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db. w Best bar none byJohn Durant
Page 145
Page 146
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ARLSBERG, they say, is -obably the best lager in le world. Mike Fisher, ansport manager of arlsberg Distributors d, Old Oak Lane, London VV10, thinks that for their ice his Chrysler Cornando G15 lorries are cerinly the best value in e world.
His company is owned by irlsberg Breweries Great itain, and from his depot liveries are made to an area unded by Peterborough in a North, Axminster in the ,uth West, and including 1rdiganshi re, Pembrokeshire, rts of East Anglia, all of the iuth Coast, and London. So he needs a versatile et. With his G15 vehicles— 's been rationalising on lrysler since he became nsport manager nine years o—he believes he's got it. If he had to summarise the iicle's good points, this is r order he would put them Its reliability The fact that the drivers e it An excellent power to light ratio 3ood fuel nsumption rhe first-class in dealer rvice. "The drivers tell me, 'When you get in you know it's going to start'," he said.
Mike's been very pleased with his warranty experience, too. Twice when a vehicle has been a couple of months beyond its 12-month period Chrysler nevertheless has carried out work under warranty without any query at all. "Our main dealer, Henry Streeters of Croydon, are firstclass,' he said.
"There's no fussing around with invoices and making umpteen phone calls to get your money back from the factory as there is with some other makes," he explained. "The dealer just sends us an information sheet saying he is making a claim on our behalf. But in fact there have been no major problems with the vehicle."
"Then what about minor problems?" I asked. "Well, we used to have a problem with flooding as the turbo went on," he recalled. "But this was put right when Chrysler changed to Bosch fuel equipment.
"Our vehicles do, of course, have to have some little things done to them on warranty. The screws on the interior trim come undone—the lorries have a nice car-like trim, but the drivers, being drivers, are inclined to be heavy handed, and also they do break door handles. But the factory has improved the trim and it is not now as bad as it used to be; once it has been put right it's OK.
"If a trim needs doing a driver leaves the vehicle overnight at our dealer—the best firm I have come across— and we use the spare vehicle."
Mike's depot distributes to 6,000 accounts, many in London. Each of the 19 drivers has his own vehicle and does a two-day trip, then a middistance one, say on the Sussex coast, followed by two days in the London postal area. So when Mike switched to the Commando he needed a vehicle equally at home on local work or hammering along for 200-300 miles when necessary. Larger vehicles are out because of the London runs. A run to Exeter with a couple of drops on the way may take 41 hours; before the model switch it used to take 51 to 6 hours. And the drivers like a vehicle that's good on hills.
Some runs which used to be borderline cases for an overnight----like some in Essex, for instance—are now no longer nights-out.
The vehicles, the shorter of the two wheelbase options offered, and with overhang, have a dual passenger seat — mates are taken on brewery runs and a six-speed box, power steering, electric window washers and 50gal fuel tank. The lorries take 9 tons, the equivalent of 1,000 dozen bottles, in a mix of kegs, cartons, bottles and cans, on four-way entry 48 x 44 pallets. Carlsberg have never incurred a GV9 prohibition on a Chrysler, although they've copped four roadside checks in five months in East Sussex.
Besides favourable comments on the engine, with a tilt cab that goes further forward than those of other makes, and in 10 seconds, too, because it's counterbalanced, he says the point the drivers most appreciate is the good vision. "There are no blind spots at all." And, from the management point of view, a minimum 11.5mpg for these 14.5-tonners can't be bad. Nor can the fact that they're fetching around £1,200 now when they're sold after five years and 180,000 to 200,000 miles.
One haulier, Mobile Tyre Haulage Services, SE1, is, he said, running three of the company's old vehicles when it does brewery runs for Carlsberg at peak periods.
The Board too is pleased with the Commandos—now it's thinking of keeping them seven years before selling.
Another point being considered is buying covered-in vehicles, either the Tautliner or ones with sliding doors, and the Board is at present negotiating with the Transport and General Workers Union at the depot about the specification. A covered-in vehicle will allow the delivery in wet weather of cartons in a first-class condition. It is nothing to do, Mike added, with the rumour that the EEC would require all foodstuffs to be covered; this rumour had in fact been scotched by the Minister of Transport earlier this year.
Deliveries are loaded by fork-lift trucks, introduced 15 years ago. The driver has tl load placed just where I wants it; this varies even a cording to the side of tl road a particular delivery m. necessitate.
The drivers, then, ha, vehicles they like, and matE too. What's their life lil otherwise at Carlsberg? Thi average £110 a week; they', showers, rest room, spor facilities, club room, snook table and canteen. And wh( they finish work each di they qualify for a lip-smackir free pint of Carlsberg, a though I'm told for "Dor drink and drive" reasons, mo prefer a Carlsberg fruit juicea special import not on gener sale to the public. It's probab one of the more rewardir jobs in transport.