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Growing Traffic for Soft-drinks Fleet

22nd January 1960
Page 64
Page 65
Page 64, 22nd January 1960 — Growing Traffic for Soft-drinks Fleet
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

CONSUMPTION of soft drinks in this country last year, at over 330m. gallons, was nearly three times as much as 20 years earlier, and a large share of this growing market is taken by Corona and Tango brand products, made by Thomas and Evans, Ltd., of the Beecham Group. Their head office is at Porth, Glamorgan, the town in which the concern was started in a small way about

60 years ago. •

Today .there are another 48 bottling plants throughout Britain, 11 of which have been built since the War,• together with 63 distribution depots, and a fleet of more than 1,500 vehicles is employed to shift output at the rate of over 20,000 to.ii a week.

Drinks are distributed not only to retailers but also direct to more than lrri. housewives, and there is thus a bioad division of transport . activity. Where output has to be carried from bottling plants to distribution depots, 7-8-ton vehicles are employed and in total there are 62 of these, all but 11 being oilers.

Trailers at Four Depots .

An 8-tonner based at Bolton draws a 6-ton trailer. Four-ton trailers are drawn by five 8-ton prime movers based at Southampton, New Eltham and Norwich. There are no articulated vehicles. In a year these bulk-transport outfits average 25,000-30,000 miles per vehicle.

Final distribution from 112 depots and plants involves the use of 210 vehicles for consignments to retailers and 830 on domestic door-to-door work. Deliveries to retailers entail the working of rounds 200-250 miles long, with calls averaging approximately one per mile, and the vehicles cover up to 13,000 miles a year.

A vehicle on domestic work, however, may run only 80-175 miles per round, but serves 1,300 customers. Its annual mileage would be 6,500-9,000. Vehicles employed on both these kinds of route range from c26 battery-electrics on short-range deliveries to 25-35-ewt, lorries, with a number of 4-tonners for the longer journeys.

Spare vehicles and the.batterY electrics ,(of-Which there are 52) -have to be added to the figures for vehicles engaged on each class of final distribution work. Sixty-three fork-lift trucks are oh the fleet strength and in addition. there are 111

private cars and salesmen's vans, so that the aggregate is 1,544. Yet another company activity :is the brewing of malt vinegar, at Worcester and two 10-tonners are employed to deliver it. Each covers 10,000 miles a year.

The sales director commands the fleet, with the general transport manager responsible to him, Under this executive come three regional transport managers. The regions are broken down into 11 branches, at each of which there is a workshop.

These branches are given as follows, together. with the number of engineering staff employed at each: Finchley, 26 Birmingham, 15; Chaddcrton, 14; Leicester, 13; Porth. 13; Norwich, ICI; Plymouth, eight; Gloucester, six; Southampton, five; Cardiff, four; Reading, four.

These staffs undertake the maintenance of vehicles and minor repairs, and at some branches there are paintshops. In addition, plant-repair labour is employed at six establishments and heavy vehicleoverhaul work is done by them. These, again with personnel strengths, are: Porth, 22; Birmingham, nine; Finehley, seven; Bolton, five; Cambridge, three: Exeter, three. Moreover, the company build their own bodywork, this being done at Porth, where six bodybuilders and pine painters arc employed.

There is a Standard timber body design for each type of chassis (including models of Bedford, B.M.C. and Karrier manufacture) and body output is at the rate of four or five a week. Body life is reckoned to be the sante as chassis life, although bodies are repainted and•

varnished every three years. Transfers are used for signwriting.

The fleet maintenance system entails what is termed a P inspection every two months. This is a 64-point check. Each vehicle is road-tested and in the workshop is given a thorough examination. For example, a wheel and brake drum are removed so that the brake-facing Wear may be judged, and if necessary, the appropriate new parts are fitted. An interesting point is that the cab is cleaned to arrest corrosion.

Bulk-transport vehicles have their oil changed every 8,000 miles and delivery vehicles at 4,000-mile intervals. These intervals are rather higher than is usually the case, but were arrived at after extensive tests had been carried out over several years on engine lubrication.

The particular problem was the sludging of oil in multi-stop vehicles, the engines of which hardly ever ran really hot. S.A.E. 10 oils were tried, but in the end it was found best to specify a fully detergent Supplement 1 S.A.E. 20 lubri

cant, with the oil-change intervals as mentioned.

Decarbonizing is performed at intervals predetermined according to the type of engine and nature of a vehicle's work. Similarly, major overhauls are scheduled at mileages indicated by experience. Tyre wear is closely watched and comparisons are made between new covers and remoulds. The anticipated life of a tyre is assessed on the company's statistical experience with various makers' tyres over a period of many years.

Costing is not split so that a cost per mile and a cost per hour may be obtained. All costs are aggregated to give a mileage figure. They are collated under six headings; fuel and oil; tyres; running repairs; major repairs; painting; tax and insurance.


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