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By Ashley Taylor,

12th January 1962
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Page 57, 12th January 1962 — By Ashley Taylor,
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A.M.I.R.T.E., Assoe.Inst.T.

HEN I return home soon after midnight there is a chance that, passing through the neighbouring shopping centre, I shall see a van driver unlock a Jor, remove certain things from the shop and put side the van, then place a number of items from his id in prepared places in the shop. All this is done

and easily in a street that most weekdays is ed and where much hand-wagging is necessary in ) enable delivery vehicles to fit themselves into one meant spaces. If vehicle recorders are fitted to the rrying out deliveries at night, they must show almost ous performance, whereas ugly gaps will inevitably records of those working only during the day.

is nothing new in the idea of night deliveries and :iate that they are not a full answer. Nevertheless, quite alarming to attend a meeting of transport I did a few weeks ago, and to hear uncompromis4ance to any ideas that would upset the common of collection and delivery.

is concede that delivery men have a right in a I city street and, having done that, let's avoid off our economic noses to spite the world at large. arely heard so many negative views advanced as I the occasion just mentioned, one of the most us of the opponents to any changes in the ry hours of delivery being a transport manager ehieles regularly around 10 a.m. gum up one of the

cries of an important provincial city. At that time his drivers, actually supposed to be transferring

goods into the shop, are, I believe, having a nice cup. of tea behind the scenes. The cost of this little interlude to the community at large must be considerable and, purely from an economic point of view, it would probably pay the local authority to delegate to the traffic wardens the job of dropping a pound or two to the drivers so as to get them to move off smartly to some other part of the town! Be that as it may, there is no doubt that by the preservation of an open mind, and by applying organization and method to the delivery round, the user,in question could save himself some quite useful money.

Looking round for an example of collection arrangements that by nature are far from easy to plan, one could most readily quote refuse disposal. But in relatively recent years, as readers of The Commercial Motor will know well, directors of public cleansing have trained the average householder to fit in with some reasonably logical programmes. More recently the cleansing officials have, as a profession, set to work on the architects with the object of ensuring that refuse chutes are incorporated in both blocks of flats and large office buildings, so that the task of disposal is approached on the most simplified basis.

In this respect, however, it would seem that we are only just about catching up with the ancients for at a recent international conference it was pointed out that ruins of towns built 4,000 years ago in the Indus Valley showed that there a cart could be driven through a tunnel under the buildings and direct-loaded with refuse by means of a chute. Certainly architects today could do much to alleviate the chaos that seems to be the inevitable accompaniment of the loading deck in so many premises. And a more positive approach from the transport side might help. At the moment there appears to be a strong vested interest in some companies in the mumbo-jumbo that has been developed in receipt and dispatch, and one sees a state of affairs that would drive the time-and-motion expert to the verge of apoplexy.

Perhaps the most wasteful category of all comprises shop deliveries, and here some firms have seen the light. By the employment of night safes one important transport user has in the past obtained double-shift running, carrying out wholesale distribution to shops in the hours of darkness and employing the same vehicles for retail work congested districts during normal working hours.

Farseeing planners long ago realized the imports getting collection and delivery services away fronfrontages. Built over 40 years ago, Manchester's Exchange has a hydraulic lift that will drop vehicle5 ground level to a basement passageway, where th collect and deliver without cluttering up the busy A more modern application is demonstrated in a which, I understand, has been approved in the Non1 for ramps leading to the roof level of a building, there will be facilities for direct reception of goods point by retail establishments which have their o entrances on the street below. Such are some systems that in the long term will provide the an

Meanwhile, there is much that the ordinary opera do to help himself and the community at large althc mess, the traders who control the delivery points really provide the necessary facilities. Alternatively, hould be prepared to bear extra charges where the

f such a provision results in unreasonable delays. In nnection, road transport sometimes suffers a measure advantage through the much-vaunted reduction in ed. for packing, it being questionable whether there is .erall gain when lack of containers means that Ddities have to be handled with much greater care eipt than would otherwise be the case.

:re reasonably substantial standardized containers are ley can often be whipped from a platform vehicle by : with a minimum of delay and may, indeed be lifted to a reception point on the actual floor where the adity is ultimately to be used. Quick receipt of rd containers should not be difficult to e and, always provided there is the ary element of trust between the s parties concerned, many delays might ninated by the reception of a sealed ler in the unexamined state, covered ertified delivery note.

Extended Hours :he same time, much could be done extension of handling hours at many shments, for all too often these are unjustifiably restricted, this in itself g unnecessary congestion at the load.ys. Whilst it is obviously essential roper records shall be kept of goods el or dispatched, there are many cations that could facilitate the ler working of traffic by a longer over of loading time, even if this ecl accepting closed containers during hours periods and recording their ts on the ensuing day.

!re it is practical, it is accepted that :atest immediate scope for easing the flow lies in night deliveries to retail es such as those mentioned in the iction to this article. Not only does properly organized, ease the work of ion and delivery, it also reduces ptions during shopping hours. But tre practical limits to the application of this theory. an interesting example of highly developed night on, I venture to quote Martins the Cleaners, whose miters are at Appel-ley Bridge, near Bradford. Apart ontract consignments, all cleaning and dyeing work sported during the night and nine vehicles cover :50 premises scattered over an area bounded roughly wcastle upon Tyne in the north, Birmingham and er in the south, Blackpool in the west and rough in the east. The vans start out at 30-minute Is from 5.30 p.m. onwards, the shortest round being ted by 2.30 a.m. and the longest by 9.30 a.m. On if the longer journeys two drivers are employed and

Leicester-Birmingham area round, for instance, les a night Will be covered, six nights a week.

te course of the year the vehicles run an average of ing like 60,000. miles, being loaded practically all the since, when processed work is delivered, other its and furnishings for dyeing and cleaning are :el from the same branches. Formerly it was the to use heavy woven cane containers for transport directions, but five years ago the company cornthe conversion of its fleet so that garments could be hangers for delivery straight to the shop racks. Thousands of garments are suspended on a series of rails which are fixed transversely across the vans, the front rail being loaded with the last delivery of the round. Doors along the side give ready access to the contents. Three large Commer vehicles are employed, but most of the other night-work vans are Thames. The intention is now to start using Thames passenger chassis with special bodywork, which will have accommodation for something like 3,000 garments.

All the drivers on this service are obviously well-trusted employees for each has access to branches at a time when there is no supervision whatsoever. Furthermore, they must make their deliveries methodically and must ensure that the premises are left in a secure state. When a shop is opened up the clean work is carried in on hangers and placed on racks, then the dirty work, usually packed in sacks, is placed on the floor of the vehicle. Unloading is performed by a :skilled team • at the works on the morning following collection, after which each nightservice van will be passed to the maintenance bay, where work is carried out on a strict mileage basis. The loading of the night vans with processed garments begins in the afternoon in readiness for the evening departures.

Different Sphere

In an entirely different sphere, bodywork has been specially designed to assist in the speedy delivery of relatively heavy consignments at night in what are ordinarily busy shopping areas. The system employed by H. J. Ryman, Ltd., was described in The Commercial Motor some time ago. The body incorporates a mechanical handling system so that the driver can deal singlehanded with consignments on stillages. Provision is made for the movement of 28 stillages, each of 5 cwt. capacity. By the use . of roller tracks at two levels, they can readily be transferred on to the hydraulic tail-lift for lowering to ground level and

for removal by hydraulic lift truck. To minimize the noise at night, the hydraulic pump for the tail-lift is driven by an electric motor, extra heavy-duty batteries being fitted in order to compensate for the heavier loadings involved.

These two examples in themselves demonstrate immediate and practical answers to some of the problems that are troubling certain transport managers.

That a fresh constructive approach to urban cengestion is required is a thing that becomes increasingly obvious. In a report prepared last year by Mr. Alex Samuels, then chairman of the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee, the author suggested that if congestion was not controlled, then London as we know it would be doomed. This is the long-term question that hovers over many built-up areas when the number of motor vehicles is increasing all the while and the rising traffic continues to make still more pressing demands on urban communities' existing road space. In this situation it has to be borne in mind that, as the report quoted observes, there is a danger that erosion of cities by roads and car parks might ultimately lessen their importance.

The authorities may well be compelled to take progressively stronger steps to deal with street congestion, so that some transport users must be prepared to adopt a more flexible attitude to their problems than has occasionally been evident in the past.


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