From maintenance to manufacture
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Two views on vehicle sophistication at the Scottish Road Passenger Transport Association conference at Gleneagles by Martin Watkins
THE Scottish Road Passenger Transport Association conference at Gleneagles this year discussed a paper entitled "From maintenance to manufacture " presented by Mr Ray Braithwaite, director and general manager of Walter Alexander and Co (Coachbuilders) Ltd (see CM last week). The theme: that vehicles had become too complicated to be reliable.
Mr Braithwaite advocated : E a 10-year planned vehicle life; CI abolition of the present seven-year Certificate of Fitness; O bus grants for rebuilt vehicles; • the phasing out of low height double-deck designs; O and more co-operation from the chassis manufacturers in producing chassis which did not need the construction of a separate body underframe.
He said the construction of a floor section wasted valuable inches which could provide extra passenger headroom. At present the only way out for the coachbuilder was to build a separate integral "chassis," keeping the running units in their original position.
Mr Braithwaite thought the bus industry should make more of an impact—both politically and in selling its wares to the public. The general feeling of the discussion about Mr Braithwaite's paper was that sophisticated vehicles were now demanded by the public and that long vehicle life in times of inflation represented good value for money to the operator.
Mr A. T. Webster, a director of British Leyland truck and bus division, said that planning for a short vehicle life was wasteful of resources— and that planned obsolescence was an out-dated concept.
Mr Ronald Cox, directorgeneral of the Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive, said replacing a vehicle at the end of its design life of 12 years was four times cheaper than replacing it after 18 years in service. He also advocated that stricter strength and roll-over legislation should be laid down.
This attitude was echoed by Mr Webster who said the forthcoming GRSA regulations embodied the right ideals.
Mr Webster also thought that too much competition could destroy the double-deck market—a clear reference to the plans of Fodens and perhaps Bedford to enter this market.
Returning to Mr Braithwaite's basic theme of reliability, Mr George McKay, National Bus Company director of technical services, said NBC statistics showed that 48 per cent of bus failures stemmed from electrical and engine auxiliary failures that could not be attributed to the chassis manufacturer. He thought that if the bus industry acted together, the parts manufacturers could be compelled to improve the quality of their parts.
Mr Braithwaite's suggestion that the low-height doubledeckers should be phased out met with great opposition from the bus operators. They felt that single-deck standee vehicles would be not widely acceptable to the travelling public.
Mr Braithwaite said in his introduction that he intended his paper to be controversial, and he certainly succeeded in this aim. Although his paper was well received by the audience, the ideas stemming from his wide experience in both the operating and manufacturing field did not attract much support.
Mr R. MacKenzie, a director of the Scottish Bus Group, said that unreliability of modern buses caused a large number of vehicles to be off the road at peak times. He thought that the Confederation of British Road Passenger Transport should collect statistics on vehicle availability and also general statistics on the price rises of different vehicle components.