Specialized Servi( the Keynote of
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POTTERY RANSPORT
THE transport of pottery, tiles, earthenware and china is divided into two main classes—for export and for home trade. It is not quite true to state that the two classes are entirely separate, but it is reasonable to say that operators tend to concentrate on either one or the other.
Some of the outstanding features of this branch ot haulage, its characteristics and its peculiar difficulties are covered in this description of the operations of two haulage concerns in the Potteries. Beresford, Caddy and Pemberton, Ltd., is a company which concerns itself mainly with exports, and Longton Transport, Ltd., with the home trade.
The outstanding difference between the two classes of haulage is that, whereas, in the case of export trade, return loads are usually obtainable, that advantage is not present in the home trade. The reason is that in the export trade there are no return empties. In the home trade there are sufficient almost to necessitate the use of the vehicles for the conveyance of empties on two out of every three return journeys. This fact does not necessarily mean that the home trade is less profitable than the other. It might even imply the contrary. It is, nevertheless, an important -factor to be kept in mind when comparing the two phases.
Dealing first with the export side, the principal traffic is between the Potteries and Liverpool, Manchester and London, the three ports being named in the order of their importance in respect of this industry. Deliveries are made direct to the docks. Return loads comprise mainly grain, foodstuffs, speciality foods, such as Quaker Oats, cattle tood, dog biscuits, and cement. A feature of this traffic and of the transport of pottery for export is that they involve the haulage contractor in the provision of storage room.
Some idea of the traffic available may be gathered from the following figures quoted to me by the B.C. and P. concern, relating to a year : To Liverpool, 13,300 tons ; Manchester, 2,700 tons London, 2,600 tons ; sundries, 1,100 tons. The return-load tonnages are, respectively, 19,800, 7,300, 1,200 and 1,500.
A peculiar feature of these figures, which, no doubt, will have occurred to the reader, is that the inward eS traffic is, with the exception of London, much heavier thui the outward. That is due to the fact that the Potteries traffic is characterized by bulk, rather than by weight. A normal load for a lorry and trailer is 7 tons, rising occasionally to S tons, or even 9 tons if the load comprises thick plates which can be packed fairly closely in the crates.
The return loads, on the other hand,. usually make up to full capacity of the vehicles. The exception to the above rule, exemplified in London, is due to the fact that return loads are not always available.
Pottery is variously packed, according either to the classof ware or to its destination. Earthenware is usually packed in crates and china in casks. For certain overseas destinations, however, steel tanks are used. At the time of my visit there were tanks marked for de
livery to • Sydney and Dunedin, Australia ; casks for Kingston, Jamaica, and for Buenos Aires; and crates for Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto and Winnipeg. • An unexpected feature is the large quantity of pottery which Beresford, Caddy and Pemberton, Ltd., has in store at its main depot in Tunstall. It is quite usual for as much as 700 tons or 800 tons of pottery to be in store. On one occasion there were as many as 339 casks and Si) crates in the warehouse to the account of one pottery manufacturer alone.
This happens because it is the habit of the manufacturer to take advantage of the storage facilities offered by hauliers and, when he has .a big consignment for a particular boat, he prefers a haulage contractor to collect it a little. at a time, as crates are made up, and hold it in hiswarehouse until the whole consignment is complete and shipment desired.
The transport of pottery for the home trade involves a different kind of organization. Consignments are accepted for delivery all over the country. Longton Transport, Ltd., operates a network of services, sonic ot them in conjunction with other operators, so that the company can deliver any consignment anywhere in the country, by road, at short notice. A fleet of 30 vehicles. mostly Thornycrofts, • is employed and 10 to 12 are engaged on regular services run to a definite schedule.
Most of these vehicles are open topped, with quickly detachable lattice extensions attached to the sides. Tarpaulins are provided, so that, in case of . need, the load can be protected from the elements. Some covered vans are used and these are mainly for the conveyance of small consignments, which are packed in cardboard boxes.
A crate of pottery usually weighs 5-7 cwt. An outward full load does no more than take up two-thirds of the capacity of the vehicle and comprises, as a general rule, two tiers of crates. Empties are stacked to a height of three tiers; this method of packing necessitates some care in the selection of the route, so as to avoid any road on which there are low bridges.
A particular advantage of road transport in this branch of the industry is the service offered in connection with these return loads of empty crates. Considerable floor
space is necessary, on which the empties are deposited as they are brought back, being distributed over -the area according to the manufacturer for whom they are destined.
Subsequently, local-delivery vehicles pick up these empties in loads direct for specific manufacturers. This system olayiateS" the complication and dead mileage involved in trying to separate any particular load of empties from, say, London, and deliver it piecemeal to the various works to which the empty crates belong.
The method of operating the London service, so as to facilitate compliance with the " hours " regulations by drivers, and yet maintain the service itself at a maximum pitch of efficiency, is interesting. Vehicles leave London and Longton from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and reach the ends of their journeys up to about 9 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. Loading is effected overnight at both ends.
The distance is approximately 150 miles. The average speed of travelling is 16 m.p.h., say, 9-94 hours per oneway trip. The time allowed for the journey is 10-104 hours, The drivers exchange vehicles half way. This system has the advantage that Langton men return to Langton each night and London men reach home every evening. The men have their meals at one or other of two cafes on the main road.
The same extensive provision for storage is not quite so necessary in the case of the home trade as for export. There is, nevertheless, a considerable " float " of goods in store for transit. The accommodation provided is additional to the yard space for empties to which I have already referred. The need for room for warehousing has been growing of late, Quite recently a second storey was added to the premises and electric cranes installed to deal with consignments. At the time of my visit further additions were being made.
As may be imagined, a fairly complicated organization is essential to ensure that services involved in the combination of transport of pottery for export, and the conveyance of grain and foodstuffs and their local distribution are efficiently rendered. In the case of B.C. and P., there is a nicely balanced distribution of responsibility among the directors.
A Thorough System of Checking.
Mr, J. W. Beresford is the managing director. He has daily reports from all departments, and is aware at any time of the position and occupation of any of the 43 vehicles in service. The premises as a whole include offices, garage, repair shaft, and stores for pottery, grain, feeding stuffs, cement, borax and so on, with electric travelling cranes, weighing machinery and other essential equipment. There is a separate office for dealing with the shipment and control of goods in store, a clearing house for parcels traffic, a canteen for the men and particularly well-organized spare-parts stores for the vehicles.
Another Mr. Beresford makes himself responsible for the internal accountancy. Mr. W. T. Pemberton prepares statistics and looks after the parcels-carrying services, which are essential components of the whole. Mr. Caddy takes care of the maintenance.
Detail control of drivers and routeing of the vehicles are effected through the lodge, where drivers go for their instructions, log sheets and delivery notes, and where they clock on and off.
A good deal of consideration has been given to the matter of log sheets and a principle has been established which B10 may be of interest to many other concerns. The log sheet and driver's Consignment note are combined, so that on each log sheet are particulars of the journey and details of the load.
There is space for records of times of arrival and depar ture covering nine calls. The essential point to note is that it is necessary for details of these consignments to be handed in at the office daily; this system automatically ensures that the log sheet must also be brought in each day for checking.
Logs Cannot Be Lost.
It is thus impossible for the driver to take away his log sheet, for it to be lost, or for there to be any delay in checking it. Mr. Pemberton himself checks every log sheet and, in the event of the prescribed hours being exceeded, note is made of the reason and this explanation is initialled. The driver's time cards by which they clock on and off show the total hours worked per day. The rest time noted from the log sheets is deducted from this figure.
In the maintenance department the stores is the outstanding feature. The system of looking after spares is particularly efficient. The Kardex-. system of card indexing is used, with provision for recording particulars of stores in, out and in stock. Parts taken from the stores are booked to the vehicle 'number.
Labour and materials for every maintenance operation are similarly booked to the vehicle number and not to an order number, as is more customary. The stores and card indices are in 12 sections, A to L. A, for example, relates to small parts; B, say, to fan belts and gaskets; C to electrical parts and so On. The storage space is divided in a similar way, so that it is an easy matter to locate any particular item.
The goods-storage department is, in effect, a composite agency catering for the various manufacturers for whom loads are collected. Large stocks are kept and these are delivered retail, in accordance with instructions from local travellers. Accounts are frequently rendered—in some cases daily, of deliveries made and of quantities still in stock.
Great care is taken of the stores, For example, the interior walls (of brick) are protected by wood lattice work, which prevents the sacks of grain from coming in contact with the bricks, which might be damp and thus injure the grain. A particular difficulty, which involves a considerable expense in routine shifting of stocks, is that deliveries must of necessity be made from grain which has been longest in store. New arrivals have, therefore, to be put behind the old stock and the latter brought forward to make room for them.
The need for providing for retail deliveries and a corresponding organization has led to the development of a parcels service, which is an important feature of the activity of B.C. and P. In 1936 no fewer than 400,000 deliveries were made.
The fleet employed is, in a sense, a miscellaneous one. Bedford s are used for local deliveries, A.E.C.s, E.R.F.s and Scammells for trunk services, also Morris-Commercial and Bedford articulated six-wheelers. The company has branches in Birmingham, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Macclesfield and Burslem to facilitate the parcels-service organization. In addition, of course, the company has arrangements with other parcels-delivery concerns, so that packages can be collected by B.C. and P. in any of its own areas for delivery throughout the country.