1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
A Threefold Task Meat Transport
Page 68
Page 69
Page 70
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
S-MITHFIELD MARKET, sprawled beneath the walls of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in the City of London, is the centre of the nation's meatdistribution system, as well as being the central meat market of the metropolis. Through its chill portals vast tonnages of home-killed and imported meat pass each day, the majority of it handled by road transport.
The largest of the privately owned haulage companies engaged in this specialized traffic are the Union Cartage Co., Ltd., .22 West Smithfield. Associates of the Vestey Group, the company have been engaged in the business for more than 50 years and have grown from a fleet of 100 horses and 60 men to one of nearly 180 prime movers, with a trailer fleet to match, and a staff of about 300.
Union Cartage are concerned primarily with moving imports of Argentine and other imported meat from London's docks to Smithfield and the other meat markets throughout the country. Most of this meat is deep-frozen. the rest chilled, but in both cases insulated or refrigerated bodywork is used. •
Meat importation is, perhaps, less subject to seasonal fluctuations than many businesses, because .demand is fairly constant. From' time to tine. however. there' may The scene at Bow Common Lane, where containers from the doiks are transferred to the long distance vehicles. The Dodge illustrated supplements the London fleet of Seammells and Union
tractors. be a glut of a particular variety and, equally, demand on a national scale may fall for particular products, as, for example, pork in summer. 'Co Meet this situation, the riverside cold stores provide ample accommodation. .
Meat hauliers, therefore, have a threefold task they must supply the local market, the provincial markets and the cold stores. Union Cartage carry out all these duties with transport appropriate to the job. Moreover, some degree of specialization has been introduced in the function of their depots. Vehicles used in the docks and for hauling loads to Smithfield are 'garaged and maintained separately from those engaged solely. in long-distance I' anning..
running within a radius of about 50 miles, are based. on the East End depot at 3 Bow Common Lane, E.3. Those working farther afield operate from large premises at 115 Lambeth Road, SE. 1.
The meat trade is such that ships are continually unloading and the market is supplied by a shuttle service of vehicles running to and from the docks. For this work, Union Cartage use 30 elderly heavy tractors of their own design and powered by Gardner oil engines. These are supplemented by nine . " big " Scammells, half-a-dozen 6-ton Scarnmel 1 mechanical horses, and rive Dodge with Leyland Comet engines. All these vehicles have proved their worth in the restricted streets and wharves of dockland.
Loading and unloading are carried out entirely by hand by experienced, teams of porters. Most meat is stacked on the floor, some on .roof-suspended hooks. Such dignified methods as the tailboard, loader and the fork truck are anathema to meat men, for speed is of the essence. in fact, a;_gang of six men can load an 8-ton lorry by hand in 10 minutes it the meat is available off the trolleys. Delays in turnround on the wharf do occur, largely on account of "circumstances beyond the 'control of the hauliers. Valuable hours can be lost, for example, while waiting for a meat train to be made up and loaded, so that it can be shunted at the Bricklayers' Arms and leave for the provinces on time.
Consignments destined for long-distance hauls are taken from the docks to the company's depot at Bow Common Lane for transfer to the long-distance fleet in the container in which it was originally loaded. The vehicles used are 71 E.R.F., of which 39 are 6-ton rigids, 18 carry 6 tons on the vehicle and 4 tons on a trailer, 10 are 71-tonners and four are 10-ton six-wheelers. In addition, there are 24 Bedford and 37 B.M.C. 5-tormers, used for middle-distance hauls up to about 150 miles. The Black Prince Road depot holds 18 trailers of 4-ton capacity and there are 31 more at Bow Common Lane, in addition to 140 between 4 and 10 tons, used locally.
The trailers used throughout the fleet are almost entirely built by Cranes. All the Union Cartage containers are built at Sancroft Street, S.E.11, and reach high standards of insulation efficiency. The insulant currently in use is expanded polystyrene of 4-in. thickness.
The company are very much abreast of developments in refrigerated bodybuilding: they are fully aware that their vehicles are ideally suited for frozen return loads. Already they carry large quantities of ice-cream for Eldorado and Lyons and Fropax frozen foods, all of which commodities demand 0° F.
A major problem constantly with the operator of insulated and refrigerated transport is that of condensation. Even when hold-over plates are employed, drops of mois•are occurring in defrosting can stain meat. It would appear that the only satisfactory solution lies in the realm of built-in refrigera tion plant and Union Cartage are installing ThermoKing units on au experimental'haSIS.
Six nights a week, the company fun :ft
trunk , service between London
and LiverPooll's meat market, while the rest of the longdistance fleet is deployed all-over the country. Most of these vehicles are eur-rently _coveting about .35,000 miles a year. Those engaged in the London area average 20,000 miles annually, and the mechanical _horses account for a further 6,000 miles each.
So far as maintenance is concerned, the system in use is a combination of the time and distance methods. The local fleet, based on Bow Common Lane, and the longdistance vehicles, operating from Black Prince Road, are called in at 2,000-mile _intervals for greasing and an oilchanging service at their respective depots. In addition. they are taken off the road every two months for one day (or night), for a meticulous inspection covering chassis, engine and body.
Mr. A. Dack, engineer in charge of the fleet, like other operators, has found that modern engines, running on modern lubricants, need far less frequent attention than their predecessors. Tyre life, too, appears to be steadily improving.
Repairs, as distinct from routine maintenance, are car' ried out in the Lambeth Road garage. Here, facilities are available for all tasks, including major docks. The mileages at which these arc carried out differ with the type of vehicle, but can be said to occur between 120,000 and (75,000 miles. Full advantage is taken of manufacturers' engine replacement schemes. A driver's defect report is followed by the immediate withdrawal of the vehicle from . service and the aim is to have the work completed within 24 hours.
In the engineer's office complete records are maintained for every vehicle, with particular reference to work done. tyres fitted, fuel and mileage. The mileage history of each is entered at frequent intervals on a large blackboard, so that workshop space can be allocated well ahead and the vehicle called in only when facilities are available to complete the service necessary without delay. The green vehicles of Union Cartage preserve a certain dignified anonymity, for, although in many cases they carry advertising posters on their. sides, few bear the name of the company. All are operated under A licences.
Although outward loads of meat from the, docks and cold stores are in steady, demand, delivery would be an expensive item were it not for. the 'possibility of return loads. Mr. Henning and bis staff are very conscious of the competition from nationalized transport, both road and rail, and in the face of fresh wages demands, successful working depends to a large extent on efficient and economic handling on journeys both inwards and outwards