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-A Fire Argument Cleared Up. The Problem of Obtaining* Steam-wagon Drivers. Milk-transport Costs with a 1 0-tonner Petrol and,Oil-engineFuel Costs. Tractor trailer Safety. Third-party 1nsurance. The Seven-seater May .Be a "
The Danger of Fire on the Road.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3487] Sir,—Referring to Mr. Goddard's letter in your issue of July 21st, as the cause of the fire on the lorry to which it apparently refers has now been ascertained, I think it quite possible that had this machine been running with an oil engine the same thing could have occurred to it.
As to the mention of fire extinguishers; this machine was carrying two at the time and these were used with little or no effect upon the fire; also several more were employed by the fire brigade.
Mr. Goddard seems to be very well informed, as he says that this fire would not have happened if the lorry had been an oil-engined one.
P. LONG, For Henry Long and Sons (Manningham), Ltd. Bradford.
Trained Drivers are Available for Steam Wagons.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3488] Sir,—Having read the article entitled "The Control of the Steam Wagon," published in your issues dated July 21st and 28th, I must say that I fail to agree with the writer regarding the question of steam drivers not being available. I am a member of a well-known wagon-works driving club, have been in control of steam wagons for about nine years, can do any running repair, and I know London and the Provinces as well as any driver, yet, like dozens of other fully qualified drivers, I am unemployed as there are not enough wagons.
There are many trained men who, like myself, have tried all over the country to find work. If there be firms te-day. who have wagons standing idle it is because they do not advertise for men, as I am sure we drivers are willing to• work anywhere, providing we can get a living wage, so it need never be said that 'these cheapest and surest transport wagons should fail for want• of trained men to drive and maintain them. STEAM WAGON DRIVER. Blackpool. .
Transporting Milk by Tractor-trailer.
The 7,7 .7 • .1.:,eft4tor THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. [34891 Sir,—Your article on milk haulage has come
just at a time when we are contemplating entering this work.
The contract we are offered is for the transporting of 1,500 gallons per day a distance of 90 miles, which will.pean, say, 1,300 miles per week. The price offered is Lid. per gallon.
The milk will be delivered to lorry on the main road In the first 10 miles of the journey. We intend using a tractor-trailer of 10 tons capacity, which will prevent any overloading. Although there are plenty of return loads available we do not intend to handle them with this machine.
According to our figures this contract will pay, but we would like your views on the subject.
We enclose our estimate for the work [We reproduce this.—En.] and we would like to have your comments.
Thanking you for all the assistance we have derived from your articles in the past, we wish your valuable paper success. 'Arita TRANSPORT..
10,500 gallons per week at 1d. = 154 12s. 6d.
Gross profit £10 per week.
[I have no criticisms of your figures to offer. The contract tippeirs to be one into which you may enter with every confidence. If only every haulier would count the cost as you have done, before quoting his price or accepting one which 1s offered, there would be much less complaint of price cutting.
..I note that you refer to the profit as " gross " and I am concluding from that you appreciate that you will have to make some sort of provision for a spare vehicle to take. the place of the one set aside for the contract when it is, for any reason, off the road. It is inadvisable to expect any motor vehicle to run for a whole year, Seven days per week, without making some such provision, and I would recommend you to make arrangements for a substitute very, ,early in the life of the contract, so that you are not caught one day without a vehicle. You will be aware that to miss a day's load would be very little short of a calamity.--S.T.R.1 Petrol and Oil-engine Fuel Costs when Loaded and Unloaded.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3490] Sir,—In your issue of July 21st, under the heading of "Problems of the Haulier and Carrier," you publish some very interesting data concerning the fuel consumption of petrol-engined vehicles. May I be permitted to make a few remarks on the subject? Whilst it is, of course, evident that the h.h.p. an engine has to develop with a loaded vehicle is more than with a light vehicle, it may seem surprising that the difference in running costa between the two cases is not more marked. The fuel-consumption and fuelcost curves which I enclose [These are reproduced.— En.] will, however, explain this• shortcoming.' The consumption curves are characteristic for petrol and oil engines respectively, and alter but little for the various makes of either type. The fuel consumption of a petrol engine is a minimum at 100 per cent, load and rises rapidly as the load (on engine) decreases. This explains the remarkable small change in fuel cost per mile between loaded and light running, as pointed out by you, and proves how inefficient a vehicle becomes unless it be loaded to its full capacity. It may be said here that an engine is only seldom called upon to develop its full rated power (i.e., when pulling up an extreme gradient on bad roads in bottom gear). Under normal conditions the engine mostly develops 60 per cent. to 70 per cent. with a loaded vehicle, and about 30 per cent. to 40 per cent. light, depending upon road conditions and type of vehicle in question.
In the case of an oil-engined vehicle, conditions are very much better. Apart from lower fuel consumption in comparison with a petrol engine, the oil engine has its minimum fuel consumption around 80 per cent. of its rated h.p., and it rises but little as the load (on engine) decreases or increases. In other words, the oil engine has its lowest fuel consumption within the range at which the loaded vehicle usually operates.
Turning now to the other graph—the larger one— this shows a comparative fuel-cost curve taking petrol at 1s. per gallon and Diesel oil at 41d. rt shows, for example, that an owner of a 5-ton oil-engined vehicle can carry, say, a 2-ton load, almost as efficiently as a full load, as regards fuel consumption, and that he can count on a considerable saving in fuel cost in the course of a year owing to the consistency of the rate of fuel use on the part of the oil engine.
J. H. ALBERTI-NI,
For Service Motor Works, Ltd. Belfast.
B36 .
The Question of Safety in Tractor-trailer Design.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3491] Sir,—We wish to refer to a letter from Mr. Newland published in your issue dated July 21st, in which he sets out details of a serious accident which occurred to a tractor, described by him as a "light petrol tractor, drawing a 14-ton trailer." His idea in bringing this forward is apparently to point out the danger of a tractor of comparatively light weight drawing a trailer weighing approximately six times as much as the tractor, which, assuming that the trailer brakes were not satisfactory, is liable to overrun a trailer on a gradient—which seems to have happened in this case.
In your footnote to his -letter you make certain remarks regarding the brake fittings by various manufacturers and suggest that those interested should come forward with a frank statement.
It would appear that Mr. Newland wrote as a result
of an article pu,blished in The Commercial Motor
under the heading of "Problems of the Haulier and Carrier" and dealing with tractors and trailers of a Specified type. The writer dealt at great length in his article with the misuse of the word "tractor,"
which may cover different types of towing vehicles in as many as seven classifications, but he -ultimately deals with the tractor-trailer system which we supply, and which is entirely different from the ordinary type of tractor drawing• a four-wheeled trailer.
In addition to the details put forward by " S.T.R.," there are others supplied by users of our vehicles, and it is essential that these details should not be confused with the ordinary type of tractor and trailer. We are stating this because the tractor and trailer to which Mr. Newland refers, and which met with such a serious accident, is not, in fact, a machine in the same classification and was not constructed by us.
As suggested in your footnote, we propose giving briefly the reasons why the type of vehicle we supply could not possibly meet with such an accident, GO 80 100 The Beardmore tractor is con E OP Fut LOAD structed as a high-speed commercial vehicle, equipped in itself with ample braking by Westinghouse, and the power is transmitted through a six-speed gearbox. It is provided at the rear with a specially constructed adhesor device to which is attached the load-carrying portion.
The load-carrying or trailer portion of the vehicle, which may be of any capacity up to 15 tons, is also of a special design which, when coupled to its tractor, forms a complete unit and not a tractor-trailer in the accepted sense of the word. The rigid drawbar incorporated is coupled automatically to the adhesor device and enables the driver to superimpose any weight he desires upon the driving wheels of the towing unit. Our experiments have shown that the weight the driver can transfer or superimpose is sufficient to utilize the full power of the engine before wheelspiu is possible, and the vehicle can, in fact, climb a gradient of 1 in 5 on a bad surface without any sign of wheel spin (we assume, of course, that the towing unit is fitted with medium-pressure tyres).
We have always considered the braking of this type of vehicle to be of the utmost importance and, with this in view, we have fitted Westinghouse power brakes, which are specially designed for us. Westinghouse brakes function on only the rear wheels of the trailer. In the case of the trailer with two wheels at the rear the brakes operate on two 24-in, drums, and with a trailer having four wheels at the rear the brakes operate on four 18-in. drums. Thus, the rear-wheel trailer brakes represent the principal braking on the vehicle, and on a wet road the vehicle may be pulled up at a speed of 20 m.p.h. to SO m.p.h. in a little over its own length.
The advantage of having the principal brakes of the vehicle on the rear wheels is that there is no possibility of the machine "folding up."
We have arranged for the Westinghouse operating lever for the trailer to act in conjunction with the power-unit braking in such a manner that, when the driver applies his foot brake, the Westinghouse valve is first of all opened, which applies the power brake on the trailer, and by continued depression of the pedal he can then apply the braking on the unit itself.
Several of our users, however, prefer the Westinghouse brake to be operated separately by ratchet lever on the dash, which is within instant reach of the driver's hands. In addition to the Westinghouse controls these area of course, all duplicated by hand controls, in the unlikely event of a failure in the Westinghouse system.
CHAS. J. BOUCHER,
For William Beardmore and Co., Ltd.,
London, S.W.4. Commercial Vehicle Dept.
An Important Point in Third-party Insurance.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MoTon.
[34921 Sir,—In your issue of July 7th I note your reply to letter No. 3453.
Do I read aright that by the Road Traffic Act it is illegal for any concern owning vehicles, no matter what work it is engaged on, standing excess under its policy?
What is my position, as a haulage contractor, for third-party risks? Can I stand an excess by mutual arrangement with my insurance company, or is it illegal
to do so? HAULIER. London, W.3.
[The effect of the Road Traffic Act is that the insurance policy against third-party risks which has to be taken out by the owner of a motor vehicle must cover the whole of
the liability in respect of such risks. If a policy provides that the insured shall bear the first £10, or any other proportion, of a claim the effect is that the insured is insuring himself in respect of the excepted amount, and the insurance company is only insuring him in respect of the excess, consequently the insured is uninsured in respect of the excepted amount.
There is, however, no objection to an arrangement being made between an insured and the company, under which the insured agrees to repay to the company a proportion of the amount of any claim, so long as it is quite clear that, primarily, the company is liable under the policy for the full amount of the third-party claim.—Be.j
A Seven-seater Bus May Be a Public-service Vehicle.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3493] Sir,—As the holder of a road licence granted by the Commissioners to run a bus service between villages, would I be allowed to complete the last journey to the outlying village with a seven-seater rural bus driven by a conductor who is an experienced driver, but is only 18 years of age? I would pay for the hire of the rural bus, and the passengers would pay nothing, as it would rank as a private-hire job. This bus has a hackney licence, and it would enable the driver to leave work sooner and save the large bus from running so far with a few passengers. Rosehearty. W. G. NOBLE.
[You are not allowed under the Road Traffic Act to let a conductor act as the driver of a public-service vehicle unless he be licensed to drive by the Traffic Commissioners. Such a licence may not be granted to anyone who is under the age of 21 years. Any vehicle which is used for carrying passengers at separate fares is a publicservice vehicle, even if it does not seat more than seven passengers. It is true that a vehicle which does not seat more than seven passengers and which is let for hire as a whole is excepted from the provisions of the Act, but we have little doubt but that even if you yourself paid for the hire of the seven-seater, it would be held that it came within the definition of a public-service vehicle, and that, consequently, the driver must be over 21 years of age.—En.]