HAULAGE DOWN DEV AND CORNWALL WAY
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DEVON and Cornwall are counties wherein -the small haulier largely preilominates. I ,should iniagine that there are two reasons for this—the terrain and the sturdy and independent spirit of the people in those counties. In Cornwall, especially, any attempted interference by outsiders, particularly
• anyone from " England," is regarded with, at the very least, suspicion. There are, of course, some fairly big concerns, but these are the outcome of the local linkage of smaller ones, not examples of big business," as it is ordinarily understood. The following stories, the outcome of a recent tour, relate to the activities of, what I may term, typical Devon and Corowall users of commercial motors.
First, Mr. Alfred Burgoyne, of Mill Street, • Kingsbridge, Devon: He takes priority; not Only because I visited him first, but because he Was–one of the pioneers in that district of -mechanical road transport. This Was 35 years ago,
• when''horse S were-c-onsidered to be the only means for -haulage.
He started with traction engines, as, at that time, he used to do a .lot .steam threshing. '-A characteristic • . that business was that the engines:Were -idle for it -least half the year. The .obvious thing to do -was to employ ihern on haulage work daring the slack • periods, which is what he did. From that point it was a short. and coinparatively easy step to the purchase of -steath wagems, for use throughout the
year. Quite soon, . however,' . Mr. -Burgoyne abandoned steam Vehicles in favour of petrol-engined machine's.
He made this. change .notwithstanding the fact that, aceording to his experience, steam wagons were, on the whole, less costly to run. As against that advantage-, he set these serious defects: The fact that.an _ hour or an must be Wasted each day -in raising steam, the need for fillingthe, coal bunker, and • to stop on the -road..from time to time to pink. up wateriWhich was often..difficult-to find,especially,.
the summer. These things eventually turned the scale in favour of the petrol • vehicle; their importance has grown steadily as wages and standing charges, generally, have increased.
His first petrol vehicles wereof Pierce-Arrow and Liberty makes, all on solid tyres—types well known to all old-timers in the haulage industry.. After a time he turned to Fordson, and has since-standardized on that make.
Altogether, he has nine vehicles—a van for parcels carrying, a Fordson long-wheelbase 5-tonner for general haulage, and seven Fordson shortwheelbase 5-ton tippers, which are Mostly engaged in the haulage of sand and ballast, roadstone, coal, coke, Enid similar -traffics.
In vieWof the recent series of articles in "The Commercial Motor" on oar-Cels-carrying, Mr. Burgoyne's' experiences-of that class of haulage work are likely to be of interest.
The van rime -daily to Plymouth, except on Wednesday, which is early, 'closing day in Plymouth—and. course,.'Sundays, • On Wednesdays' the vehiele may do an odd job of furniture ;removal, or .go in for servicing, The • route to Plymouth includes many •villagei, Sudlf as Aveton. Gifford, ',Modbury, Yealmpton, and Brixton, 'and the van may have to deliver and/or collect in every one of these, as well as, -on occasions, at various hamletS or
farmsteads in between. This Van is known as "The Kingsbridge and 'Plymouth Express Delivery."
As many of the wholesalers from whom the Kingsbricige shops; etc.; are fed, are in Plymouth, the service between the two towns is Most valuable.
The long-wheelbase FOrdso.n is used a good deal in the delivery of coke to the R.A.F. stations in the area, and to . other places; I. just caught it leaving . with aload for the R.A.F. at West -Prawle, It has a convertible body, cudcan betie used -for. cattle carrying. end; .generalhaulage: For eoke Alaulageit •
is fitted With high detachable sides.' The tipping lorries are used on general
"haulage, such • as stone, bdilaq, sand, bricks, 'etc., :for the different ' councils. The natural traffic concomitant of roadStone is tar-----in barrels and in drums—'. and these have fre.quently to be carried • in the -tiPping. Wagons, being loaded from the rear, from "railway trucks. Out of this practice • arose a: .construc
tio n a problem, -which Mr. Burgoyne . satisfactorily solved.
:The usual arrangement of the tMlboard . of a tipper provides for the hingeto be ' at the top, £0 that, when:a loacl is-being tipped, the door, 1.s hen the catches are released , u Loma tica lly_swings open, so as to leave free passage for the material being. tipped..
The hinge, usually a fixtnic,ikas always in-the •way when loading drums or sacks from a platform. Some years ago Mr. Burgoyne surmounted this dif ficulty by making -a tailboard with the hinge bars both top and bottom. Either or both hinges were made to come away with the tailboard as required, so that the 'tailboard could be s 11 g either' from the top' or 'bottom without the slightest difficulty This was many years ago, and since then many. of the lorries have beej ! equipped with tailbOardS ern; bodying ritore or less
the sarrfe conetruc t ion .
Thatthe Fordson vehicles have given and .colitinae to give, satisfaction is a reasonable conclusion to draw from the fact that they have been standardized for so many years, and all through the war they have scarcely lost a day.
When other lorries have been standing for weeks on end, waiting for parts, these lorries have been kept going, as Mr. Burgoyne has always carried ,a large stock of spares 'In addition, there is always the great advantage of the Ford spares and service "facilities provided through the manufacturer's distributor.
Mr. J. Couch—a good old Cornish name—comes next. . He has his headquarters at Lostwithiel and operates a fleet of 20 vehicles, all of the 5-6-ton type The business vs, what I call, a " built-up ' one'. It has grown as the result of the acquisition Of several small
COncerns, That Mr. Couch tells me, is the reason why his Vehicles .are not all
Coinrners. Those which are not of that make have been bought-in, and, naturally, are to run their respective Courses before they are replaced—by Commers.
He is, indeed, a Comnier enthusiast, and he likes them to be fitted with oil
evigineS:.He is: Converting all hiapetrol
engined Commers to oil and is using the Perkins P6 unit for the purpose; he looks forward to the time when he v,rll have no petrol-engined vehicles in" his possession.'
He is thorough, too, in his methods, All his mechanics are sent to the
Commer works at Luton for a fortnight, so-that they can become well acquainted with the chassis and be able to deal with it as regards all the details of service and maintenance.
He is not, incidentally, so infatuated with the make of vehicle as to be blind to its shOrtcomings. His first procedure is to fit a!larger battery than standard, so as to have a Teserve for starting pur pdaes. fitS. larger tyres, too, . but that more later. He has had excellent service from the Perk i ns P6 engine., The ' fir.it
of .these units to be fitted in on' of his COMmers has run . for *.tiVer. 200,000 miles at "a ,neglikble cost for maintenance. It has noW gone back to .the , manufacturer to he reconditioned, not because it .needed it, but because it was convenient.
AcCOrding to Mr. Couch, there are two essentials to success with oilers, and these are—use gOod, cleanfuel and lubricating 'oil, and take care that liotti reach ',the.. engine in a clean state.. Given these condition's, he says the engine will look after itself: Readers will appreciate that this can be interpreted as routine and 'regular attention to filters for both oils. It does' nOt mean that other essential periodic attention can be &rated.
The. work that the vehicles dO is arduous and the weekly mileage high. The traffic i's of a nature new to me, atleast, as to 50 per cent, of it. Itis we collection of sand . from the seashore, near Padstoyi', and its delivery to farms. Most of.the sand is loaded by hand into the lorries, although sometimes mechanical diggers are employed. It appearsthat sand in this area has a, high contentof carbonate 'of;:linti, around 90 per cent.—so :that itsmanurial value is considerable.
Mr. Couch takes the sand to farms id the Plymouth area,. The vehicles then run into Plymouth. and pick up loads of bagged which are delivered to farms en route to Lostwithiel. The
arrangetnent enstires full loads for the vehicles in': both directions. The pErcentage of loading is seldom less than 30 and often rises to .100. The daily, mileage'-is from 160 to 200. •
Mr. Couch's greatest trouble to-day is tyres. HiS tyre bill, he tells me, exceeds that for petrol and oil fuel: ft amounts to from £50 to £75 per week and on occasions has reached £100 f,er week. It is for that_ reason that he replaces the 34-in, by 7-in. tyres on pis •
Comm by 36-in. by .8-in. as fast .a.s.
ho can. .
;It iii important 'to >place on record that Mr. Couch has the full support of the Ministry of , Agriculture and Fisheries in this work of distribution of sea sand. The officials of the Ministry regard, as entirely without foundation, certain suggestions that the removal of the sand affects the .amenities of the fOreshore from which it is taken. In point of fact, the sand is replaced by -the sea as fast as it is taken away.
To chat with Mr. F. S. Huxham, .of Huxham and Co., 7, 8 and 9, Sutton Road, Plymouth, is to dip into the tally days of road haulage in Plymouth, for he started business there as far back as 1901.
Horses, not motors, were the means for transport, and he had six of them at the start. Nevertheless, the experience of those early flays, with horses, has served him well. The procedure _ followed to-clay is, in principle, the same as then, and the methods which he improvised then to render the best service to his customers are still practised, althouglv on more extensiye and
modernized lines. And some of the customers are still the same!
The practice adopted was to send the horses arid lorries to the docks to collect traffic on behalf of various wholesalers, every , kind of .commodity being Imndled. There was no question, in those days, of an agency.
Days of No Contracts The haulier did not attempt to enter into contracts with particular wholesalers: he went • for his traffic :wherever and whenever his business knowledge suggested it could be found. The usual practice was to contact the wholesaler and to obtain from him instructions to go and collect whatever traffic there was from the ships in dock.
They used to work long hours in those days: from four or five o'clock in the morning until seven or eight o'clock at night, and bed down the -Ito*
when they had finished hauling.
Quite early in his experience, Mr. Mahan) found it necessary to provide warehouse room so that be could afford temporary. storage accommodation for the gobets, taken froni therclocks. As he pertinehtly remarked, as. we.f..wire not paid for that servie:e, it Was not Very
remunerative. • • • Although, as ha S already been stated. a wide variety-of traffic"was carried, the principal Cornmodities handled were flour and artificial Manures, and it was for these goods that storage facilitieS were generally required. ' • •
Time was an important factor. Sometimes a ship would dock with 280 tons aboard. That had to be unloaded and carted away as quickly as 'possible, and the Men used to carry on, night and day, until' the jobwas done. " Those," remarked Mr. Huxham, " were the good old days."
Like most old:established hauliers, Mr. Huxharn's first venture into mechanical transport was to acquire a' steam wagon—a Foden. This was in pre-1919 days arid the Foden, like many another at that time, was commandeered in the early days of World War No. 1. .
In 1918 the concern went in for mechanical transport in what was,
then, a big way. The company began experimenting, as it were, and tried several makes, such as Dennis, Harrier and Albion. Recently it has used Scammells for the heavy loads and Hedfords, Diamond T and Commers for the lighter loads. Altogether the concern operates 11 vehicles, some on long-distance haulage and others locally.
Storing and Warehousing .
The business of storing . and warehousing started so informally in the early days, has developed into a most important department. It is not, however, run on the unremunerative lines which used to prevail. The company acts as warehouse and depot manager for a number of other concerns, such as Batchelors (of pea fame), the C.W.S., and Armours, all of world-wide repute, as well aS for several local companies.
The goods are brought into the warehouse in bulk for storage, and distributed piecemeal to meet orders from customers of the various companies. Huxham and Co, renders accounts and advice of all such dispatches, &frig the owners of the goods, the " wholesalers," as they were called in the earTy days, a daily Or six-daily statement of the position as regards stocks.
The concern is responsible, too, for the collection of the cash payments called for in connection with these deliveries. All this, as can readily be realized, calls for a good deal of clerical work as well as storage accommodation. This expense is now covered, Mr. Huxham' told me, by a commission on sales.
One special difficulty just, now is the result of rationing. Some of the goods are requisitioned at particular periods Only, by ,all the customers simultaneously, and this/means heavy and concentrated work for the Vehicles
employed for deliveries. •
Mr. F. T. Hoskin is a director ,of T. F. Husking and Co., Marazion. The company is an agricultural merchant and miller, owning two vehicles, one a Fordson 2-3-tonner and the other a Fordson Thames 1.w.b. 4-6-tonner, both on C licences. Mr. Hosking, nevertheless, has many, problems, and
could not .at first understand how this could. be until he reminded me that those in the corn trade are, amongst the minority of C-licence holders who can be reasonably sure of a1wa3is _having two-way loading. Artifieial manure is carried out to the farmer, and grain and feeding stuffs brought back.
Here, at least, isone of the problems. In studying it, it is just as well to bear in mind that farmers are Mr. Hosking's customers for the goods he carries.
As all hauliers in agricultural districts are aware, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries .has agreed to pay' farmers 50 per cent, of the transport costs of 'the lime. they use. Furthermore, there is a scale of transport charges laid down by the same Ministry. Local R.HA. members are of opinion that the rates embodied in that scale are not sufficiently remimera tive. They do not, therefore, adhere -to the scale, but charge more. Mr. flosking is of the same opinion as the R.H.A. members and charges the same
rates as they do. • Unfortunately for the farmer, the Ministry will pay no more than 50 per cent. of the rate that has been laid down; that, of course, is less than 50 per cent. of the rate that the farmers are paying, and they are not a little disgrtuitleci about it. That is the farmer's grouse, of which Mr. Hosking hears quite a lot.
Then the hauliers, including Mr. -Hosking, have a complaint, too. The Ministry rate provides that there shall be a payment, over and above the basic scale, of 6d. per ton for bagged lime, Is. per ton for rough lime and Is, 6d. per ton for ground lime. This additional payment is meant for the haulier, to compensate him for the extra time his vehicles are engaged at terminals in load,ing and unloading. Actually, the drivers are claiming and getting that Money: the operators are, not receiving it.
An Association Matter
, In the course of this interview a hitherto unreveaIed aspect of association politics was brought to light. Some useful purpose may be served by ventilating' the matter here.
The company is a member of the National Association of Corn and Agricultural Merchants, the members of which actually own and operate upwards of 3,000 motor vehicles, which are used for the conveyance ofonanures, feeding stuffs, grain and agricultural produce generally. Most of these vehicles are on C licences and the interests of their operators are cared for by a transport committee of the Association, of which committee Mr. F. T. forking is a member. These operators have been'invited to join the T.R.T.A. and allow that body to cater for them, superseding, presumably, their own committee.
The N.A.C.A.-M: is not anxious to • make the change. One reason is that Mr. frisking has noted that, in the Devon and Cornwall area as well as in others, the secretary of . the T.R.T.A. is also the secretary of the R.H.A. He has the feeling that when, as ir inevit s able occasionally, the interests of the T,R.T.A. and R.H.A. clash, the former is likely to get the worge of the deal.
' The N.A.C.A.M. suggested, as a way out of this impasse, that a member of its own transport committee be elected to the national council of the T.R.T.A.. and of the B..H.T.F. Apparently, however, there is something in the Articles' of Association of those bodies which precludes. them from taking that step.
Mr. Hosking's personal ,view is that there is no point in his people joining another association. Their own committee has served them quite well in the past, and is likely to (16-si, in the 'future,. He thinks, in fact; that it is more likely to be helpful to its members than either the T.R.T.A. or R.H.A., which bodies must obviously have, many other irons in the'fire,