Another Angle on the Ideal Parcels Van
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BUILT to the requirements of one of the biggest parcels carriers in the London area, a Dennis Stork
)rotnises to be a great success. Its advent is of unusual interest in that it las provided an opportunity of comparing it with a hypothetical parcels van described in The Commercial Motor on January 15. Two weeks ago, N. Francis and Co., Ltd.. 5 Parkholme Road, London, E.8, put their first Dennis Stork into service. In some of its most important features it differs materially from the suggested design dealt with in this journal. For instance, the body and cab are built as a unit, a Luton head adding 100 cu. ft. of
valuable space to that of the normal body, which is of 630 Cu. ft. capacity.
Unless there are conditions which demand a separate form of construction, the operators prefer unit construction because extra space is obtained, together with an improvement in body lines. Space which would have been lost by carrying the entire floor above wheel height has been saved by dropping the floor slightly and building two shallow wheel-arches.
The tailboard is of such a size that it serves its designed purpose of spanning the narrow gap between the tail end of the body and the loading bay. A roller shutter is employed to cover the main part of the rear opening. No provision is made for side loading and unloading, but an improvement which has already suggested itself is to incorporate a sliding panel or door in the forward end of the body, so that the driver can gain access to part of the load from the driving compartment. A feature of the Stork chassis is the dropped frame, which ffords a low cab floor. Coupled with this, N. Francis and Co. specified a folding door on the near side, so that the driver, if he so
wishes, can leave the door open when making a delivery.
A normal type of door is fitted on the off side, but this need never be used, as the cab floor has no obstruction and it is easier to enter at the near side. Another point is that as the driver uses the near-side door, he is also able to take note of any form of obstruction, such as a bicycle which may have been parked close.
Nevertheless, the degree of visibility from the driver's seat is high and could scarcely be improved upon without dispensing with pillars altogether. Running across the cab behind the
front panel is a wide shelf, Drivers find this useful should they have to sort papers or make notes.
The body, which embraces the cab, was built by Metal Commercial Bodies, Ltd., Rayleigh, Essex. With the exception of the floor, which is of fin. tongued and grooved boards, the construction is all-metal.
For the body bearers, 3-in. by 1 fin. duralumin channel members are used. The weight of the body and cab is 15 cwt., the complete vehicle weighing just under 2i tons.