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• Mixed fleet is utility's answer
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Page 89
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THE SOUTH Eastern Electricity , Board has over 11/2m consumers in an area embracing the counties of Sussex, Surrey and Kent.
Mobility of the board engineers and staff is of prime importance. The eleCtricity supply must be maintained 24 hours a day and provision made for future demand by laying new cables and installing distribution equipment — sometimes in inaccessible areas. To meet 'these criteria and many more, the board operates a mixed fleet of some 2,000 commercial vehicles and 200 cars ranging from 24-ton-gvw Seddon Atkinsons to minivans and Rover 3.5-litres to Maxis.
The board's service area has been divided into 14 administrative districts, each with its own manager who has responsibility for an average of 100,000 consumers
Each district has its own area office and a workshop where the vehicles allocated to the district are serviced. There are three additional workshops at Haywards Heath, Dorking and Chatham where major repairs and annual testing preparation for approximately 400 vehicles are done.
. Vehicle servicing is programmed on a time and mileage basis starting with a monthly or 1,000-mile inspection.
This is purely a vehicle check-over — prevention rather than cure is emphasised. Thereafter the vehicles have a fuller service at three-month or 3,000-mile intervals using a scheme devised by the transport engineers.
Drivers check their vehicles every day but it has been found necessary to supplement this with the inspection service because of the specialist nature of some of the equipment fitted.
Normally commercial vehicles are kept for a period of six years or 60,000 miles, and cars for four years or 40,000 miles, However, some of these special equipment vehicles are kept far longer because it is so expensive to transfer the equipment from one chassis to another.
Fast-moving vehicle spares required for normal servicing are purchased centrally and held in a store at Salfords until required by the district workshops, but the slower moving items necessary for repair are purchased in the district. Like many large mixed fleet operators, the erratic spare parts supply does create problems but by keeping a selection of reconditioned major units at the three major workshops, vehicle downtime is kept to a controllable level.
Fitting out of new vehicles, all mechanical and electrical repairs, minor bodywork repairs and repainting are done in the board's three major and 14 divisional workshops but any major panel work or accident damage repair is, where possible, passed to the local trade.
At present 300 new commercial vehicles are programmed to be renewed every year. This involves a capital cost budget of over El m per year for
the transport system. Serious problems are currently being experienced bemuse of the difficulty in obtaining realistic de. livery dates from the UK manufacturers. There is a strict "BuyBritishpolicy for vehicles but it has been found necessary to look abroad for some of the specialist equipment used by engineers and linesmen.
Vehicle purchase is by tender only, and a minimum of five tenders are required. Normally all the distributors in the board's operating area are invited to submit a tender for the basic vehicle but when specialist bodywork or equipment is involved, the board may nominate a company.
All vehicles are purchased and owned by the board but it is understood that the accountants have been looking' at leasing schemes as well as the use of demountable bodies to help _contain operating and appliance distribution costs.
Engineers based at the three main workshops and the transport control offIce in Hove are able to produce designs for the board's special requirements. One example of this is the fourwheel-drive Ford A series fourman crew mobile workshop.
A specialist company assisted the engineers in designing the modifications and then produced the vehicle in this particular instance.
The exercise will probably not be repeated because at the time there was no comparable British-built vehicle available. The transport engineers are now looking at the new Stonehouse and Bedford 4x4 vehicle range.
Eleven Enfield electric cars are operated under an evaluation scheme currently being run by the Electricity Council and although the mileage range is rather limited, they have proved satisfactory for meter , readers and other house call work (see CM May 19).
Fuel and oil, tyres, batteries and anti-freeze supplies are also put out on an annual tender ibasis. The supplier delivers direct to the district workshops. A further contract by tender has been awarded for the maintenance of the vehicle mounted lifts, compressors and hydraulic equipment.
At the end of the vehicle's life with SEEBoard, it is usually stripped of specialist equipment, which is then overhauled ready for fitment to the new chassis. The vehicles are then disposed of through the appropriate branch of British Car Auctions. It has been found through experience that this is a practical and satisfactory method for vehicle disposal.
Vehicle location and control is of paramount importance, and nearly one quarter of the fleet has been fitted with special radio control equipment which can be used in conjunction with a sophisticated district radio and telephone link system.
The board's computer enables the transport superintendent to keep a rigid control of all vehicle information such as district location, service history, repair downtime and individual cost performances which are so necessary to run such a corn
prehensive fleet. This has proved invaluable, particularly when drawing up new vehicle specification requirements.
SEEBoard's prime objective is in the safe and efficient distribution of electrical energy and to do this it is of paramount importance to have a reliable transport support service. Without this it would be impossible for us all as consumers to take for granted that when we switch on a light the bulb actually lights up.