1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140 
School Meals Are Big Business
Page 75
Page 76
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Lancashire's Fleet of 173 Vehicles Distributes 31m. Meals a Year from Central Kitchens Throughout the County With Unfailing
Regularity
By
Ashley Taylor,
A.M.I.R.T.E. SO far as.the ordinary man in the street is concerned the nowuniversal schools-meals service is not particularly obtrusive. The facilities are provided with conspicuous regularity and rarely is there any deviation that causes them to hit the headlines. But the service talks in millions—even on a county basis—and for its effectiveness it depends largely upon efficient road transport.
In Lancashire alone the service handles 165,000 meals a day, or approximately 31m. every year. Meals are served to 1,535 separate schools or school departments in the county area, 245 having their own cooking arrangements and the remainder requiring service by specialized transport The food for distribution under this system is cooked in 82 central kitchens, each of which will prepare between 500 and 2,000 lunches daily, the actual number depending upon the area and the type of school served.
The necessary transport is attached to the individual kitchens, there being one, two, three, or even four vans based and garaged at each point. Every school-day each van will serve an average of about 10 schools.
Hired Transport
Basically, the origin of school meals goes back over half a century, but initially they were provided only for needy children. It was in 1941 that the need for provision of lunches at school on a nation-wide scale became apparent as a result of wartime conditions. By the end of the war, Lancashire had built up an emergency feeding fleet of about 50 vehicles which was helped out by hired transport. The latter, however, proved a relatively expensive proposition for, as will be obvious, contractors were compelled to charge a high rate for vans which had to be available from, say, 10_15 a.m. to 3 p.m. and so were of little commercial use for the remainder of the day.
Apart from this it was found difficult to control the hired units in such a way as to ensure that they were not employed at other times on duties inconsistent with those of food transport. As a result of these con
siderations hired transport has been practically eliminated, the nowfamiliar Lancashire school-meals fleet, with its cream livery and the Red Rose of Lancashire above the cab, gradually being built up.
This fleet now numbers 173, comprising 26 Commer 25-cwt., 56 Morris-Commercial 15-20-cwt, 22 Morris-Commercial LC types, 22 Austin Three-Way 25-cwt. vans. 25 Austin and Morris LD1 vans, three 8-cwt. Commers, eight 30-cwt Bedfords, eight Morris 10-cwt. J types, one Cleco Electric, one 10-cwt. Thames and one Morris-Commercial 3-tonner.
Of course, it is not only meals that are needed in an enterprise of this kind; there are nearly 800 items of equipment on the schedule of the meals service stores. During 1955, the last year for which figures are readily available, the fleet handled not only its millions of meals but also 126,000 pieces of cutlery, 95,000 plates. 64,000 beakers, 50,000 dish cloths, 2,700 dusters, 2,400 mops and 1,600 dustbins. in addition to such things as ovens, boilers and other requirements.
The total food bill runs at an average that represents about a year, and it is not without interest that the cost of running the transport side of the service comes out at between 00,000 and £60,000 annually, a remarkably low percentage in view of the immense scope of the work.
Saturdays and school vacations are no holidays for the vehicles, for it is then that they are employed to deliver school-meals equipment throughout the county. They also undertake the transport of requirements of a like nature not only to schools but to other county establishments throughout the area and, furthermore, handle welfare foods, cod liver oil and orange juice, in co-operation with the schools' health service.
Several of the vans have been specially equipped to provide transport for school children in particularly remote areas where it would not be economical to employ coaches. Seating is provided to accommodate 16 and is arranged so that the children enter through the near-side door beside the driver. The rear door locks have been modified so that they can be opened from outside but not from inside.
Frequent Washing
In some cases the children's seats can be strapped up out of the way when the vehicles are being used for meal carrying, but in others they lock into patent fitments and can be removed completely when no longer required. These vans must be among the most frequently washed vehicles in the country for they are thoroughly cleansed before going out to pick up the children, the inside is afterwards washed out before food is loaded; there is another washing before the vehicle goes out to pick up the children again and another when it gets back.
The county fleet is responsible for distribution only, the various commodities required for school feeding being delivered under the contractors' arrangements. Within local education executive areas there is discretion regarding the items purchased daily, although they must fall within the contracts arranged by the county.
Meat, Milk, Potatoes I was told by Mr. S. H. Whitaker, County Meals Officer, that at the moment the meat contractors make some 1,000 deliveries a week. The milk contractors deliver nearly 250,000 one-third pint bottles of milk daily, whilst over the year the consignments of potatoes inwards reach a total of approximately 8,000 tons. Altogether, even on a county basis, school meals are big business.
There is a strong tradition that "the meals must get through" whatever may be the conditions, and on occasions in winter the vans have fought their way to some remote spot, only to find that some of the children had failed to arrive from outlying places. In this work time is the governing factor the whole day through and drivers must observe a strict schedule, it being remembered that it is impossible to start out too early and equally important not to be late in arriving. Unpunctuallty would mean hungry, youngsters waiting anxiously or impatiently for their lunch, and really serious delays might throw out the entire school timetables.
By preventive maintenance everything possible is done to minimize the chance of breakdowns. In the case of trouble occurring, the driver will telephone for help and the meals will be carried to their destinations befcre there is any question of starting repairs to a disabled unit.
Typical Menus
And what is it that they carry? Typical menus to which Lancashire children look forvifard include Irish stew, fruit tart and custard; roast mutton, peas, roast and boiled potatoes, onion sauce and lemon meringue pie; steak and kidney pie. cabbage, potatoes and rice pudding; roast lamb, mint sauce, peas, baked potatoes, date and rhubarb tart and custard, or fish cakes with parsley sauce, mashed potatoes, peas, stewed apples and crunch. There are many other standard menus from which a selection is made daily.
Two types of carrying container are in use, the square and the cylindrical, both being made of doubleskinned aluminium with granulated cork insulation, a design that ensures the meats remaining piping hot Such a dish as stew is carried in the cylindrical containers, but chops and their trimmings will be placed in covered trays which are made to fit tightly into the square design. Because of this variation in the type of container required it has been found best not to employ racking in the vehicles, but to rely upon the individual driver to pack his load to the best advantage.
Handyman's Work
The drivers, who also perform a certain amount of handyman's work, are on a five-day week with alternate Saturdays. Each driver reports to the kitchen to which he is attached at 7 a.m., his first duty being to wash the outside of his vehicle. This completed, he may put vegetables through the potato peeler, help with porterage work and assist the kitchen staff generally. Then he will cooperate in the task of packing, each container being marked with the type of meals therein and the name of the school for which it is destined.
I) 18 A special school meals delivery sheet, which also acts as driver's log sheet, has been drawn by Mr. Whitaker., In addition to showing the time work commenced, the time of departure from and return to the kitchen, and the time work ceased for the day, this sheet also shows the places to which consignments are to be delivered, in each case giving the number of meals and the number of containers with potatoes, vegetables, meat, gravy, pudding and custard. Each entry has to be signed by the recipient and the time of delivery at the school given.
Starting Delivery
The vehicles leave between 10.30 and 11.30 a.m. to deliver to a series of schools, usually about 10 in number. The driver will stay over ar the last one on his route to have his own dinner and will later return the same way, picking up empties as he goes. On arrival back he will unload the containers and scrub out the inside of the van, so that the interior is properly dried before the next morning. Then he will assist generally in the kitchen before finish ing duty at 4 p.m.
While they are working in the kitchen among the food the drivers wear white overalls with which they are provided by the authority. They change into khaki dust coats when going out on the road and waterproof clothing, carried on the van, is provided for them to wear when deliveries have to be made in heavy rain.
Petrol Supplies
Throughout the area there are county pumps where, on presentation of the appropriate voucher, the driver can draw petrol which is then charged through the central accounts. Where it is likely that vehicles will need to fill up in remote districts, where no such pumps are available, arrangements are made with local garages to honour the county vouchers. A monthly return of mileage covered is made and where deliveries have been performed on behalf of other departments the mileage is charged out to the particular service.
Mr. M. Hoyle, school meals transport officer, showed me something of the scheduled routine service which is carried out at seven depots, each of which covers one area of the county. Between 25. and 30 vans are attached to each depot, the individual units being brought in at approximately mon tidy intervals for attention. A pool of spare machines is held so that they can be put into action to replace any that are off the road.
Repairs, overhauls and repainting are performed by the Lancashire County Council maintenance department, which has three workshops and a number of fully equipped mobile repair units. As far as possible, activity of this nature is concentrated at school holiday times, so keeping overall vehicle needs to a minimum. The records show that an effective life of between eight and 10 years can be expected of the vans in current use.
Number of Problems
Although mileage is relatively low, the particular -variety of operation -raises a number of problems, one being that practically every run starts with the vehicle heavily laden and finishes with it empty. Particularly under winter conditions, rapid cylinder and transmission wear is certain to be caused by the many short runs with frequent stops, an extreme case being a five-mile journey with a minimum of 25 halts. However, Mr. Hoyle reports that modem commercial vehicles, particularly those with chromium-treated bores, are showing greater resistance to these conditions than was formerly the case.
In some few instances schools at which the deliveries have to be made can be approached only by steep and rough roads, and for this reason it has been necessary to fit four vans with special rear-tyre equipment. Al one rural school it is quite impossible for vehicles to overcome the final slope in snowy or icy weather. Seeing the difficulties that arose, the school children on their own initiative built a sledge with which they can pick up the containers and negotiate the final stretch under their own steam.
Table Manners Recent years have seen a great improvement in the health of children of school age generally, and much of this advance must be attributed to the school meals service. The work perhaps goes further than the mere provision of lunches. In enlightened hands the younger generation are given a measure of education in food values, in eating habits and in table manners. With the aid of road transport the Lancashire County Council makes all these benefits available to every child in the area, however remote his or her school may be from centres of population.