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Centralized Maintenance for 600 Vehicles
Page 68
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Staff of 24 Handles Wide Variety of Vehicles and Equipment Used by Warwick County Council: Centralization Cuts Costs
By P. A. C. Brockington,
AFITTER on the maintenance staff of Warwickshire Transport Repairs Department, Montague Street, Warwick, must show that Jack can be master of all trades, at least in the mechanical sphere. When Mr. L. E. Stallard, the county transport officer, produced plans for the establishment of a central depot to maintain the department's 600 vehicles and machines, he counted on assembling a team of mechanics who would each possess the quality of a specialist in a multitude of ways. He has not been disappointed.
Facilities have been provided to serve the needs of the county council, including the comity ambulance service and the roads and fire departments, together with other departments requiring vehicles.
The council's new depot consists of two main workshops approximately 95 ft. by 100 ft. with pits for 15 vehicles. The auxiliary buildings contain the petrol station, washing and greasing bay, stores, paint shops and so on. Additional covered parking accommodation is now being erected.
The depot has been in full operation since April, 1951, and experience during the period shows that repair costs approximate to the lowest estimate, with the advantage of greater control over labour and materials and the extension of priority to the emergency services. Because so many of the vehicles and machines are engaged on "emergency work, or must be kept ready for an emergency, the fitters regularly interchange jobs, so that dependence on a small section of the staff for one type of repair is avoided. When I visited the shops, a mechanic who had just completed the overhaul of a roadvehicle petrol engine was about to start reconditioning a mower; his 'next job was the repair of a complicated piece of kitchen equipment, Services provided by the council cover all the boroughs of the county, that is, the entire area excluding the cities of Birmingham and Coventry. Depots of the county ambulance service are located at Warwick, Rugby, Bedworth, Nuneaton, Coleshill, Grendon, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield and Stratford on Avon, from which vehicles cover the southern parts of the area. The nine main or " wholetime " fire brigade stations are at the same centres, withthe exception of Grendon, as well as at Leamington Spa and Atherstone.
Operating on the call-out system, there are 13 unmanned, or " retain," stations, the machines being manned by retained personnel who are summoned to the stations by emergency signal. The service functions under a northern and southern divisional control with brigade headquarters at Leamington Spa.
Of the 68 vehicles of the county ambulance service, 48 are stretcher-case ambulances based on commercial vehicle chassis, three are mobile clinics and 20 are sitting-case cars. During the year 1953-54 the work of the service decreased slightly, the total mileage for the year being approximately 1.2m. From figures now available. I am told it is reasonable to suppose that the earlier upward trend (before two-way radio was employed) has been stabilized and running costs have accordingly been based on the 1953-54 level.
Since the introduction of the system of radio control it has no longer been necessary to retain reserve vehicles solely for emergency purposes, and in consequence the number of ambulances has been reduced by six. These six vehicles have now been transferred to the Civil Defence organization for training purposes. Radio control has been employed for three years, and apart from eliminating much waste mileage it has enabled depot staffs to be reduced, particularly the night-shift personnel.
Furthermore, it has increased the efficiency of the service in terms of the delay period before reaching the scene of an accident or the home of a patient. The appearance of an ambulance within a minute or two after an accident has become fairly • commonplace.
The Rye equipment employed has a normal range of 15 to 18 miles, which is sufficient for contact to be maintained, directly or indirectly, between the depots and the vehicles. In the case of an emergency call, such as a bad rail accident for which a large number of ambulances is required, vehicles would be immediately dispatched from the nearest depots and replaced by others from more distant stations. Practical experience of emergencies of this kind has shown that radio reduces to a minimum the dislocation of normal services.
The ambulance service vehicles include Bedford K-type chassis with Lomas bodies and equipment, and other chassis comprise Austin Welfarer, Commer Q25 and MorrisCommercial CVII types. Many of the Austins have the maker's standard ambulance bodies and fittings, and some have Lomas bodies. The Commers are equipped with bodies supplied by Rootes, Ltd., Manchester. Other body suppliers include Wadham Bros., Ltd., and Thomas Startin, Ir., Ltd.
The Wolseley 14/60 saloons which the Austin 16 h.p. sitting-case cars replaced two years ago individually covered up to 200,000 miles before being discarded and similar service is expected from the Austins. In practice, 'the period between engine exchanges in the case of both commercial vehicle and car chassis is normally calculated on a mileage basis, a fair average being about 70,000 to 80,000, after which factory-reconditioned units are fitted.
Spare engines are, however, being held in greater number and the rebuilding of these and other units is now performed in the workshops.
Every five years, vehicles of the fire and ambulance services are stripped and overhauled, when all worn parts are renewed. Certain components, which might affect safety, are changed regularly between overhauls. These include steering assemblies and components that can be overhauled at small cost.
The council's programme of vehicle replacement is based on an estimated serviceable life of 10 years, or 100,000 miles, for commercial vehicles and cars. For the health department the depot also maintains a fleet of 59 8-10 hp. staff cars (mainly Ford, Morris and Austin) used by nurses.
Operating night and day on a three-shift system, the ambulances may be handled by a large number of drivers in the 24 hours (163 drivers are employed in the service) and an average fleet fuel-consumption rate of 14-15 m.p.g. is considered satisfactory. Serious consideration is, however, being given to the possibility of equipping one depot with oil-engined vehicles, which would, it is estimated, reduce the consumption rate to about 30 m.p.g.
Mr. Stallard and members of the council were favourably impressed by a recent demonstration of the new Dennis ambulance with a Perkins P4 unit. The use of sitting-ease ambulances with the B.M.C. 2.2.-litre unit is also a possibility when replacements are due.
Whilst an ambulance can often be returned to the maintenance centre for a few hours without disrupting the depot routine, the nature of the fire-fighting .service and the type of machine employed do not permit temporary withdrawal from service. To ensure a .high standard of maintenance and 'mechanical preparedness, all the depots tare visited monthly, or quarterly, by a fully equipped mobile workshop, two of which are permanently employed for the fire service, staffed by four mechanics and a foreman fitter.
The units are based on Commer 'Q2 chassis and carry oxy-aeetylene welding plant, mains wiring for electric tools, pressure greasers and a comprehensive range of tools, in addition to breakdown kits of fast-moving spares and so on.
Whilst some of the fire-brigade equipment is an inheritance from the National Fire Service, it is progressively being replaced by modern machines. Commer-Karrier chassis with special Carmichael bodywork and auxiliary gear are extensively employed for selfpropelled pumping units, and other comparatively recent additions include the Gamecock 3-4-ton chassis, Including stand mounted pumps, escapes, water and foam tenders, selfpropelled pumps, ladders and so on, the number of machines operated by the brigade totals over 160. The fitters n12 of the maintenance teams must be well versed in hydrauliCs to ensure that even minor defects are not developed by the pumps.
The vehicles and mechanical plant operated by the roads department cornprise 182 units, which are divided between eight districts under the control of the county surveyor. Headquarters of the divisional engineers are located at Leamington Spa (where there are two separate district depots), Coleshill, Henley-in-Arden, Shipston-onStour, Dosth ill, Rugby and Alcester.
Although all the machines are returned at intervals to the central depot for overhauls, an-the-spot service by skilled mechanics is essential, and a mobile workshop and two service vans, manned by trained fitters, are continually employed on this work. The breakdown of road-making machines may affect an entire gang of workmen, and to reduce such occurrences to a minimum, an exacting standard of preventive maintenance is necessary.
To obviate misleading log-book data with regard to road rollers, mechanical shovels, tractors and so on, a system has recently been introduced which takes into account both running and standing time.
An. interesting innovation in the organization of the school meals service is the use of several vans designed for quick conversion to passenger carrying, so that they can be used for the transport of schoolchildren. In addition to the fleet of 22 vehicles in regular use, a spare van is kept at the central depot to replace a defective vehicle at short notice.
The vans in this fleet are mainly Commers, with capacities varying from 10 cwt. to 25 cwt. Overhauls and replacements are normally undertaken during the school holidays.
Started less than five years ago by the education department, the school playing-field service, which covers all county council property, including gardens, is operating efficiently from depots at Warwick, Sutton Coldfield and Rugby, and is expanding rapidly. Lorries, tractors, vans, motor and hand mowers, scythes, rollers and numerous other items of special equipment used in laying out and maintaining gardens and playing grounds have to be dealt with. The road vehicles of this service are also used for transporting the various machines to the sites.
For the mobile library service, which is becoming increasingly popular despite the counter-attraction of television, eight Bedford and Commer vehicles are in constant use. The latest to be purchased for the service this year has a special body by Wilsdan and Co., Ltd., Even this does not complete the list of vehicle types which arc maintained at the central depot. In the miscellaneous section there are about SO vehicles which include mobile dental surgeries and welfare clinics (based on Coventry Knight trailer chassis), medical and stores vans, towing units and many other departmental staff cars. The Civil Defence Service has been supplied with 19 ambulances and rescue vehicles and a number of Bedford fire appliances will add to the effectiveness of the Auxiliary Fire Service section.