Big Mileages By A.E.C.s on Flour Distribution
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A Newcastle-on-Tyne Operator, Running a Large Fleet, Obtains Especially Good Service from Heavy-duty A.E.C. Vehicles
ALTtexample of meritorious service by A.E.C. vehicle has just been revealed by Mr. Thomas Bell, of Thomas Bell and Son, Ltd., maker of the well-known " Be-Ro " flour. He has informed the Associated Equipment Co., Ltd., that the first of his Southall-built machines, put into service in January, 1934, has now " clocked " over 300,000 miles. This vehicle, a Monarch, is working with several others from the company's modern mill at Daybrook, in Notts.
Mr. Bell emphasizes not so much the total mileage of the vehicle, as the fact that in its six years' service, during which it had averaged 50,000 miles per annum, it has never once been off the road, apart from its normal withdrawals for 'overhauls; even these have resulted in the smallest repair bills. It was not surprising to learn that when a new heavy vehicle was acquired in 1938 this, too, was an A.E.C. A Matador, this second vehicle is averaging about 45,000 miles a year, and is upholding the high standard of service set by the Monarch, Both A.E.C.s, which are powered by oil engines, are used for the bulk distribution and collection of flour to and from depots and mills in the North and Midlands, and each covers well over 800 miles a week. Of this total, 650700 miles are accomplished with full loads, the two vehicles handling between them nearly 150 tons each six days.
Another A.E.C. Matador, based on the company's headquarters at Newcastle-on-Tyne, is doing good work in that area.
The company's large A.E.C.s are supplemented by 50 vans, with capacities ranging from 30 cwt. to 3 tons, these being attached in the form of small fleets to the various depots. They are used for the delivery of Be-Ro flour to retailers, of whom more than 20,000 are called upon each fortnight. The intensive work performed by these small units is shown by -the fact that many of them are employed on rounds involving 120 stops a day.
Like the A.E.C. vehicles, they are painted the standard Be-Ro colours of green and orange, and, with the name of the product they carry boldly lettered on their sides, they have a high publicity value.
This month, another oil-engined Matador is due to be put into service by Thomas Bell and Son, Ltd.