They were talking rubbish at Torbay
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TORBAY in June is an attractive venue for any type of conference. For those who spend most of the year supervising the collection and disposal of millions of tons of debris generated by their fellow citizens, it must seem like "Paradise Regained."
Whether or not the 400 delegates who were in the Devon resort last week at the Institute of Waste Management Conference had time to enjoy Torquay, Paignton and Brixham or Torbay — is doubtful. They had a very full programme.
After Councillor Mary E. Thairwall, the Mayor of Torbay, had made the traditional speech of welcome, the Secretary of State for the Environment the Right Honourable Patrick Jenkin opened the official proceedings.
There followed four days of papers covering subjects from Waste Management in Belgium to a journalist's view on Waste Management. This was presented by Rudy Singh, the technical editor of Transport Journal. Because of an industrial dispute CM was not represented at the conference.
Alfons Georges Buekens — the first speaker — is a professor at the Free University of Brussels. He specialises in thermal methods of disposing of waste.
It was Tuesday afternoon when delegates got down to discussing "Transport and Mechanical Equipment for Waste Management". Roland Browne of Karrier Motors and B. J. Hill head of motor transport services of GLC were joined on he rostrum for this session by C. Burford, Lancashire C.C., D. Taylor of Middlesborough Borough Council and Bernard McCartney md of his own equipment manufacturing company.
Of this panel the best known is Roland Browne who is responsible at Karrier for research, design and development of special type vehicles. Other papers at the conference concentrated on disposal rather than collection of refuse.
The conference sessions were interspersed with demonstrations of refuse collection vehicles and earth-moving equipment. The vehicle exhibition housed 69 stands, eight of which were chassis manufacturers who offer special type vehicles for municipal applications. They were Shelvoke Dempster Ltd., Karrier Motors Ltd., Volvo Trucks (GB) Ltd., Scania (GB)., Leyland Vehicles, Hestair Dennis Ltd., Bedford Commercial Vehicles, Ford Motor Co. Ltd.
Shelvoke Dempster had six vehicles on show. Two were for industrial waste collection, the other four for domestic collection.
S&D's Routechief was shown on a 16 ton and 24 ton chassis. The PT Revopak, with a continuous loader 30 cubic yard body built on a 24 ton chassis, is claimed to have a 12.5 tonne legal payload. The PNL Plus operates at 13.75 ton gvw. It is particularly suited for narrow entries — its overall width is two metres.
Shelvoke Dempster had mounted their 80/41 Dumpmaster, with a 41 cu yd body, on a Scania and their XHD with 33 cu yd capacity on a Volvo F7. Karrier Motors had two new refuse units on show. They were the Dodge Commando 624 6x4 and the G08. Powered by the Perkins V8-540 developing 170bhp at 2,600rpm, the former unit is designed for on and off road work.
The four cylinder GOB is an addition to the 7.38 ton range. It supplements the in-line six diesel models.
Scania (GB) was exhibiting the PM82M 4x 2 RS 0642. This chassis operates at 16,500kg. It was fitted with a 'Macklift Mark 5 16/19 DAXL container handling unit. Other equipment manufacturers were exhibiting their equipment on Scania chassis including the eight wheelers.
Leyland Vehicles not only put vehicles on show, their municipal vehicle sales managers were there also. And just to be sure their customers could catch up with them post-Torbay, they listed their names, areas and telephone numbers. Here they are for those who missed them.
John Berlvam, Scottish Region 041-778 3491; Tony Diss, North West 07744 21400; Barry Naylor, North East 0482 24541; David Cutler, Midlands 021 520 7282; David Wilkinson, South West 0272 277841; Robin Eade, Southern, 01-953 6262.
Three Freighters and two Constructors made up the Leyland stand.
The 16 ton Freighter was on offer with an optional crew cab. Leyland pointed out that its versatility made it suitable for three way tippers. This is a common public authority requirement. The Preston company also introduced the Leyland 420 engine which has been added to the 402 and 411 options on the Freighter 16 ton ner.
There were two Constructors at Torbay. Both the 24 and 30 ton versions caught the eye.
Hestair Dennis and Hestair Eagle occupied joint stands which proved advantageous as they were able to show chassis and bodies in close proximity.
Since the IWM show in Ayr last year, Hestair have sold 100 of their ZM series Phoenix. This vehicle is a narrow 16 tonner with three payload sizes between 4.5 and 7.5 tonnes.
The 24 ton Phoenix 6x4 is available in wheelbases from 4.2m to 5m. Dennis claims that it is more manoeuvrable than many 4x2 vehicles. It is available with a number of engine options.
Details of the Ford Motor Company and Bedford Commercial Vehicles stands were not catalogued when we went to press.
One of the features of the IWM exhibition is the amount of equipment mounted on chassis, thus giving chassis manufacturers more than one bite at the cherry. The range of equipment covered sweepers, gulley emp tiers and gritters. 4 Jack Allen, always a popular exhibitor, appeared to have a show of equipment for all seasons..
Lacre Ltd had their TG suction road sweeper and their Skip Eater, end loader on show. Smith's Electric Vehicles had four of their Consort street cleaning vehicles on display, all to their new specification. Harbik Electrics were there with their 406 3 crew cab unit.
The bulkhead has been removed and the driver's seat is now adjustable. Their elevating and tipping body is now offered on a 120 inch wheelbase. The handbrake has been redesigned to incorporate double trigger rods. Driving lights, hazard lights, indicators and windscreen washer controls are now located on a steering wheel stalk.
Mu!Wilt Ltd had a wide range of units mounted with both its CL and HL ranges at Torbay.
Johnston Engineering Ltd, had two sweepers, a refuse collector and a sewer letter on show. Following the opening address by Mr Patrick Jenkin, Mr George H. Cooper of Balfours Engineering Consultants was invested as president of the Institute. He is the 86th president, although during the period since such conferences started back in 1898 a number of officers have served more than one term. The record for long service goes to a Mr J. C. Dawes who served on six occasions between 1924 and 1946.
The 1984 president is a native of Cleethorpes. Before joining Balfours he held public health appointments in Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Manchester, Ashtonunder-Lyme, Oldham, and Bradford.
WHEN Roland Browne addressed the conference he said: "There is no doubt that the competitive element from private enterprise, stimulated by demand for greater efficiency, is causing us all to rethink — to consider alternative working practices and vehicles sizes and, indeed, any other areas where costs can be reduced."
Mr Browne said that one of the most significant trends will be the use of the 6 x 4, three-axle vehicle with a gross weight of 24 tons. "The payload is in excess of 50 per cent more than its two-axle counterpart — yet it is not proportionally more expensive to buy or to operate."
"Also, the 6 x 4 is not necessarily less manoeuvrable than the lighter vehicle."
He predicted an increasing use of this style of collection vehicle in those situations where it was practical and produced cost savings.
Twenty-five percent of the vehicles on show were constructed on Dodge chassis and more than 20 other Dodgebased vehicles were featured at the exhibition.