OPINIONS and QUERIES
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THE UNFAIR SIDE OF OVERLOADING.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[4233] Sir,—At present the user of a heavy machine, say, a Leyland 6-tonner, who exceeds 12 tons with it is liable to prosecution, whilst the user of, say, a 2-tonner who carries a load of 4 tons gets away with it. Most 6-ton machines weigh, iirkladen, about 5 tons, and when loaded with 7i tons, i.e., 25 per cent, overload, the owner is liable to prosecution.
It is not difficult to determine which machine is the greater danger on the road, the heavy machine, strongly built, with a 25 per cent, overload, or the 2-tonner with a 100 per cent. overload.
If some provision to stop the excessive overloading of such light vehicles were to he made it would go a long way towards solving the troubles of the haulage industry. Established hauliers have machines of various sizes to undertake the different loads they are called upon to haul, but they are frequently undercut by newcomers with light machines which are grossly overloaded.
Aberfeldy. JOH.Y. FORBES.
PAY-LOAD CAPACITY..
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[4234] Sir,—It seems astonishing that so little attention has been called to the fact that no rational maximum pay-load capacity can be assigned to any chassis without knowing the weight of the body which will be fitted. I have refrained from using the much misused word " overloading " because that refers only to a manufacturer's custom of' giving to a chassis a rating sufficiently conservative to allow for any weight of body likely to he employed. A " 2-ton " chassis, for instance, can obviously carry a very much larger pay-load with a mere platform body weighing 4 cwt. than with a strongly built outsize pantechnicon weighing, say, 25 cwt.
For this reason Baico Patents, Ltd., in marketing the converted six-wheeled chassis for which it assumes responsibility, rates these chassis as being of a capacity of, say, 4 tons 10 cwt. ; or 5 tons 10 cwt.; body and payload combined.
In this way, and this way only, can the maximum payload capacity be ascertained for each vehicle, and then only when the machine is complete, ready for the road.
In considering pay-load capacity, the following factors are the most essential : (1) Safety of the public. This, as you have aptly said, depends, more than anything else, on the careful design of the brakes and adequate maintenance of the braking power. Brakes are the first consideration in designing for maximum capacity.
(2) The construction of bodies of such combined strength and lightness as will permit the Maximum payload to be carried. The Baico Wonder bodies owe their success to a careful study of this condition.
(3) Suitable designing of the chassis (and body) to meet individual conditions of transport. Long hauls, for instance, should often be treated quite differently from short hauls, and gradients, road surface, etc., all have to be considered in determining the most suitable design.
(4) Careful study of the cost of maintenance, as coinpared with the extra load to be carried over and above the cost of carrying more conservative loads. In these days of rapidly changing chassis design, and of constantly increasing engine power, some of the, largest transport companies have been richly rewarded by placing maximum efficiency above mere length of service and by combining systematic maintenance and careful selection of drivers with the use of vehicles to carry the largest loads permissible.
It is not without good reason that the Ministry of Transport has laid stress on, first, the safety of the public, and, second, the distribution of weight on multiple axles.
For the lighter classes of road transport no vehicle can carry so large a load with so little deadweight as the rigid-frame six-wheeler, and our order books show that the pendulum is steadily swinging in this direction.
London, N.14. R. NOYES FAIRBANKS, Managing Director, Baico Patents, Ltd.
THE LIGHTING OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[4235] Sir,—We were pleased to note your article on the question of vehicle lighting in your issue dated December 22, because we have for a long while stressed the importance of adequate and modern lighting systems.
May we draw your attention to the fact that in the same edition our advertisement deals with lighting and mentions that all our vehicles are equipped with 12-volt batteries, dipping-beam headlights and electric direction indiCators?
Headlights are undoubtedly a necessity, and in our , opinion commercial vehicles should be provided with 12-volt systems to ensure easy starting and maximum lighting. L. E LOVELAND, Birmingham. Publicity Dept, For Morris Commercial Cars, Ltd. A PETROL PUMP WHICH PROVED UNSATISFACTORY.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[4236] Sir,—About three years ago a certain petrol company agreed to install for me on the rental system a one-gallon petrol pump, which they did, but it was never satisfactory, and it was an indoor pump put outside. The company certainly supplied me with petrol for a few months while I was using this pump.
I constantly 'stated that if the pump was not made satisfactory I did not want it ; but nothing was done until I discontinued getting petrol from the company and asked them to remove the pump, for if not I would do so.
Nothing being done again 1 removed' the pump and have not paid anything on it, but the account for it continues to be sent to me.
Can full or part payment be claimed?
Leeds, DUNNED, •
[You have not given us sufficient information to advise you fully in your problem. In the first instance we presume that a written agreement was entered into between yourself and the petrol company, in which the petrol pump was accurately described as being one for indoor use_ If, as you say, the petrol pump was one for indoor use we submit that you should have had it fixed indoors. If you instructed or permitted the indoor pump to be used out of doors we are of the opinion that you are responsible for repairing any defects occasioned by its use under proper conditions. Is the written agreement silent as to whq) is responsible for repairing the pump? If the petrol company erected the pump out of doors' against your directions they may be responsible for the repairs, subject to any provisions tothe contrary in the written agreement. If you wish us to advise you further concerning the matter, please send us the agreement for perusal, with the dates when the pump was fixed up and when you first complained to the company that the pump was not working properly; also any correspondence, in this connection, you may have received from thein.—ED.]