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TM EM MEN NITN E!
Page 86
Page 87
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GREECE has been famous for its marble since ancient times, and today there is a thriving industry in limestone and white marble in the mountains behind Athens, in fact, not only is Greece the only country to quarry pure white marble, but it has many other minerals—as yet unquarried—which are not to be found anywhere else.
According to one source, the present regime intends to develop the quarrying and mining industries and thus bolster the economy. If this is the case, then no one will be happier than Mr John Chryssafis, in Athens, and Mr David Foden, at Sandbach.
Recently, Chryssafis SA, Trading, Technical and Industrial Co, of Athens, was appointed the Foden agent in Greece, my assessment of this move being that a better choice could not have been made. For John Chryssafis is an engineer with a background in eartlunoving, construction and agriculture, and more than a passing interest in the quarries of Greece.
Fodens are already operating on internal work at limestone quarries overlooking the Aegean Sea. In this type of operation they are not subjected to the same road tax as vehicles used on the highways of Greece and, in many respects, this has opened the door to Fodens Ltd in this new and expanding market. The heavy taxation which would be imposed on the vehicles if used on general haulage would present an insurmountable obstacle to the agent. The tax is related to gross vehicle weight and not to carrying capacity, and the heavy structure of the Foden would put it in the high tax bracket, and possibly price it out of the market.
John Chryssafis is at the moment trying to convince the Greek Ministry of Transport that the Foden's sturdy construction contributes to its safety in operation and that those who use these vehicles are purchasing safety at the expense of payload. If he is successful in his arguments, then we can expect to see Fodens operating on the public highways of Greece almost as soon as the law is amended. "If they prove themselves in the quarries, they will soon be accepted by road operators," says the agent.
This man does not let the grass grow under his feet. Following negotiations at the end of 1969, he placed orders for his first five machines in November and December and they were delivered in January and February 1970. There are two 20.5 cu. yd. 40-ton gvw dumpers fitted with Cummins 220 bhp engines and three 13.5 cu. yd. 24-ton gvw dumpers fitted with Gardner 150 bhp engines.
All vehicles have 12-speed boxes, double-drive and double-reduction rear axles and power steering.
Selling point The vehicles, operated at two limestone quarries are each replacing six conventional tippers. This is another selling point; limestone is a low-priced commodity and handling charges have to be kept to a minimum.
Fodens got in early because only now are the Greeks thinking of large-capacity vehicles and the situation has been forced upon them by sheer economics. The quarry-masters purchased If Cu. yd. and 2 cu. yd. loading shovels which fed the internal tipping vehicles at such a speed that the shovels stood idle for long periods each day—and the Greeks know that idle plant costs money. At the same time, the lighter tipping bodies suffered extensive damage when 2 tons of limestone were dropped on already tired chassis and springs.
The 40-ton Fodens are moving 2,500 tons of limestone each vehicle each day, to the great delight of quarrymen: The material is fed into a crusher and then graded into hoppers hundreds of feet below
the working face. It is used by the road and building construction industries and carried away in 5-ton tippers which are operated by the construction men or owner-drivers.
On March 30 this year, I watched dozens of these tipper drivers "hiding" in lanes leading from the quarry, waiting until the police, who were checking some of their colleagues, had departed. Grecian tipping operators are just as inclined to overload as many other owner-drivers nearer home and the vehicles that I saw were, I was told, carrying at least 25 per cent more than their permitted weight.
It is for this reason that Mr Chryssafis feels confident that he can persuade the Ministry of Transport to re-think their taxation policy and, at the same time, convince the owner-driver that the Foden will give him a better return on his capital.
Fodens' agent is a very persuasive man. Already he has brought five of his potential customers to Britain to see the product under construction. The next step is to show the rest of his potential customers how satisfactorily the Fodens perform in tough operating conditions.
Just as the quarrymen were almost compelled to buy bigger vehicles to cope with their bigger loading equipment, so it seems will the operators have to buy larger vehicles to transport the crushed limestone from the hoppers. It would appear that if the haulage contractors or the building contractors are unwilling to employ the vehicles, then the quarrymasters may have to step in and offer the product at a delivered price. There is an insatiable demand for the limestone and unlimited supplies----but there is not unlimited hopper space. Limestone is now being produced in such quantity that bigger vehicles are required to meet the need and Fodens are already there.
One of the most formidable obstacles facing Mr Chryssafis is the price of the Foden compared with other makes of lighter vehicles. "Greek customers will require to be educated," he says, not only meaning as regards price but also in the use of six-wheelers which are only now appearing in Greece. He can, however, talk costs and he intends to show how the depreciation of the Foden can be projected over a much longer period than is the present practice in Greece. He will use as a supporting argument its powerful construction but he pointed out that the experience of his present customers will be the rock on which he will build or perish.
He has already laid in sufficient spare parts to ensure that even the most exceptional requirements are met off the shelf and, furthermore, he has the assurance from Fodens that he will be backed up by a 100 per cent after-sales service. His company has a service engineer looking after the quarrying equipment which is already in service and this man is keeping an eagle eye on the British dumpers.
There is a requirement on importers of vehicles to use locally produced ancillary equipment where it is suitable and available. In this connection, the Foden chassis cab is fitted with a locally constructed body identical to that fitted in this country. However, the Greek-made tipping gears are much too light to cope with the arduous conditions and so the chassis /cabs are supplied with Edbro tipping gear.
Contrary to what we have come to expect of the public works contracting industry in this country, I was told that there is a high standard of maintenance among Greek builders—another factor likely to favour the Fodens.
After the dumpers and the subsequent introduction of high-capacity tippers to deliver the limestone for road bottoming, it seems natural that the Grecian highways will be ready to take heavier general haulage vehicles. "It is in the economic interest .of Greece to construct roads to take heavier loads," says John Chryssafis. So the Fodens may well be used to carry the material to make the roads which one day will carry other British heavies.