Do you want to comment on any stories in Commercial
Page 28
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Motor? Does someone in the industry deserve a pat on the back, or a dressing down? Drop us a line at Commercial
Motor, Room H203, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS or fax us on 0181652 8969. Alternatively you can e-mail us on Miles.Brignall*rbi.muk.
GET THE MESSAGE Recently I pulled up behind a truck bearing the RHA message "Fair Play on Fuel" and thought: "What can that possibly mean to the ordinary man on the street?" Then I opened my newlook CM(4-10 Feb) and was pleased to see in Bird's Eye View that Paul Fox of Cambridgeshire apparently thought the same (with a large poster on his AEC flatbed—Ed). Well done Paul, but when is the RHA going to get real with its PR?
Andrew Seacomb, Press & Communications, Preston.
YOUR LAST CHANCE
For those of you who are not yet aware, on 24 February 1999 there will be a mass lobby to Parliament protesting over the excessive fuel taxes we pay. It is being organised and supported by the industry's main trade associations and the trades unions. Every haulier in the UK should be aware of this campaign. There has been ample coverage across all types of media since last spring.
There has been one essential ingredient missing in all the campaigning so far, that element is road hauliers! Your trade associations have been pushed into action to represent not only their own members but the whole of our industry.
And now they need you to help them make the point—or forever hold your peace.
All of us like a good moan from time to time, but all we do is moan among ourselves. Then we condemn ourselves to the situation we are in. If I was outside the industry looking in, I would be forgiven for asking "what industry?" All we appear to be is a ramshackle bunch of bloody-minded individuals too dumb to fight our corner when our backs are against the wall,and too frightened to give anything away just in case we help our competitors a wee bit. Am I being too polite?
On this issue, united we stand, divided we fall. And that is why all licensed operators, large and small, should be supporting this campaign with a resounding "YES". After all, what have you got to lose? Three hundred hauliers is nowhere near enough to convince the Government what a vital role we all play in this country's economy.
Three hundred just doesn't give us "street cred". Where are the other tens of thousands of you? In exile?
So on 24 February 1999, we'll see you ALL at Westminster. Not for my sake, but hopefully your own. Time and chances are running out; golden opportunities like this are few and far between. If you miss this one, who knows if you'll get another?
It's your business, your industry, so support it! Mite Lewis Shropshire & Border Counties Transport Association.
THOUGHTS ON CITY DROPS?
We are currently purchasing a vehicle for multi-drop work in London and Birmingham. The obvious choice for our deliveries of refrigerated meat is a 6x2 rigid with a 28ft body and lift axle. We have some very tight delivery points and the vehicle spends its time, when not trunking up the motorway, in congested city centres. However, we are looking at the possibility of using an articulated combination with a steering rear axle which may allow us greater length and increased carrying capacity.
A debate arises as to whether length for length an antic is always more manoeuvrable than a rigid or whether the cut-in—even with a steer axle—means that it doesn't work well in inner-city conditions. At some point we will have to experiment, but meanwhile I would be grateful for any views or experiences which readers have to offer. Peter Mitchell, Fanner, Black Mountain Foods, Cwrndu, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshirp
• PS In the Interests of balance I hope that, when The Hawk's dog Foden barks, he goes "ERF...ERri
IN THE BLACK
You recently ran a story about our business, incorrectly stating that Booker Foodservice division was losing money (CM21-27 Jan). Our most recent accounts show that in 1997 we made 112m profit on £900m turnover. Alex Fisher, Managing director, Booker Foodservice, High Wycombe, Bucks
LOST WHEEL MYSTERY
The official line of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Traffic Commissioners seems to be
that there is no lost wheels mystery and it is always poor maintenance at fault. Not so!
The real mystery is why we still use this primitive labourintensive fixing design from the 1930s to hold wheels on when speeds and weights have increased dramatically.
All other parts of the vehicle have benefited radically from improved design and technology in this time, so why not wheel fixings?
Road design now places tremendous stress on the nearside wheels, eg roundabouts, gutters, drain covers and speed bumps— not to mention the massive increase in vehicles' average annual mileages.
All published statistics state that it is nearly always the nearside wheels that come loose. You don't have to be an Einstein to see that if the problem was maintenancerelated then wheels would come off both sides of the vehicle equally, salt is DESIGN that is at fault in not catering for the forces uniquely found on the nearside of the vehicle.
At one time we had lefthanded thread wheelnuts on the nearside to act against the direction of rotation of the wheel. Out they went when the continental manufacturers took control and spigot wheels arrived, which were not an improvement. As they generally drive on the right and do not have our unique UK problems they probably wonder what all the fuss is about over here.
So what do we do about it?
• Above all else wheel fixings should be designed to be absolutely fail-safe, then maintenance practices can be 100% reliable and in line with the rest of the vehicle's technology.
• Engineer's should not readily accept all the blame for this problem as it happens in all sectors of the truck and bus industry, including the top-class operators. We should all be working to push for design improvements.
• The ATE should adopt a highprofile position in supporting the operational side of the industry on this issue as individual operators have no weight, either with manufacturers or, more importantly, with the various regulatory bodies.
J Ashmore,
A Concerned Operating Engineer, West Wittering, West Sussex.