Transport Notes for
Page 33
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Those Who Run Bedfords
By F. S. Groom
Editor. "The Bedford Transport Magazine."
SINCE I became an Editor without a magazines--and believe me that means a lost soul for the first week or two—I have been doing things and going places.
I have driven in a convoy. I have eaten sausages and mashed in a transport café, I have travelled on the floor of an open army truck (Gosh! Was it draughty?) and I have played solo in a blacked-out railway carriage using a suitcase for a card table, All of these things came about when I volunteered to do a spot of convoy driving.
Rather more important perhaps were the impressions I picked up of W.D. organization in some of the impressment parks and vehicle-collecting centres up and down the country.
A few days ago I was one of a squad of 30 or more drivers who took a fleet of Bedfords to the big army depot at— well, " somewhere in England." Within a few minutes of our arrival, our papers had been signed, the head lamps of our vehicles had been daubed over with something that looked like a tar brush, a small staff working ill a tent festooned with tree branches had issued us with railway vouchers for the return journey, .and we were whisked away to the station in—a saloon coach equipped with a wireless set! As we• left, the spray gun was already at work, painting in the familiar camouflage colours the trucks we had delivered.
Red tape was conspicuous by its absence, and there was an air of efficiency and celerity which bodes ill for the house painter with the toothbrush moustache.
SHARP PRACTICES DECRIED The R.A.S.C. has its troubles, of course. An officer at one of the impreisment parks told me of the sharp practices adopted by some commercialvehicle owners when their trucks are commandeered.
An impressment officer calls on an operator. He impresses three or four vehicles, all of which are in good shape, He issues instructions for them to be delivered to a certain depot. When they arrive, the tyres that were new only a few days earlier are worn down to the canvas, the tool kit seems to have shrunk, and most of the movable fittings have moved,
This is not common practice. There are plenty of owners, thank goodness, who rise above petty fraud and childish meanness. But it has happened, and in a sufficient number of instances to involve overworked depots in a, lot , of extra—and unnecessary— labour.
ARMY BEDFORD BOOKLET
Incidentally, drivers of army Bedfords—and judging by the number of Bedfords I have seen in W.D. depots there will be thousands of them—will be glad to know that a booklet has been produced by Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., for their especial benefit. Bound in strong leather cloth, and of a convenient size to fit a tunic pocket, it tells the driver in simple language all he wants to know about his vehicle. Supplies are being distributed through service depots, and a sufficient number has been printed to ensure a copy for every driver of an army Bedford.
FIGHTING COUNTRY FIRES Bridlington Fire Brigade, I hear, has been hitting the high spots. A few days ago the brigade received a call from Burton Fleming, seven miles away, where a farm stackyard was ablaze. Ten minutes after the call was received (not 10 minutes after leaving the station) an engine was on the spot. Half the ignited stack and all the adjacent stacks were saved.
The engine was a Bedford, kept solely for fires in the country areas which necessitate long journeys at high speed.
THIS MONTH'S TIP
After a considerable mileage, rear hub bearings should be checked for " end float." Jack up the back end of the vehicle, release the hand brake and test for movement by jerking each rear wheel in and out in turn, as though you were trying to pull it away front the hub. If you hear a " clunk " as
you pull the wheel in and out, adjustment is necessary.
Remove the 12 nuts securing the flange of the axle shaft to the hub. Withdraw the axle laiaft, Open out the tabs holding the -slots of the locking nut, and turn the nut with a spanner (anti-clockwise) to remove it.
The locking. plate can then be lifted away, exposing the adjusting nut. Screw this adjusting nut up tight to settle all parts of the bearing and then slacken back two slots.
Replace the locking plate and the locking nut—the latter as tightly as possible—and knock back the tabs to securethe nut in position.
Finally, smear the assembly with grease before replacing the axle shaft and hub nuts.
These instructions apply.. to comparatively recent Bedford models. On earlier models the method of adjustment is the same, but the locking nut and adjusting nut have hexagon heads instead of slots.
SALES ABROAD IMPROVING Export business, according to the latest figures I have been able to obtain, is still doing very nicely, thank you. The first week of the war was apparently the worst. Shipping facilities were. disrupted and the licensing procedure, still in its teething stage, added to the dislocation.
By the second week the problem of obtaining licences had become ordinary routine. Shipping and cargo clearances still presented difficulties, but the improvement all along the line has been consistent and rapid.
I cannot speak for the industry as a whole, but I know that Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., has been steadily shipping 60 per cent, of its normal monthly export volume. And that figure speaks for itself. The remaining 40 per cent, can he attributed to loss of markets in war affected countries, curtailed shipping facilities, petrol shortage in Scandinavian countries, and demands made upon the general resources of the factory by the Government.
Export requirements are still in excess of supply. There are indications, however, that the balance will soon be restored, and there is little need to emphasize the importance of this effort from the national standpoint.