OPINIONS and QUERIES The Editor invites correspondence on all subjects
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connected with the use of tom. merdal motors. Letters should be written on only one side of the paper. The right of abbreviation is reserved and no responsibility for views expressed
is accepted. Queries must be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope.
OBEY THE SPIRIT BEHIND THOSE HALT SIGNS.
THE correspondent who wrote under the heading "Look Out for Signs That May Be Illegal," in your issue of July 28, is obviously of the small-boy type who spends his time trying to evade discipline and authority.
The " Halt " s gn, whether or not it be made in accordance with tee statutory measurement's, has been one of the most potent factors in reducing accidents at certain types of crossing. I can well imagine the outcry your correspondent would have raised if a member of his Association had been involved in an accident there due to non-observance of the " illegal" halt signs by a private motorist.
Whatever the size of the sign, the spirit of it was there, and it is to be hoped that your correspondent is still of such an age as will mean that he will ultimately have to do his military training, after which we trust he will have a better appreciation of discipline and authority.
Letters such as his do infinite harm to the Association he is supposedly organizing; as it must lead the average individual to think that it is an Association of wilful lawbreakers. As an original reader of your publication, and not one unconnected with the industry, I trust that you do not subscribe to your correspondent's view point.
Birmingham, 20. W. SEMPLE.
TERRITORIAL CAMPS AND HIRE OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES.
I HAVE recently perused a contract, from the insur mice aspect, made between a haulage contractor and the Territorial Army for the hire of vehicles, and the additional liability assumed by the contractor leads me to urge upon all ve`licle owners.who are given a contract by the Association to notify their brokers immediately and apply foe the eidsting motor policy to be extended to cover he following required contingencies : (1) Loading and unloading beyond the limits of any carriageway or thoroughfare should be covered, in view of the occasions when vehicles are used on private property: (2)4 The Territolial Army Association requires to be indemnified under the policy in respect of any claim made upon it arising out of the use of the vehicles.
(3) The vehicles are used under orders from the Association and may be driven by any person acting on its instructions, including persons under tuition.
(4) The vehicles will carry passengers and the contractor's legal liab_lity for injury caused to such passengers must be covered.
(5) There may be. a possibility of carrying explosives. The insurance company should be made aware of this and the policy extended to apply.
(6) The insurance company covering the Workmen's Compensation risk should be notified that the driver hired with the vehicle will be acting on the orders of the Association for the duration of the camp. It seems to me that it is essential to draw your, readers' attention to these points, and I hope that you will allow me the medium of your journal for carrying out that • rather important purpose.
Lours C. F. EDWARDES, Managing Director. (For Ernest A. Notcutt and Co., Ltd.) London, E.C.4.
ECONOMICAL OPERATION OF LIGHT OIL-ENGINED VEHICLES.
AS operators of commercial vehicles eqUipped with
both petrol engines and compression-ignition engines, and having had experience of both types over a number of years, we have read with considerable interest the article published recently by S.T.R. cornparing operating costs of 30-m.p.h c,hassis on the one hand with a petrol unit and on the other with an oil engine.
We have at present three 30 m.p.h. vehicles in service equipped with the Perkins Aeroflow P6 engine. The first of these has been in continual service since the end of 1937.
We feel sure that you will be interested to learn that this engine has now completed the grand total of 100,000 miles, and during the whole of this period we have not had even one involuntary stop on the road with the vehicle concerned.
Our total expenditure on this engine during the whole of this period has been for three new fan belts and two water-pump packings; the fuel return averages 19 m.p.g. and at present the oil consumption remains steady at 5-6 pints of oil per 1,000 miles. The injectors have not been touched since abcut 15,000 miles, and the engine runs es well now as it did on the day upon which we took delivery.
When we mention that this particular chassis had completed 120,000 miles with a petrol engine in it. before the oil engine was fitted, we consider that this is ample proof that the P6 engine does not •pull the light petrol chassis to pieces (the chassis is one of the most popular makes on the market).
In passing, we would like to say that the other two P6 engines we have give every promise of doing a like mileage.
In view of the foregoing, we feel it is rather difficult to agree with S.T.R. regarding the extra cost of maintaining oil-engined vehicles, as we can assure him that the petrol-engined chassis we are operating have been considerably more costly regarding maintenance than the oilers.. • We have always found the engine manufacturers exceedingly helpful as regards instructing us in correct and adequate maintenance, and we feel, therefore, that, granted this co-operation, the 30 m.p.h. oil-engined vehicle is an excellent and profitable proposition for small and large operators alike.
A. W. GODDARD. '
Royston. (For Goddard and Dellar.) CYLINDER PLATES WHICH CRACKEDWITHOUT WATER FREEZING.
WITH regard to the operation of Thornycroft LE/ SC6 vv 3-ton six-wheeled lorries, I would like your opinion with reference to the cracking during a very heavy frost of the plates which are bolted on the sides of the cylinder blocks.
It would appear that the lorries were properly drained, yet these cylinder-block plateswere found to be cracked when the vehicles were filled with hot water to proceed on a Journey. I May add that the lorries were parked in the open overnight.
Is it possible that :—(a) These plates cracked owing to a different rate of expansion and/or contraction between the cylinder-block metal and the metal of which the plates are made?. (b) That the plates cracked owing to the intense cold, as a very cold wind was blowing at -the time? (c) That the trouble wascaused by filling up with very hot water? V. 3. DARRELL
BOrdOn Camp, .
[Concerning the cracking of the plates on your Thorny • . croft vehicle, it is our belief that these plates may have cracked when the refilling with hot water was per ' formed. This would cause an immediate and consider . able expansion of the ice-cold metal, and any variation in the rate of • expansion between the different parts might have the effect mentioned. The effect of the hot water would probably be far more drastic than merely a reduction of temperature without the presence of ice. In some engines, it is quite possible for a residue of water to be left in the jackets, even if the radiator be emptied, in which case, the cause ofthe trouble is certainly quite obvious.—ED * WHY HIRE PURCHASE COSTS SO MUCH.
MY experience of the question of the cost of hire purchase is from the angle of one who sees most ot the game, or, in other words, one who is frequently required to get an " unfortunate " of the haulage industry out of the mire.
Many have come to me for assistance regarding the renewal of their carriers' licences, concerning vehicles long since recovered by the" financiers," and the, story, in every case, ha S been one of handicap. I cannot see how one haulier can compete with another, on even terms, when he carries the additional burden of monthly instalments. Frankly, I dislike the hire-purchase system in any shape or form, and particularly when it is used as an inducement to enter an industry where every penny counts. I would far rather see a man pay £5 cash for an old wreck and nurse it along until he has saved sufficient to warrant something better. Let him put as much as one third to " depreciation " and it would be of more practical value than struggling to pay the first few monthly instalments and then losing everything because he could not raise the next.
I have studied the operating 'costs as compiled by S.T.R. and have trimmed these with my own experience and that of others. In no case have I found marginal allowance for anything over and above the recognized items classified as standing charges and running costs. In the bad old days a haulier would strain every nerve to maintain these hire-purchase instalments. Bangwould go every other precaution. He ignored depreciation and adopted every device, wise or otherwise, to run the vehicle on a cut-throat policy.
That sort of thing -is, I am glad to say, no longer possible. Maintenance is now compulsory, hours are restricted and in a dozen ways the haulier has been educated to a higher grade of operation. To keep a vehicle
A40 on the road he must spend as much as his competitoi. If this competitor has no instalments to pay; or, at the worst, has to allow for 5 per cent. interest on capital outlay, who collars the market? Certainly not the gentleman who has been accommodated.
I cannot imagine any dealer "killing the fatted calf" over a prodigal vehicle, even if someone else be carrying the baby. It is a fact, however, that hundreds of vehicles per annum are recovered by default, and yet the financiers appear to be able to keep out of the workhouse.
London, S.W.1. E. H. B. PALMER.
WAR RISKS AND THE GENERAL • PUBLIC.
THERE may be a tendency among the general public L to suppose that schemes for insurance against war risks to property are a matter of concern only to property
Owners. I would like, therefore, to emphasize how vitally important this matter is to the whole community..
Even if there be no war, the building industry ii threatened with paralysis, because investors, lenders, builders, and others dare not think that their money is' in a building which cannot be insured against the risic of destruction which may be imminent. If this paralysis continues, its eventual effect in the -way of loss of employment will be widespread and will extend far beyond the building industry itself—i.e., to painters, decorators, carpenters, glass manufacturers, and numerous other ancillary trades.
It is essential for the prosperity of the country that the wheels of business should be kept going, and this can come about only if confidence in the matter of war risks be assured. It must be, remembered, too, that property forms the main source from which rates and taxes are paid, and any considerable fall in the value of property would have a disastrous effect upon the individual taxpayer and, indeed, upon the whole community.
The war clouds seem af the moment to be somewh it receding, and now is the time to assure both that the years of peace (if they be granted) should not be hadowed by lack of confidence, and that, if war come, we should be fully prepared with a comprehensive scheme of insurance. J. BaLnwiri-WERE. House of Commons.
TOUGHENED-GLASS LENSES FOR SPECTACLES?
A RECENT item in "One Hears" asked whether I–I.-toughened safety glass lenses were available for spec-. tacles. Although I have been wearingsafety glass spectacles for a number of years, under the impression that they were of toughened glass, I was surprised to learn from my optician that, like all other safety glass spectacle lenses, they are of laminated glass.
Apparently, with safety glass of the laminated type it is possible to obtain optically perfect lenses of either flat or curved surfaces. My own spectacles are proof -of this, as it is absolutely impossible to tell by wearing them that they are not of ordinary optical glass.
I purchased them on impulse after considering what might have been the results of two unfortunate accidents involving friends of mine---one on the sports ground and the other at the wheel of a car. All spectacle wearers who at work or play expose themselves 1o. risk of physical hurt, would benefit by the increased peace of mind engendered by the wearing of safety glass spectacles. These remove much of the risk of severe injury to the eyes in the event of breakage. ,
London, S.W.2. T. HARMER.