HINTS ON SALVAGE WORK.-I.
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The First of Two Articles Dealing With the Rescue of Commercial Vehicles After Breakdown or Accident.
By " Vim."
TO THE true repairer of motor vehicles there is nothing mere exhilarating than an S.O.S. call, received over the telephone or by messenger, requesting immediate aid for a stranded car. I do not mean that he feels joy in hearing that some vehicle is in trouble, but that he is glad to have the opportunity of doing rescue work. His sensations are much the same as those of a St. John Ambulance member when an accident gives him a chance of alleviating pain. I am not joking, I assure you. Although the garage industry is a very Matter-of-fact, workaday affair, it has its uplifting moments, and one of them is when a repairer and his breakdown gang draw up with a flourish alongside a customer's disabled van, or lorry, and they see the look of relief that passes over its driver's face.
There ought really to be classes held for instructing mechanics in first-aid work for automobiles, for there are two ways of doing most things, including setting broken limbs and getting a motor vehicle out of a ditch. One of these days we may be blessed with a voluntary society which will organize classes of the kind required' and award certificates to mechanics who pass an examination in bandaging back axles, etc. Until then, experience must remain the only education available to the automobile ambulance brigade. The suggestions which follow are based on practical experience, and although they may afford no fresh knowledge to many repairers who have in their time carried out a large variety of salvage jobs, it is possible that they may be of some use to those who have only recently taken up with commercial vehicles, and who are unfamiliar with the complications introduced into rescue work by their weight.
The Need for a Breakdown Vehicle.
Every garage that hopes to build up a substantial business in repairing vans and lorries must have its own breakdown vehicle. When a private car takes it into its head to go through a brick wall, it is annoying to theowner -' but his chief loss is only personal inconvenience. When a commercial car does the same thing its owner's loss is far more serious. It may have a. valuable or important load on board, '—veh simply must reach its proper destination by a time: in any ease, it is a foregone conclusion _ Isom the moment the vehicle goes out of action t c essence of the task of getting it into running condition again becomes one of time. All the work planned for the vehicle must wait until it has been repaired. or another vehicle must be hired to take its place. Being without a ear for a while is an annoyance to a private motorist : it is a heavy monetary loss to the owner of a van or lorry. A breakdown lorry must therefore be ready for use directly a message comes from a customer that somewhere or other, it may be many miles away, his 3 tonnes has run out a big-end bearing, chewed up its crown wheel, or taken a header into a ditch.
As to the type of chassis that is most suitable for a breakdown lorry, it is obvious that the more powerful it is the more easily it will be able to deal with hauling a ditched oar on to the road, and with towing in general ; but it is not economical to keep a big lorry standing idle for most of its time, or to use it for rescue work of a light nature. In practice, I have found that a sturdy and rather ancient commercial chassis, the capacity of which was rated at something like 30 cwt., was able to cope with any
kind of salvage task set it, including getting a heavy lorry out of a river. In addition to the breakdown lorry, I advise keeping a motorcycle and sidecar for use where the stoppage is due to a mechanical cause that can be dealt with on the spot. This machine will save time because of its superior speed, and will naturally cost a lot less than the lorry in riinning expenses. If the accident is a big one, both motorcycle and lorry should be sent to the scene, for the former will be invaluable for performing the messenger work that nearly always has to be done on such occasions. Ropes and planks have to be borrowed, and possibly extra appliances fetched from the garage, because it is difficult to foresee everything that will be needed. Often, too, the motorcycle will be despatched first to the scene with the foreman, so that he may size up the situation and return-for the lorry knowing exactly what men and apparatus he will require.
The Equipment Required for a Breakdown Lorry.
The lorry should be fitted with a couple of large, strong tool chests, containing several heavy jacks, chain tackle, a good range of tools, not forgetting a pickaxe and two shovels, hawser for towing (a towing "bar " is much better, because the rescued vehicle may have its brakes out of action, although a rope should also be carried), and hefty wkeel pullers. A large vice should be permanently fixed somewhere on the lorry, and a pair of stout planks, together with -a light ladder, should be kept on the vehicle at all times. In spite of these measures, it will be found that to provide for all contingencies is impossible; which is why a motorcycle is useful on a big salvage job. The very first step of all is to make sure of the derelict's whereabouts when the message calling for assistance comes through, and to find out then as much as one can about what has actually happened. In the excitement of the moment it is very easy to misunderstand the exact location of the breakdown, and to forget to ask for particulars of its character. Drivers are commonly very vagite when they ring up on the 'phone after an accident ; they know that their vehicle is stuck where it is stuck, and they seem to think that all the world must know it. To spend an hour running up and down a main, road and dodging in and out of by-roads, looking. for a stranded vehicle which was said to be standing "just before you come to that little public-house near the London-Edinburgh road,", is a perfectly maddening experience ; it can be avoided by insisting on being told beforehand precisely how to find it. If the message comes from the driver, and his vagueness is due to lack of knowledge of local topography, tell him to go and find out from somebody how to describe the place. Before he rings off, ask him whether he has a load up, and what its weight is, and try to learn whether towing is likely to be necessary. After that, ring up his employers and obtain their instructions to attend to their breakdown, and ask what arrangements they propose to make with regard to taking off the load. It is not safe to rely too greatly on a driver's authority, and I have known a dispute tol ocourl over an account because the customer's drivers all hnd written instructions that, in the event of breakdown or accident, they must report direct to their firm, so that' the driver who gave the order to the garage was acting outside the scope of his duties.
For the repairer's part, he should inform the driver or person acting oh his behalf approximately how long will elapse before his. experts will arrive on the scene. He must bear in mind that the period of waiting is an anxious one for the man in charge of the vehicle, and as time goes on the shipwrecked driver becomes more and more worried, so that through fear that the rescue party may never arrive at all be maybe driven to seek help from another garage-with .very awkward complications when both Parties turn up. Furthermore, it should be made plain to the driver that even if he manages to pat right the trouble on his own account, once having asked for assistance he Must stay on the spot until the rescuers appear, unless he can prevent them from starting by a second message. Searching for a vehicle that "isn't there " is somewhat costly in petrol and mechanics' time, and not at all amusing.
(To be continwd.)