Motors in the Confectionery Trade.
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Commercial motors are in use as a means of carrying out the delivery work of firms in nearly every class of trade, but their extended application for the cartage of sweets and the other manufactures of the confectioner does not yet seem to have taken place. In several cases, light chassis have been fitted with business bodies, and the cars have been used for the rounds of the tradesmen. This procedure is, however, one which cannot be advocated as a sound business proposition—the motor built for the purpose of goods delivery is the only one that will show really satisfactory results in work of this nature.
Messrs. Auborn and Heaviside, of John Street, York Road, Battersea, S.W., and 73-75, Newington Causeway, S.E., were early in the field regarding motor haulage, and this is one of the few firms in the ranks of sweet manufacturers which has seriously essayed the use of the self-propelled vehicle. With a view to obtaining the experiences of this firm, a representative of " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR " paid a visit to the works where he found one of the partners, Mr. B. Heaviside, who was good enough to give some interesting details of the work of his fleet of cars.
It was at the Agricultural Hall show in March, 1902, that the first of the vans was purchased by the firm : this was one of the MiInes-Daimler make, to carry a load of one ton. Results with this first investment, which is now in its sixth year of service, were such as to justify the later acquisition of a second example of the same company's manufacture, and last year the " stud " of Messrs. Aule,.rn and Heaviside had reached a total of four of these cars—taco to carry one ton, and two to carry twice that weight.
Mr. Heaviside has an excellent opinion of the value of the motorcar as an adjunct to his business. This, it should be explained, is of an unusual nature, in that it is on a strictly cash basis, the orders being delivered and paid for on the spot. The carrying-out of this programme would not be possible by using the railway : horse haulage or the motor vehicle must be. requisitioned. To meet the requirements of the business, Mr. Heaviside pointed out, at least three dozen horses would be necessary, whereas the work is now done with every satisfaction by the four motor delivery vans, and with 12 horses which are employed on the shorter journeys. The average daily mileage of each car on the road, he stated, was at least 50, and this, for five days a week (Mr. Heaviside very wisely keeps each van in the shed on one day in each week for overhaul), makes the handsome average weekly total of 250 miles per vehicle for three cars; one is kept as a spare, and is invaluable for emergency delivery, which is always liable to occur at certain seasons of the year. It is to the weekly shed clay, and to the provision of the spare vat that Mr. Heaviside attributes much of the success of th motor service, to which he, himself, gives much attention.
Another cause, upon which he lays much stress, is th selection of the drivers : he is strongly of opinion that a professional chauffeur is out of place on a business vehicli The sporting instinct, ineradicable in this genus of engine( (sic), is one which should find no place in the running of commercial car. Mr. Heaviside, therefore, prefers to trai the man who has shown himself to be careful in the .drivin of his horses, and then to place him in charge of mechanical van. The results of this policy, he declares, ha% been most encouraging; it has been influential in reducin the repair bills to a great degree, and consistent running the cars has been maintained. In this opinion, he is, as ou readers are aware, not alone : the great firm of Shoolbre and Company has, from the inception of its motor deliver services, employed the drivers of its horsed vans to run th latter-day motors, as have Messrs. Steinway and others. The work of the cars in the service of Messrs. :luborn an Heaviside is of an exacting nature. A typical journe} which is performed weekly, is that from the works, at Batersea, to Gravesend, via Bexley and Dartford, and bad, The actual distance travelled is by no means as the crol flies, but, rather, as the bee wings it from flower to flowei On this route, well over ioo calls have to be made, involvin innumerable turnings into side streets and by-ways. 'Chi particular round, however, is short oompared with th undertaken each Thursday by one of the two-ton cars. Thi vehicle, loaded to its full capacity, and sometimes with some thing over that load, covers the road between Battersea an Chatham, which is at all times severe in the matter of hills in wet weather, a considerable amount of grease and mud ha to be encountered in addition to the usual difficulties of th gradients to be climbed. On arrival at Chatham, the gros load is divided at the depot into suitable loads for distributioin the neighbourhood on the following day. This work ha% leg been accomplished, the van returns to Battersea on th Saturday : during its three days' absence from the factor} over 3oo calls have been made by it. Such a record i striking testimony to the inestimable value of the motorva —the horse, in such a case; is obviously useless.
From the point of view of its efficiency as an advertisin; medium, Mr. Heaviside also looks upon his rnotorvan flee as an undoubted success ; much new business has accrued i view of the improved speed in delivery to customers, who ar now disinclined to wait the convenience of any rival firr which is tardy in supplying their needs.