AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

THE LIGHT VAN IN AGRICULTURE.

7th June 1921, Page 16
7th June 1921
Page 16
Page 17
Page 16, 7th June 1921 — THE LIGHT VAN IN AGRICULTURE.
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Many Types of Mechanically Driven Vehicles are Employed by Agriculturists. Whose

" Requirements Widely Differ.

By "Agrimot."

fr HE mechanically driven vehicle has made great progress in the agricultunal industry in many ways. It has solved the problem of rural transport, both goods and passenger, and has Enoaided the farmer with the means for getting his faem work done economically and in good time. I refer here to the agrimotor, but a study of the type of commercial road motor which finds $reatest favour with the farmer is most interesting. -•

The writer is not concerned in this article with any particular branch of agriculture so much as with the whole industry. If the industry as a .whole is

the small farmer, the large farmer, and the land owner's estate and his workpeople. On the estate, the light lorry is found to be most useful, and is being employed more and more for general estate work such as transporting fencing materials. It is employed in connection with forestry, the conveyance of workmen from one part of the estate to another, and for

general station work. For the lastnamed purpose a motor vehicle with a convertible bogy is often available.

On large farms light lorries and vans will be found side by side with heavier vehicles, but even in these cases the

scope for the-lighter vehicle is ample, and the present tendency seems to be for farmers to own the light vehicles and to employ haulage contractors for their heavy work. It has. to be a very big farth indeed, and one doing big business, to keep a heavy, motor lorry fully em ployed all the year round, and it is uneconomical to give, a heavy vehicle parttime employment, or to use it for the transport of light loads at the same time the heavy vehicle cannot be dispensed with. What is happening in some districts, as I have already indicated, is that farmers are themselves owning a light vehicle but employing contract vehicles for the heavier work.

Only about three weeks ago a big farther, well "known to the writer, sold his Foden steam wagon to a mechanic im the district, who has now set up a haulage contracting business principally for agricultural purposes. The farmer who sold the lorry contracted with the purchaser to have all the heavy work done for him, and' bought a light lorry for general running about for his own use.

That, I think, ia the modern tendency of agriculturists, and what, we shall find eventually will be almost every farmer owning a light lorry, _and, on the other hand, almost every farming area will be covered by the services of a haulage contractor who has set himself out to deal with the heavier work.

The sphere in which the light van is at present being used very extensively is in connection with market-gardening and milk production. Most market-gardeners find it convenient to have a vehicle of their own. I visited a typical market the other day, and some of the photo. graphs which appear with this article were taken on that occasion.

During the past few years market-gardening and fruit-growing have experienced a considerable amount of prosperity. It may not be surprising to those who understand anything of human psychology to know that the most prosperous men to-day are those of the younger generation who at one time were struggling with a fork, spade and a wheelbarrow. I know men who have been able to go direct from a wheel-barrow to the Ford van, and they are among the most enterprising in the industry. Many of the Older men still stick to their horse and dray, and in spite of that, the inroads which the motor has made into !he industry have been most marked, and, in half the markets .in this country, it would be found that a new van or light lorry appears on the scene about_ every alternate week.

I have been in conversation with many market-gardener.owners of light motor vehicles and they all testify to their value. Very few, however, have, as-yet, gone very closely into the matter of running costs, and, consequently, information on the matter is scarce and rather vague, although perfect satisfaction is expressed on every hand.

It must be remembered that the produce of the market-gardener, including the fruit, grower, is mostly of a highly perishable nature. As soon as ready it must be packed off to market. Now, imagine what this means when it has to be conveyed by horse and dray to the railway station and then on by train, or where the market is, say, 4, 5 or 6 miles away, how much can be dealt with in a day lay means of a one-horsed vehicle.

What happens when motors are used is that the vehicles are loaded up first thing in the morning with a heavier lead than under the old methods, taken to market, unloaded and brought back for a second or even a third load. In this way the same amount of produce can be marketed in one day that otherwise would take a week to get to market

by the horsed vehicle. • N

Again it is as well to remember that markets fluctuate, and that when a long time is taken up in conveying produce to market advantage cannot be taken of the best market prices, and that the produce does not arrive in the same fresh condition as is the case when less delay is occasioned.

Then there is another connection with this market trade in which the light van is very largely used, and that is by the wholesale buyer and seller. But I must not dwell uponthis branch of the business.

The milk trade calls for some consideration. Here the use, of the light lorry is growing very fast, not so much on the retail as on the wholesale side of the business. In almost every town in England these lorries will he found either belonging to wholesalers or to the farmers themselves.

Then there is the rural carrying business both for goods and passengers. These services are springing up in all the

more populous rural districts, and their value and usefulness is unlimited. The subject of rural transport is one that, as yet, has not received the consideration warranted by its importance, and this of very great interest to readers of The Commercial Motor.

The, light van and motor—in fact, vehieleS of all kinds, including light-buses for country carrying work—are becoming . more common every day, but, let it not be forgotten that there are thousands of farmers in need of a motor vehicle of some description, who have not as yet invested in this direction, and that the country population is a very big one in spite of all that is being said about rural depopulation. A farmer is much better able to buy a light motor vehicle than he is a heavy one. Moreover, the light vehicle is in the majority of cases far more useful than the heavy machine to the individual owner. I suppose in due time the heavy lorry will work out its i own salvation n the country districts, and will be employed largely, as I have said before, by the' haulage contractor ; but the lighter vehicle has already found its salvation with the individual owner.

Certainly the road motor has been employed in connection with the agricultural industry for some time, but not on a very large scale. Only during the last two years has it been seriously introduced. The disease is infectious. When one man introduces the motor vehicle into his business, and its value is recognized by others, then the latter are almost compelled to follow his example. I could take you to a district where, about twelve months ago, a man in quite a small but prosperous way of business, living six miles from the nearest town, bought a new one-ton Ford lorry. His example was immediately followed by four other men in the locality, and I expect in a short time to find that every propressive business man in that district is the owner of a similar type of machine.

I do not' desire to emphasize unduly the prospects in the agricultural industry from the point of view of the motor trade. There is nothing like experience and example, however, and if certain individuals in any rural area find the light motor vehicle an economy and an advantage in other directions, then it is the duty of every agriculturalist desiring to keep ahead of the times and in order to secure his crwn prosperity, to employ modern methods of transport.

I can not only see the difficulties of railway transit being overcome, but I can see the time coming when the large market town tiven* or thirty miles chstant,from the grower will be much more accessible than the market four to six miles distant has, been in the past. I can also see land, that was before too far removed from an centre of size to be of real value except for pastoral or corngrowingiptarposes, being intensively caltive,ted and market crops grown upon it. When considering questions of rural transport, the market day,.and the value of the market-day passenger bus, as well as the goods lorry, must not be forgotten. Then there is a host of other agricultural services rendered by the light motor which is too numerous to be inchided in a short article. The illustration depicting a Ford and Fordson service van is an example.

Tags


comments powered by Disqus