WHEELS of INDUSTRY New Regulations Concerning Drivers' Hours.
Page 60
Page 61
Page 62
Page 63
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
On April 1st there came into force a new Order regarding the working hours of drivers of locomotives, motor tractors and goods-carrying vehicles. It remains in force until March 31st, 1933. Copies will shortly be available-from /TM. Stationery Office.
It is now provided that,in any 24hour period in which only one spell of duty is worked, the limit of eight hours is substituted for that of 53, hours. The driver Must be allowed a total rest of not less than 40 minutes, one interval being not less than 20 minutes andtaken not earlier than two hours after the -commencement of the period.
Where a. driver, is employed by tile week and has one full day's rest in that erne, the limit of 12 hours may be substituted for 11 hours, on not more than two days in that week, provided that some part of the 12 hours is occupied in waiting, loading or unloading.
Railways Formally Object to Coach Services.
The railway companies have commenced -to lodge with the Area Traffic Commissioners objections on various grounds to the granting of road-service licences in respect of certain existing coach services between distant towns which are connected by main-line railway-services, the main objection, apparently, being that motor coach services are unnecessary and undesirable in the public interests, adequate facilities being provided by the railways. At the time of going to press the Motor Hirers and Coach Services Association is holding an emergency meeting to consider the situation.
London Street Works: A New Order.
The Minister of Transport has made an Order, entitled the London Traffic (Scheme for Street Works) No. 1 Order, 1931, in pursuance of the provisions of Section 4 (Closing of Streets for Works) of the Landon Traffic Act, 1924, prescribing the time when works of road maintenance and improvement, which involve the closing of one-third or more of the carriageway, are to be commenced, and the order in which such works are to be carried out upon streets prescribed by the Order of August 26th, 1930. Orders are made at six-monthly intervals and the new Order relatesto the period from April let to September 30th.
Albion's Report for 1930.
The report of the Albion Motor Car Co., Ltd., for the year ended December 31st last shows a profit of £46,195, after making provision for depreciation, income tax, interest on debenture stock, directors' remuneration and a bonus toemployees. After adding the amount brought forward, £77,075 is available. A sum of £1,000 has been transferred to the benevolent fund and a dividend for the half year at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum on the preference sh.ares absorbed £4,016. Out of the balance of
£72,059, a sum of 14,016 will be absorbed by the payment of a dividend on the preference shares for the second half of the year, and £31,088 by the payment of a dividend on the ordinary shares at the rate of 7iper cent, per annum. The amount to be carried forward is £36,955.
The name of the company is to be altered to Albion Motors, Ltd.
The Goods Transport Guide.
Owing to a delay in printing we are unable to publish this week our review of the Roadway Goods Transport Guide. A preliminary review was, however, given in our issue dated March 24th.
'gritain's Import and Export Trade.
The President of the Board of Trade, in a long statistical statement regarding imports, exports end re-exports from Great Britain -and Northern Ireland in 1929 mid 1930, furnishes the following figrires 'relating to commercial vehicles,. chassis, eta. :-- 1939. 1930.
Total Imports 9,268,975 5,598,076
Total r!,,experts 516,115 • 491,947 Retained imports •.. 8,752,860 5,106,129 Domestic exports ... 14,789,598 11,770,286
Included In the above are -the followinz :– Commercial vehicles, complete: Total imports • .., 25,645 21,534 Total re-exports . 8,420 1,615 Retained imports ... 17,225 19,919 Domestic exports 1,017,593 1,611,958 1929. 1930, No. No.
Commercial vehicles, complete: Total imports78 57 Domsstic exports ... 2,636 3,6: Re-exports 30 . 20
Chassis, complete, for motorcars, etc.:
Total imports • ,.. 26,574 4,696 Domestic exports ... ...15,484 7,041 Re.exports 253 337
Revised Regulations Affecting Public-service Vehicles.
Provisional regulations . have been issued by the Minister of Transport which amend certain of the Statutory Rules and Orders issued on February 6th. These come into force immediately, and must be complied with order to obtain a certificate of fitness. The demands remain as heretofore except with regard to certain details and the dates upon which the various clauses become operative.
The chief results of the new rules are to defer certain requirements until January let, 1932. The principal of these are the regulations regarding nonpendant steering connections, the 3f-in. hub projection, bridled transmission shafts, access to driver's seat from off side, requireinents concerning headroom, and closed seat backs.
Regulations regarding the following points shall come into force on April 1st, 1932, instead of January 1st, in that year :—Guard rails, location of fuel tanks, fuel leakage from carburetters, outer stringers of external staircases and height of guard rails, width of gangways, and the need for adequate ventilation without opening main. windows.
The Transport Congress at Margate:
It is officially announced by the Tramways, Light Railways and Transport Association that there will be no exhibition or demonstration of vehicles during the AssoCiation'm Conference at Margate an May 28th and 29th.
The luncheon on May 28th will be given by the Isle of Thanet Co., -and the mayor and corporation will entertain at the reception aud -dance on the 29th.
L.C.C.. and the Proposed Transport
One day last week the London County after two hours' debate, adopted a report Of the finance .committee With regard 'Ca the propoSed London. Transport Board, in which the View was eipresSed, that the proposed terms were, without precedent . and, so far as the municipal tramways were Concerned, inequitable, •and• called • for the .stiongeSt .oppeiition. The -Voting waS64 against the proposed . Transport -Board arid--34 -faVeur,. those . in fay-Mir being the Labour merribers of the conned. --nre Minister of Transport, who IS an alderman of the cohncil, wag not present.
Road Bridge Over the Forth.
At a recent sitting of the Provisional Order Commissioners in Parliament House, Edinburgh, the preamble of the Provisional Order promoted by the county councils of Fife, Stirling and Clackmannan, to construct a road brid over the Forth at Kincardine-on-For was found proved, subject to the adjustment of certain clauses. The estimated cost of the bridge is £369,000, and about 600 Men will be employed on its construction. Official Orders in February.
Few orders for motor, vehicles were given out during February, last by Government Departments. The Air Ministry placed one for motor rollers with the Avelins-Darford Perkins Co., Ltd. The G.P.O.. authorities placed one for van bodies with Messrs. Rushton and Wilson, Birmingham, and purchased Albion Maudslay and Morris-Commer
cial elassis jowett vans were also ordered by the same department.
Vehicle Examiners in the East Midlands.
The Traffic Commissioners of the East Midland Area have now arranged for public-service-vehicle examiners to cover the whole of the nine counties in
A Scamtnell tractorlorry, the sixth of this make delivered to the Chemical and Metallurgical Corporation, Ltd., of Runcorn. It has a special platform below the body for carrying extra
carboys of acid.
their area, and the men appointed, who took up duties on the first of the month, are as follow :—Mr. T. L. Lane (senior examiner, Nottingham), Mr. J. Saville (Nottingham), Mr. G. Bradford (Peterborough), Mr. j. E. Sharp (Leicester), Mr. H. Dobney (Bedford), Mr. T. C. Welch, A.M.I.A.E. (Lincoln), Mr. a. Brown (Grantham), Mr. A. Vickerman (Huntingdon), Mr. W. Wakelarn, A.M.I.A.E. (Derby), and Mr. W. Whitehead (Northampton).
Municipal Engineers Visit Guildford.
A few days ago well over 100members of the south-eastern section of the Institution of Municipal and County Engineers paid a visit to Guildford, where some of the latest municipal enterprises were examined. The party was afforded an opportunity for witnessing demonstrations of some of the specialized municipal vehicles and appliances produced in the Guildford works of Dennis Brothers, Ltd., seven different machines being inspected. Four of them, embodying the vacuum principle-for emptying purposes, included cesspool emptiers, with capacities of 1,100 gallons and 800 gallons respectively, and gully-emptiers embodying 1,100-gallon and 550-gallon tanks. Another vehicle, with a tank
body of 1,200 gallons capacity, was a street-watering machine, from which water is thrown by a fire-engine type of multi-stage turbine pump.
A Dennis 2-ton forward-control chassis, equipped with a 7 cubic yd. tipping body arranged for the dustless collection of refuse, attracted attention, whilst the capabilities of the 250-300gallon Dennis G-type fire engine, which drew water from the adjacent River Wey, were favourably commented upon.
Motorcycle Outfits on P.O. Work.
The General Post Office now runs a fleet of more than 2,000 motorcycles, . 1,200 of the machines being used solely for engineering work and 850 box carriers for the collection and delivery of lettdrs and parcels. The authorities have recently placed an order for an additional 100 motorcycle outfits. During last year the Post Office authorities had only one accident for every 24,000 miles covered by the machines.
Economy of Oil-engined Buses.
During February of this year an oilengined bus has been running from Brussels to Cortenburg on an hourly service. It did alternate trips with a petrol-engined bus. In 4,000 miles the oil used was 225 gallons, costing just over £4 2s., whereas the petrol bus consumed fuel costing over 123.
New Edition of the A.A. Handbook. The Automobile Association has just issued its handbook for ,the season 1931-1932; nearly 500,000 copies have been printed and dispatched to members. Although the handbook runs to 600 pages it is put up in a convenient size, and contains particulars of 2,383 hotels and 3,145 repairers holding the `4, full appointment of the A.A. Particulars are given concerning the services to which members are entitled from the A.A. road patrols and departments of the organization, including those dealing with legal, engineering, Parliamentary, insurance and other matters. General information covers such subjects as foreign tours, ferry charges and Steamship rates for motor vehicles.
Personal Pars.
Mr. R G. Stone Clark, M.I.A.E., chief engineer to the Trent Motor Traction Co., Ltd., Derby, for the past seven years, has been appointed chief engineer to the London section of Thomas Tilling, Ltd.
Mr. A. T. lames, ICC., the chairman of the Traffic Commissioners for South Wales, has appointed Mr. R. T. Drown, the manager of the West Mon. Joint Omnibus Board, as an assistant In consequence, a vacancy will occur in the managership of the bus under taking and 106 applications for the position have been received. The final selection will be made from three persons, these being Mr. W. Crockett, of Lewis and James, Ltd., a bus-operating concern of Cross Keys ; Mr. F. E. Good, miners' secretary, of Llanbradach; and Mr. A. R. Burton, deputy general manager of West Hartlepool's municipal bus undertaking.
The appointment will be made this month.
Mr. J. S. Wills, who has acted as secretary and joint manager of East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ltd., of Hull, has been appointed a director of the company as well as of the Lincolnshire Road Car Co., Ltd.
Railway Returns for 1930.
A preliminary statement containing summarized particulars of the fivancial accounts and statistical returns of the railways in Great Britain for the year 1930, compared with the years 1928 and 1929, has been published, and copies can be obtained from H.bl. Stationery Office.
The tables show the number of passengers carried, the tonnage conveyed, average receipts per ton and per tonmile, and the leading operating statistics. The figures contained in the statement may prove of interest to some motor-vehicle operators, who may also like to know that the complete railway returns will be issued later in the year.
A Road Courtesy Test.
Ona recent Sunday the North Manchester Motor Club conducted a competition vshich was open to drivers of all types of pneumatic-tyred vehicle up to 30 cwt., in which the competitors were required to reach certain standards of courtesy and safety. The rules were based on the provisions of the Highway Code and observers were stationed at various points on the 45-mile route.
Some were instructed to look for certain specified misdemeanours, whilst ethers had to watch for different actions of omission, For example, outside the Salford Royal Hospital a large permanent notice asks drivers to proceed quietly, but at this point many of them lost marks for unnecessary use of the horn. Besides the stationary observers, some were travelling with, but faster than, the competitors.
At the end of the route certain special tests were conducted in the Belle Vue Gardens. Amongst them were a brake test and a reversing test, in both of which the commercial-vehicle drivers generally were good.
Two special machines had been installed by C. Churchill, Ltd., and although these were not, strictly speaking, a part of the competition itself, they revealed several interesting facts. One of these appliances, the Weaver automatic brake tester, indicated the efficiency of each brake independently. The other machine, a Weaver wheelalignment indicator, showed that many of the competing vehicles would have benefited by a little attention to the track rod.
Amongst the 100 competitors were 10 van drivers, one of .whom obtained a first-class certificate—altogether 21 of these were awarded. Of the 62 secondclass certificates seven were awarded to van drivers.
Manchester Buys More Crossleys.
Crossley Motors, Ltd., has received a further order from Manchester Corporation for nine chassis for carrying doubledeck bodies ; five are of the standard Condor petrol-engiued pattern, but four will be equipped with the Crossley heavy-oil engine, which was briefly described in last week's issue. This is the seventh repeat order received from this municipality, and when the machines are delivered Manchester Corporation will have 162 Crossley buses in its service.
Commer Service in London.
To better the service facilities available for Commer users in and around London a new repair and service station has been opened at 66, Buttesland Street, Heaton, N.1, where ample stocks of spare parts for present-day types and early Commer models are
held. Not only can running adjustments be made, but complete overhauls c24
can be undertaken without causing inconvenience to operators by reason of undue delay.
G. D. Peters's Profits.
During the year 1930 G. D. Peters and Co., Ltd., made a profit of 117,636, after providing for any loss and including profits to the extent of dividends actually received, of all subsidiaries, as against 18,834 for 1929. After making an allowance of 117,007 for de predation and interest, the amount to be carried forward is 115,253, as against 114,624 in the previous year. G. D. Peters (India) has been formed as a subsidiary, through which business in India, Burma and Ceylon has been conducted since January 1st.
Fode,n Steamers in Demand.
Amongst orders recently received by Fodens, Ltd., of Sandbaeh, for pneumatie-tyred steam wagons is one from Murrell' s Wharf, Ltd., London, S.F., for four Speed-Six 6-tonners and four Speed-Twelve six-wheelers, all equipped with three-way tipping bodies, in addition to four 6-ton pneumatic-tyred sidetipping trailers. This enterprising concern was one of the first users of Foden pneumatic-tyred steam wagons, and the new order affords proof of the satisfactory results obtained from two wagons supplied in May of last year.
A New Coach Door Fitting.
Illustrated on this page is a new pattern of door catch which has been introduced by Messrs. Albert Jagger, of Centaur Works, Walsall, a firm well known. for the motor-coach fittings which it supplies to the trade. The door catch is suitable for securing folding motor-coach or bus doors in the open position without rattle, also for holding sliding doors in the closed position. It comprises a pair of jaws pivoted in a cast frame and held together by a coil spring. The design is particularly robust and the fitting may be obtained in sanded brass, polished brass, nickel or chromium plate, or any of the oxidized finishes.
Another line newly introduced by Messrs. Jagger is a stainless-steel mirror suitable for mounting on window pillars and other such places inside passenger vehicles. The surface is good and, by reason of the material employed, will preserve its lustre. indefinitely.
Big Drop in Free State Tractor Trade.
During January last there was a Marked decline in the imports of tractor parts into the Irish Free State, the latest returns showing a value of 112,978 as contrasted with .196,095 in the corresponding month a year ago. Declines are also recorded in the exports of tractors and parts from the Free State, those of complete machines dropping from 1,677 to 793 in number and from 1176,583 to 172,637 in value, and those of tractor parts from /173,397 to 17,175.
A Successful Bean Model.
Bean Cars., Ltd., Tipton, Staffs., has recently issued a leaflet dealing with its 2i-3-ton Empire model, which has been on the market for about 18 months and is giving good service in the hands of many important users. The leaflet contains abridged specification details and gives some leading dimensions of the chassis.
In the list of prices which is given we notice that a reduction in the figures
has been made and that twin rear equipment is now supplied without extra charge. The short-wheelbase chassis sells for £540 and the long-wheelbase model for 1560, the former with an end-tipping body being priced at 1625 and with a three-way tipping body at 1640, whilst the latter, when mounted with a drop-sided body, costs 1630 and when carrying a van body 1650. Tenders Required for Military Transport.
Road-transport contractors are being invited to submit tenders for a somewhat novel transport job—that of conveying a battalion of the Suffolk Regiment from Ipswich to Arundel; Sussex, and back, in,July and August next.
The advance party, which is to leave Ipswich for Arundel on July 15th and to return on August 5th, will comprise two officers and 19 other ranks, together with about 10 tons of miscellaneous baggage. As the luggage is bulky it is estimated that it will require the use of four 4-ton lorries, which, it is specified, must be of the open type with waterproof covers.
The battalion, which is to be conveyed from Ipswich to Arundel on July 19th and back to Ipswich on August 2nd, each trip to be done in a day, will comprise approximately 13 officers and 420 other ranks. The baggage to be conveyed with the battalion includes, for each man, a rifle, equipment, and a 36-lb. kitbag ; for each officer, equipment, a valise and a trunk ; and 14 Lewis guns, four machine guns, gun equipment and stores.
Tenders must reach the Adjutant of the 4th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, at the Drill Hall, Portman Road, Ipswich, by May 1st, and they must giVe the total cost, -sliowitig separately -(1) that for the removal of the advance party and baggage, and (2) that for the remainder of the battalion ; the number of. buses or coaches—and their seating capacity—and lorries it is proposed to use, a time-table for both transport operations, and the routes to be taken.
Proved Efficiency in Cylinder Regrinding.
An interesting demonstration of the Hutto process of cylinder regrinding was given recently at the premises of Harvey Frost and Co., Ltd., 148-150, Great Portland Street, London, W.1. Before the tool was applied to the worn bore, Mr, H. Kerr Thomas, a past President of the Institution of Automobile Engineers, announced that he had measured the bore and that its diameter at the lower end was 3.151 ins., and at the top it was 3.161 ins, in one direction and 3.1685 ins, in the other. Therefore the cylinder bore was oval to the extent of .0075 in., and tapered to the extent of .010 in. and .0175 in. respectively.
The Hutto grinding tool, operated by an electric drill mounted in a stroking stand, was applied, and in 24 minutes (total time) the work was cow
pleted. Metal had been removed to the extent of .011 in. at the top, and the ' bore was pronounced by Mr. Kerr Thomas as being true within .0005 in. as regards its circularity and the straightness of the walls, which were also parallel throughout within the same limit.
Hutto cylinder grinders cost from £5 12s, 6d, to £14 15s. The HI'. stroking stand is priced at £5 18s. 6d., whilst the universal driving shaft and chuck cost It 15s. 6d. These figures exclude the cost of the drill; this, of course, is usually part of the standard equipment of the workshop, therefore it need not he purchased separately. The result obtained was well within the tolerances to which engine manufacturers are accustomed to work, and the demonstration created quite an impression upon those who were present,
A Novel Fire-engine Eligible for the Subsidy.
On this page we illustrate a Thornycroft-Simonis motor fire pump which possesses several novel features. It has been supplied by Simonis, Ltd., 32, Alfred Place, London, W.C.1, to the Blackburn City Police Fire Brigade. The chassis is the Thornycroft WarDepartment subsidy-type of six-wheeler, with a six-cylindered engine. The extra cost of the six-wheeler is offset by the grant of the subsidy, and the cross country ability, as compared with a four wheeler, is invaluable. This machine is one of the first to incorporate a subsidy-model chassis.
It will be noted that the body is of the latest pattern with the seats facing inwards, but that the pump is mounted at the rear, where it is most accessible.