Your studies
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A WIDE variety of courses in transport studies now exists, and choosing the right one is a very important decision. Many of the courses lead in an order of progression from one level and standard to the next, and most professional institutes and educational establishments recognise the many awards and certificates which exist.
In making your decision on a course, long-term thinking is necessary. Where do you eventually want to go? Are you content to remain a plodder in an unexciting job? Do you wish to gain, for example, your MCIT or MIMechE or AMIRTE? You should find out all the requirements and career prospects from the institutes concerned. Again, to what extent will your school, college or university qualifications be recognised by the industry and
professional bodies?
All national educational qualifications earn some degree of recognition. The CIT, for example, works on the principle that life is too short to study subjects twice, and accordingly has a policy which reflects this view. Other institutes have similar arrangements. You should therefore begin your inquiries now so that you know what course to enrol on next month when the new session starts.
CPC: The present statutory requirement for certain persons in road transport to hold a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) — brought about by a European Community directive — is the British Government's response to that directive, and is based on a relatively simple test to meet the minimum necessary to satisfy Brussels.
The test is conducted by the
Royal Society of Arts on behalf of the Department of Transport. In proper level 3 education and management training terms, however, this test does not really count, although it is evident that many employers regard the CPC as "all that is required". Beware! Those preparing for management in road transport need to consider other and more substantial courses and qualifications. The aim of the CPC is to satisfy only the minimum legal requirements for the operating licence arrangements, and not to provide on-going, lifelong, selfdevelopment for professional transport management.
1Educational attainments:
'Persons join passenger or road freight transport with varying levels of educational attainment. Thus, a number of options are
I open to you in selecting your
course of professional transport studies. Your achievements in learning at school or college will therefore, to a large extent, determine your point of entry into the field. And perhaps for the first time some of you may ;recognise the wisdom of having worked hard at studies during your schooldays, or begin to regret not having done so.
If you are in the latter group there is still hope for you by diligent application during the next four to five years. Your educational qualifications will therefore determine which range of courses are most suitable for you; your job situation and other circumstances will influence the choice of method of study. The table shows how school and college attainments can be used as points of entry to the
professional qualifying system. THOUGH well-established on European coaching scene, ania is a relative latecomer to a British coach market. wever, it has now announced it right-hand drive versions of new K112 coach chassis are ing built and will be available British operators in October the Motor Show in Birmingm. To whet the appetite of tish operators, two Scania 111 6 rear-engined chassis ye been converted to rightnd drive for use as demonstors.
..ast month I drove one. As the ecification was different to the achine that will be sold here I not take it over our Scottish ad test. Instead I chose the nolous stretch of West Country ad — the A39 which I had used th the MAN SR280 High liner. The Scania BR116 chassis had en split in the middle and ed as a basis for an integral Jonckheere Bermuda-bodied coach. Powered by a longitudinally mounted, rear-located Scania DS11 engine, the Scania was one of the few heavyweight coaches I have recently driven that was not fitted with a ZF gearbox. It uses Scania's own G764 five-speed manual unit. I started my journey near the M5 just north of Bristol. The coach was a 57-seater and was laden with weights to simulate a load of about 50 passengers and their luggage. I carried four more passengers who were able to give an immediate passenger reaction. Additionally two repre sentatives from Scania meant that the coach was fully laden.
The coach was fitted with a flow meter to measure fuel consumption on the various sections of the route. The fuel tank was filled to the neck at the start and finish of the run to obtain an overall fuel consumption.
My first impression of the coach as I headed for the motorway was that the light controls were marred by a ponderous gearchange. Once on the motorway I moved quickly through the gears, driving at the legal maximum speed. It was unnecessary to change gear until I had to leave the motorway to join the A39 to Bridgewater.
On the motorway I was impressed by the coach's handling and steering. The ride given by the full air suspension was firmer and to my mind better than my experience of previous left-hand-drive examples of the model. The steering was light but allowed plenty of feel. There was no tendency to steer from the rear and the Scania felt as stable as any laden 12-metre (40 foot) coach I have driven.
The brakes were particularly light and gentle in operation although with more than enough bite to stop quickly if the need arose. An exhaust brake was fitted to the coach.
On the A39 I soon became accustomed to the ponderous gear change and found the coach lively and easy to drive confidently. As the road got hillier and narrower I appreciated the power and torque characteristics of the turbocharged 11-litre engine.
The foot-operated exhaust brake seemed powerful and the coach coped with the many bends on the road. However, I felt that a retarder would have been an advantage on this powerful coach. The brakes required some getting used to. Initial pressure on the pedal seems to bring little reaction, and a sudden increase brings a fairly violent reaction. However, the longer I drove the more I appreciated the gentle but positive braking if I used a light-footed approach.
Despite the gearbox having only synchromesh on the top four gears I had no problems in engaging first gear on the move. At Porlock Hill, there were road works and traffic was controlled by temporary traffic lights. I had to start off on the one-in-four slope and on a bend with roadmaking-equipment limiting the already limited space. If the Scania had not restarted it would have involved the coach and a long stream of cars in having to reverse about a mile. Fortunately I was able to pull away and the park brake held on the type of test I would rather have conducted in the confines of the MIRA test track.
On the next one-in-four stretch, this time down hill to Lynmouth, where the coach descended in low gear, I used the exhaust brake and touched the brakes from time to time to try and keep the engine revs out of the "red". The brakes seemed hot.
After lunch as we continued towards Barnstable the brakes and the clutch remained under pressure but gave no problems as I negotiated the many hairpin bends and the steep hills. On one particularly sha bend I used the air suspensii raising device to avoid hittii the road surface as the gradie increased steeply away from sharp bend. The exhaust pi touched the ground as the coa cleared the bend.
Meeting another coach on ti A39 involves some tight rn noeuvring, as I found within ti next couple of miles. Despite ti narrow road and the rocky wa the Scania remained unscathi throughout the day.
From Barnstable I took ti A361 through South Molton rejoin the M5 to go back to ti starting point near Bristol.
At the end of the round trip tl 224kW (305bhp) coach had r turned 34.91it/100km (8.1mpi The average speed for th 337km (209 mile) trip was on
55.3km/h (34.4mph). The speed and fuel consumption emphasise the difficult terrain on the A39. On the motorway sections the evidence of the flow meter suggested that a fuel consumption of between 31.4 lit/100km and 28.25 lit/100km (9 and 10mpg) could be achieved in normal working conditions.
The Scania 8R116 is powered by Scania's DS11 turbocharged engine which produces 224kW (30 5bhp) at 2,200rpm and 1110Nm (818.6Ibft) torque at 1,30Orpm.
According to the tachograph and rev counter the engine was turning over at 1,500rpm at 80km/h (50mph) and 2,100rpm at 112km/h (70mph). I understand that for the new K112 the engine has been made more fuel efficient and should propel the coach at 112km/h (70mph) at 1,900rpm in the same conditions.
The Jonckheere Bermuda body seemed well finished and despite its many seats was roomy and comfortable. Typical of current European practice, it featured maximum use of "soft" carpet trim giving a restful and relaxing passenger environ ment. My passengers, who were in no way connected with Scania or Jonckheere, commented on how rel'axing and smooth the ride had been despite the obviously difficult road.
I found the driving position comfortable with the Scania controls and Jonckheere switches all within my field of vision. The instrument display on this particular coach had been adapted from a left-hand drive but remained adequate.
On the new K112 a redesigned Scania instrument panel is to be standard.
The air suspension had been stiffened on this vehicle by fit ting ring-type bellows in place of the usual rolling lobe-type and as a result the ride and handling characteristics were impressive.
In conclusion, my drive in the first British specification Scania coach made me wonder why Scania had waited so long before entering this section of the British passenger vehicle mar ket. I found the Scania Jonckheere a pleasing and promising combination and it should certainly do much to create operator interest in the K112.
It does seem strange to promote a new product through one that is unobtainable but this coach has certainly whetted my appetite for the K112. With a price likely to be directly compe titive with any mid-engined chassis currently available, the new Scania will offer the freedom of body choice of a separate chassis with the luggage capacity advantages of the rear-engined.