlled, the energy required being only 2 amp. at 6 volt. jt can be put in or out of service through the medium of a switch on the dash.
The device eliminates the split-second loss during movement of the foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal. It is coupled to the foot brake and becomes operative when pressure is released from the accelerator. A neutral section is provided in the accelerator travel before the throttle begins to open and it is in this section that the automatic brake control is operative. Thus. on pressing the accelerator the brake is released and it is Unnecessary to use the hand brake in dense traffic unless the road gradient is steeper than 1 in 26. In that case the hand brake would be used only to prevent roil-back when starting. • If a gear were missed when changing down, the vehicle would come to a halt, and making a change on a decline can be done more easily and more rapidly than without the control in action.
Scarborough. R. COATEs.
Disappointed Technician
vouR leading article "Service Before Sales," in your I issue dated March 27, interested me. During the past three or four months I have written to several manufacturers in the motor industry, including one making brakes and clutches, for a vacancy of the type you describe. The replies I have received may best be written as "Not Wanted." I had a technical school secondary education, studied up to inter-B.Sc. standard and am now working for associate membership of the Institute of the Motor Industry. For the past four years my spare time has been spent in a garage maintaining a fleet of ambulances and cars. I have also worked for five years in a liboratory associated with aircraft engines and another five years with textile pilot plants in which I am still occupied.
My decision to take up automobile work was the result of an interest covering several years, but I am beginning to wonder whether I was right. At the age of 28 such a decision does not seem to be welcome.
Coventry. R. A. JOHNSON.
Standardize Light Code
THE " flash " question is apparently a very debatable
one and in these days of increasing heavy goods trailic I think that there should be a general survey of the subject so that a headlight code which is acceptable to all could be laid down.
In every periodical and paper we read about road safety and yet there is this doubt as to the exact meaning of the flashing headlight. Any doubt on this matter might lead to disastrous results. I suggest, therefore, that The Commercial Motor should issue a questionnaire and formulate from the answers a code which could be made available to operators for issue to their drivers. After all, when a driving licence is first applied for a copy of the Highway Code is included and when renewing a current licence applicants have to sign to the effect
• that they have read the Code. B6 I would like to hear more views from other drivers and the transport companies employing them on this suggested step to increase road safety and to clear up any misunderstanding between those who drive by night.
*London, S.E.13. W. BLOOMFIELD.
[The Commercial Motor has had this idea in mind for some time but considers that such a light code should receive official sanction and acknowledgment, together with the blessing 'of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, before -encouraging its employment by all drivers. At the same time it is realized that variations of the signals in different parts of the country may tend to add to, rather than reduce, the dangers of the road.—ED.1 THE " flashing-headlights " signal is quite definitely I used both for "coming through" and "giving way.". The primary purpose of the signal being to attract the attention of the other driver so that he will concentrate on your vehicle and note the course of action you intend to take.
Everyone, while driving, must take a general view of traffic, etc. When headlights are used in daytime it undoubtedly attracts the necessary attention.
Paisley. J. CONNELL.
Cheap or De Luxe Travel ?
I RECENTLY read in a transport journal a letter from a correspondent who said that the average passenger is not concerned whether the engine of a bus has four, five or six cylinders, is-two-stroke or four-stroke, has normal aspiration or is supercharged, and is horizontal or vertical. He added that designers should forget what he called "their pet theories" on the economy of present-day bus operation, and design service buses which would give greater passenger comfort.
It occurs to me that if this were done and heavier and more luxurious vehicles with engines having such features as pilot injection were employed on urban services, the consumption of fuel and lubricating oil would increase, greater wear would be imposed on brakes and transmission, and tyre life would be shortened. The initial cost would also be higher. All these would raise operating costs and would demand an increase in fares, so that in the end the passenger would have to pay.
Reverting to the question of signalling by flash, the practice in Ayrshire and the West of Scotland is that when a driver flashes his headlights he is giving way.
Dairy. Ayrshire. G. A. HAMILL.
Brake Low-pressure Warning Device
WE have noted recently in various trade journals references to the Bosch pressure warning indicator, which is designed to make the driver aware of any serious fall in available pressure in the braking system.
You will doubtless be interested to know that this is no new idea, and that the Clayton Dewandre Co., Ltd., have, in fact, for many years been manufacturing a lowpressure warning signal for the driver, The Clayton Dewandre unit consists of a red signal arm with the cut-out word " STOP." It operates with a small pneumatic cylinder working against a spring and pulls the indicator arm down and out of sight when the working pressure in the reservoir is restored.
A further feature of our design is that the unit can be supplied with electric contacts to operate an audible
buzzer in the driver's cab. J. A. WALKER,
Lincoln. Clayton Dewandre Co., Ltd. •