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Consultations with the drivers
Page 76
Page 77
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Noel Millier takes a driver round the new buses
Reaction to the first NEC • Show from passenger operators has been generally favourable. However, both manufacturers and bodybuilders are predictably dismayed by the way many of the psv stands are scattered throughout the Show.
Leyland Vehicles have their buses clustered in one area, Hestair Dennis and MetroCammell Weymann are isolated on opposite ends of the other side of the hall, while the Bedford JJL and Volvo B58 coaches are isolated pockets of psv in.terest.
Alexander, Plaxton, Asco, Northern Counties, Van Hool and Moseley Continental fare better, as they have their stands together at the far end of the coachbuilders' hall. The Tricentrol Group, too, has a corner for its products, which are strategically placed at the corner of this building.
The Show has proved an immediate draw for children to climb all over exhibits with their badges and many leaflets, and the mixture of casual visitors and serious businessmen may not necessarily justify the expense of exhibiting. However, the passenger industry has here a golden opportunity to portray its development and its hardware in a way that could attract more favourable public reaction to both buses and coaches.
Coach operators I have spoken to from both home and abroad have missed particularly the presence of well-known body manufacturers such as Duple from the Show, and while many are not carrying out actual transactions here, they are using the exhibition to help them make up their minds.
They, like some of the exhibitors, have complained of the lack of vehicle demonstration facilities, which is another deterrent to actually doing any business, though many manufacturers have strategically placed vehicles at hotel car parks in the vicinity.
The overall reaction to the Show is one of enthusiasm, and while I have heard it suggested that a small passenger-only Show would help the psv industry, the NEC has presented all sides of the cv industry with its best public platform ever. Having cars at the Show attracts motorists who never look closely at buses and coaches and who may take this opportunity to find out what an attractive alternative they can provide.
To get a relevant but often neglected or underrated point of view on new psvs in Britain, I discussed and inspected many of the exhibits at the Commercial Motor Show with Peter Kilduff, twice winner of the Road Transport Industry Training Board Bus Driver of the Year competition. Peter works for National B Co. subsidiary City of Oxfo Motor Services and is a full-tir driver of both coaches and sta carriage buses.
The first stand we visited the show was that of Leyla' Vehicles. Peter was impressl by the latest version of the LE land National and general liked the cab layout. He notice however, that the brake pec was close to the steering colun and his foot fouled the colun
hen he used the brake.
He also criticised the driver's ot which was covered by a pvc aterial and caused problems the driver, particularly King hot weather. He also xticed that the destination ind winding gear was vkward to change. He praised e all-round visibility and the an lines of the National.
The Titan double-decker also 'pressed the Bus Driver of the mr. He liked both the appeance of the bus and the interior yout but he did find that his iticism of the Leyland National b also applied to the Titan.
On the Greater Manchester ansport Titan Peter felt that e interior lights could be an sy target for vandals, particu-ly as the vehicle was to be le-man operated. In his view e interior mirror did not give 1equate view through the rest:ted lower deck rear window of e bus.
Leyland's two older generain buses met with approval on e whole, although Peter found me Iong-standing criticisms of ch. He felt that the door ndows of the South Yorkshire issenger Executive's Roeidied bus could cause proems because of blind spots id driver visibility.
He also found that the dip switch mounted on the steering column of Bristol VRT could prove hazardous to the driver's kneecap in the case of an emergency. He told me that the switch on similar buses he drove had been changed by his employer at the request of the driving staff.