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Seven-country trip by Stockport charter van shows vital value of detailed planning.
WHEN C. and M. Yates Transport Ltd. of Heaton Chapel, Stockport, undertook to carry prefabricated show stands and displays to five international exhibitions in Europe, three in Iron Curtain countries, they were starting virtually from scratch on an enterprise that demanded a vast amount of advance planning. The specially built vehicle employed has now completed its first journey, covering approximately 4,400 miles and taking in the Budapest Fair in Hungary, the Poznan Fair in Poland, and the International Oil Exhibition in Frankfurt-am-Main.
Towards the end of August the Ford Trader Mk. II will set out for the British International Fair at Zurich, will continue to the Brno Fair in Czechoslovakia where a stay of 20 days will be made, and will afterwards return to Zurich to collect stand equipment from storage. By the time this assignment is completed, which should be at the end of September, something over 8.000 miles will probably have been covered.
The possibility of undertaking this work on behalf of Renold Chains Ltd., Wythenshawe, Manchester, was first explored around Christmas, 1962, and much remained to be done before the vehicle's departure date of May 8. In particular, a pantechnicon body was specially built by Burrows of Ardwick so as to provide maximum accommodation for the equipment and at the same time to conform with the various Continental regulations. In order to allow for the bulky nature of the load a Bak° extension was fitted, this making it possible to employ a body of 24 ft. internal length. A transparent Perspex roof and interior lighting were provided to facilitate loading and unloading at the exhibitions. An overall height of lift. 9 in. kept the vehicle within the Austrian dimensional regulations. Mr. J. Adshead, the Yates driver, was accompanied by his son as mate but, so as to enable three to be carried in the cab if necessary, a double passenger seat was fitted.
Briefly the itinerary was: Tilbury, Antwerp, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, Glatz, Poznan, Frankfurt-am-Oder, the Berlin Corridor, Frankfurt-am-Main, then back to Frankfurt-am-Oder, Poznan. Frankfurt-am-Oder again, and home by way of Frankfurt-am-Main and Antwerp where the ferry service to Tilbury was rejoined. During the period he was away Mr. Adshead arranged his own accommodation and food for 20 days, this being the period spent in the West. For the 35 days spent in the iron Curtain countries the hotels and meals were booked by Thomas Meadows and Co. Ltd. and paid for in advance.
There is no likelihood of the visitor going hungry in countries belonging to the Eastern bloc for before the traveller can obtain a visa he must possess food cards and in turn food cards can only be obtained by reservation of the appropriate accommodation. The rates paid for full board at a high-grade establishment in Budapest were 57s. 6d. daily, the same figure applying at Gyor whilst at Poznan the cost was down to 53s. 9d. To support the visa applications in respect of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland copies of the hotel vouchers were required, together with supporting letters from Renold Chains and from Yates. An ample supply of travellers' cheques was carried to cover expenses in the West.
Although he had not travelled in those parts during the intervening period Mr. Adshead. who is the operator's senior driver, spent two years in North West Germany at the end of the war and the smattering of German which he retained proved to be sufficient to see him through the trip. However, in order to minimize possible difficulties a great deal of preliminary work was carried out by several parties. Clearly, this was an operation in which it was necessary to be certain that the vehicle and crew were going to get through under their own steam.
At the outset Renoir] Chains Ltd. communicated with the official agencies for the exhibitions in Hungary, Poland and Germany, these being Masped for the Budapest Fair, Hartwig for Poznan, and Laasen and Co. for Frankfurt-amMain. These organizations are recognised as the responsible bodies for handling all deliveries to their respective Fairs by any means of transport. In these communications it was explained that the intention was to send exhibits, display stands and fittings, by the vehicle which would be sealed by the Customs before leaving the United Kingdom.
In Two Languages Applications had then to be made for the necessary carnet and when the vehicle was preparing to depart letters were drawn up in English and German for the officers at the various Customs frontiers, setting out the reasons for the trip and the procedure that was being followed. In particular it was explained that should any unforeseen charges arise, arrangements for meeting them without delay would be made if the matter were referred back to Renold House in Manchester. When all this had been done, however, the driver found, like so many travellers before him, that it is the tactful personal touch which spells real success in contacts with foreign officials. At times on the trip it was obvious that the offer of a souvenir of the visit of a British vehicle—the occasional halfbottle of Scotch whisky for instance— materially assisted in cementing amicable relations.
As the simplest means of obtaining Customs clearance when transporting exhibition requisites it was decided to apply for an E.C.S. Carnet which is the form that covers such things as commercial samples. This document was secured with the co-operation of the Chambeof Commerce to whom a banker's reference was supplied, Renold Chains at the same time accepting responsibility that
whatever was sent out to the named countries should be brought back within 12 months. if material thus sent out was not brought back within the period the Chamber would become liable for the appropriate duties. Hence it was necessary to give a bond to the value of the maximum duty on the whole consignment. Unfortunately the E.C.S. Carnet is not acceptable beyond the Iron Curtain.
Counterfoils to cover entry into and exit from every country en route were incorporated and copy invoices had to he attached to each of those counterfoils. All invoices were rendered in English and German and it was necessary that those for the Frankfurt Fair, which referred to different material, should be separate from those in respect of Poznan and Budapest. The driver was instructed to ensure that whenever the car-net was used at a frontier the counterfoil should be signed by the Customs officer concerned since the document had to be returned fully certified to the Chamber of Commerce in order that the bond might be redeemed. The van was sealed on departure from Manchester but called in at London to take on equipment from the stand fitters, at which stage it was necessary for a Customs officer to be present to supervise the loading. Thereafter great care was taken to ensure that whenever the seals were opened by the Customs the vehicle did not depart until it had been officially resealed.
R.H.A. Assistance
Mr Clive Yates told me that much assistance in the matter of vehicle documentation had been received from the Road Haulage Association, North Western (Eastern) Area. The area secretary, Mr. W. M. Farnorth, first of all wrote to each of the countries concerned seeking the necessary permission. His letter gave the operator's name and address, the registration number of the 1536 van, the unladen weight, the estimated gross weight with load, the purpose of the journey, the dates of entry to and exit from the individual country, also details of the rest of the route with frontier crossing places and a sketch map.
A check was made on dimensional limits although they caused little difficulty since the Continental figures mostly offer more latitude than Britain's. Height limit in Austria is 12 ft. 54 in. and in Poland and Czechoslovakia 13 ft. 14 in. No .permit to operate is necessary in Poland so long as the vehicle is travelling to or from an industrial fair; for work within the country an authority has to be granted by the Ministry of Communications
The necessary permit for Hungary was obtained without difficulty from the Ministry of Transport and Communications in Budapest. Authority for deliveries in Eastern Germany is obtainable from VEB Deutrans Internationale Spedition Und Befrachtung but for transit only approval is sought from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs; both are in Berlin. For transit through Austria, or deliveries within that country, the necessary passes are procurable from the Federal Ministry of Trade and Reconstruction in Vienna. In Eastern European countries the customs offices may vary in their hours of operation and because of this, among other reasons, Mr. Farnorth regards it as good practice for British operators to keep to main highways.
Uncertainty until the last was inevitable in the matter of entering East Germany from Poland. When entryinto East Germany from an Iron Curtain country is desired the transit visa cannot be obtained in advance but must be procured whilst in the country from which the crossing is being made. In the ease of the Yates trip it was expected that the procedure would be carried out actually at the frontier. The original Polish visa provided only for entry into Poland by way of Kudowa-Slone and return by way of the same frontier post. Advice from the Renoid agent at Poznan, -plus a good deal of persistence, unearthed special facilities at Poznan (available for the period of the Fair) which enabled the driver to obtain a visa for exit via Slubize so that East Germany could be entered at Frankfurt-am-Oder. At a later stage in the circuit considerable extra mileage was added when it became necessary to follow the main east-west autobahn via the Berlin Corridor instead of cutting across farther south.
The vehicle was, of course, covered by a carnet de passage -en douane. This still leaves national and local taxes on the visiting vehicle, in respect of the period spent within the particular frontiers, to be paid on exit. For the Trader such expenses totalled approximately £40. Another "running cost" was in respect of insurance, for the green card through which the companies extend foreign facilities, is not acceptable in East Germany and the traveller has to buy his necessary cover on arrival at the frontier.
Mr. Adshead told me that the agent he had been expecting to meet on his arrival from Tilbury by the ferry service was not to be found when the ship berthed at Antwerp. However, he was able to avail himself of assistance from Mr. Van Goetham, a member of the Transport Ferry Service staff, who assisted clearance through the customs and saw the vehicle off on its 104-milt run to the Belgian border at Tilje. They entered West Germany at Am Bildchen, finding some difficulty in the matter of accommodation since the resthouses serving the autobahn were already heavily booked for the Thursday and Friday nights.
Since in Austria heavy goods. vehicles are not permitted to travel on the roads between 3 p.m. on Saturday and midnight on Sunday a hotel reservation had been made at Salzburg prior to departure. Here a stay was made for two nights, followed by a 4 a.m. start on the Monday so as to gain a day by cutting out the scheduled stop at Vienna. In this connection there seems no trouble if a party arrives in advance of a visa's date but problems will certainly ensue if they fall behind the expiry day. Whilst for much of the way the roads had been excellent the severity of the past winter had affected the surfaces on the stage following Vienna and for 12 miles a diversion was followed which was no more than an earth track. At the border between Austria and Hungary a close scrutiny of the vehicle cab took place whilst the passports were being checked at a point some little distance away. When on the road once more the Adsheads discovered that 0-worth of Hungarian currency had disappeared. Budapest was reached on the Monday evening at 10.p.m. at which hour the appointed agents conducted them to the Duna Hotel where the Englishmen luxuriated for. the next fortnight, delivering the load to the Fair and collecting it at the end of their stay.
mainly with reference to private cars.
The authors pointed out that epicyclic gears are particularly useful in automatic transmissions for the simple reason that changes from one ratio to another can he made without closing the throttle or losing traction, as there is no axial engagement or disengagement of gear teeth or dogs.
The authors described in great detail a method of analysing the behaviour of all members of even the most complicated epicyclic gear train_ The advantage of epicyclic gears over layshaft gears is the ability to use suitable clutches or brakes associated with the reaction members, one of which is released as another is engaged. This avoids loss-of-torque transmission, and is" described by the Americans as the "hot-shift ". The authors went on to describe some applications of epicyclic gears. An interesting example was the Chrysler transmission where epicyclic gears provide two indirect ratio steps in addition to a torque converter, with a ratio of only 2:25:1.
Perbury Transmission
The second paper, "The Perbury Continuously Variable Ratio Transmission ", was presented by four authors: T. G. Fellows, National Research Development Corporation; D. Dowson, University of Leeds; F. G. Perry, Perbary Engineering Ltd_ and M. A. Flint, Flint and Partners Ltd. The history of the development of the Perbury transmission up to the present time took up the major part of the paper The Perbury gear uses discs with toroidal surfaces driven by rollers located between them and able to be tilted to change the ratio. It is of the same general type as the Hayes transmission which was fitted in a number of Austin cars between 1933 and 1936.
Eight years of study and analysis of mechanical drives led in 1956 to the formation of Perbury Engineering Ltd. In the beginning, major components, such as casings and discs for the transmission being developed, had to be obtained from 20-year-old scrap AustinHayes gears as limited funds were available, but many internal design changes were made to improve torque distribution and loading on the rollers. A unit was fitted in a 1957 Hillman Minx and although much useful experience was gained, it became clear that rig tests would be needed before any comprehensive evaluation of the transmission could be made.
The National Research Development Corporation was therefore approached and, towards the end of 1960, agreed to support the work_ Under N.R.D.C. sponsorship, the first step was to design a new transmission for the rig tests. Various modifications were made to the original design and while six units were being built, two test rigs were designed and constructed by Plint and Partners Ltd. One of the rigs was designed to investigate performance and this first ran in April, 1962.
The performance of the Perbury gear has now been measured under a wide range of conditions. Although designed K42
as a nominal 100 b.p. unit it has undergone several tests at 200 h.p. and higher powers are clearly possible. Overall transmission efficiencies at 200 h.p. are in the region of 92 per cent and the effect of running at reduced speeds is quite small. Three forms of power loss affect the efficiency of the unit. These are bearing, seal and oil churning losses, which, vary with such factors as oil temperature and speed, creep losses and spin losses.
It was clear that although a start had been made, much work remained to be done before a complete assessment could be undertaken of the merits of the transmission in relation to motor-vehicle requirements. The design study made for the Corporation had been concerned with the application of the gear to small passenger cars of 1to 1:5-litres engine capacity. More still needed to be known about life, reliability, clutch operation, performance over a wide range of temperatures, and costs. The major disadvantage, especially in comparison with hydrostatic transmission, was that a separate clutch and reverse gear were required. In addition, the shape of the unit may make its installation difficult with certain engine layouts.
Turning to the advantages of the Perbury gear, the main one is that ratio changes are inherently step-free. Existing automatic stepped transmissions are now extremely good in this respect but at the cost of some complication in the control system. Further benefits are that high overdrive ratios can be used, that the gear has a high efficiency over a wide ratio range, and that the Perbury gear runs quietly at high rotational speeds.
Wednesday afternoon's session included a paper by J. G. Giles of the Motor Industry Research Association entitled " Some Problems of Making a Ratio Change Under Power ". Mr. Giles discussed the problems of energy transfer when a change of operating torque—or speed-ratio was made. These problems are accentuated in a gear-change under power in a stepped-ratio transmission (hot-shift). If the engine remains connected to the transmission during braking then the braking effort will be reduced in the
same ratio of vehicle inertia,tota I inertia. This reduction of braking effort could be serious in the lower gears when there is as much energy stored in the engine and flywheel as in the vehicle.
After considering at length the problems involved and possible solutions, Mr. Giles in his conclusions said that variable-ratio transmissions were not expected to experience the problems of the stepped transmission, although the engine inertia imposed an upper limit on the rate of engine response to accelerator pedal movements.
Also in the final session was a paper entitled " General Trends in Automatic Transmission Development ", by C. W. Haul, Borg-Warner Ltd. Mr. Hanzi said his company was not producing an automatic transmission for the largercapacity commercial vehicle. He gave some reasons for this, at least in so far as p.s.v. were concerned, pointing out that bus applications demanded a greaterthan-normal transmission durability which would call for a special design, while the multiplicity of engine layouts would also make a common transmission design most unlikely. Each bus application, though retaining a common power train system, would require special housings and adaptors.
Nevertheless, he said, the generallyaccepted advantages of automatic transmission for cars would be more pronounced and advantageous in city bus services. These include increased driver efficiency and safer vehicle operation and reduced engine and drive-line maintenance.
The final paper at the symposium was " Synchromesh Problems in the Automation of an Orthodox Gearbox" presented by C. Henderson, S. Smith and Sons (England) Ltd. This paper also dealt primarily with cars and the work that the author's company had done in solving the problems of converting an orthodox gearbox to automatic change.