OPINIONS FROM OTHERS.
Page 28
Page 29
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The Editor invites correspo)uience on all subjects connected with the use of commercial motors. Letters should be on one side of the paper only and typewritten by preference. The right of abbreviation is reserved, and no responsibility for views expressed is accepted.
Greater Safety on the Road.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2215] Sir,—I have been a cIose4 observer of the progress of your novel and valuable £250 competition. This original effort to draw helpful suggestions from, your readers—to the end that lives 'shall be saved and traffic movements facilitated—appeals to me as likely to produce much that is useful, There are amongst readers of The Commercial Motor the bulk of those who own and drive utility vehicles, and these include not a few of the oldest motorists in the kingdom.
Quite apart from the natural interest which I feel in the matter—due to my having been Editor of your journal for the first 12i yearn of its existence—I feel, as a member of the several Government committees which are charged with the duty of examining and reporting upon vehicle and traffic regulations, that you will do well to see that at least the prize-winning proposals, and probably a summary of some of the others, are presented in due course for consideration by the Ministry of Transport.
I should be happy to render any assistance in that direction if you wished it.—Yours faithfully,
E. S. SnearNELL-SMITH,
President and Chairman of National Council. London.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. • [2216] Sir,—I studied with great concern the figures publishedrecently showing the number of road accidents which had occurred in the Metropolis in three months. This table, of course, shows a marked increase in the number of accidents, fatal and otherwise, and as I surmised, the private car is involved to a greater extent than any other vehicle. The table, however, does not lead us far, as the smallest collision counts as an accident, and it is possible that, despite their increased number, the net result might Conceivably be less serious. Doubtless the diversion of traffic from its accustomed routes owing to road repairs is responsible for many accidents. My conviction is that the safest and quickest way of diminishing accidents lies in educating the public, and particularly school children.
The habit of looking before stepping into the roadway is certainly growing amongst children. It is painfully obvious that to-day many adults, and women in particular, do not realize the direction in which traffic travels. I would eventually suggest a mild punishment to persons taking ridiculously high risks, and/or jeopardizing the safety of others, such as running along busy thoroughfares to mount buses or dismounting them at practically top speed amidst a volume of traffic, and other misdeeds. Motor drivers are punished for offences which prejudice the safety of the public, and surely it is logic that the public should be punished for prejudicing its own safety—and, incidentally, that of a motor driver, who frequently has to risk his own neck in saving that of some thoughtless or careless individual. Many a person would take the greatest precaution in crossing a. railway line where trains pass at intervals of half an hour and yet exercise little or no care in. crossing a husy roadway. Why ? Simply because, I think, through not being educated accordingly.
Rightly or wrongly, I am of opinion that the majority of accidents are due either to neglect on the part of the unfortunate victims, or are accidents pure and simple (such as brakes or steering gear failing), which are unavoidable.—Yours faithfully,
London. FREIGHT CONTRACTOR. B44 The "Motor Cart." Can, the .Horse be Superseded ? , The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2217] Sir,—The view taken by Mr. Henry Sturmey in hib article on the above subject is a very narrow one, as he seems to have only one class of vehicle in view—namely, the baker's and milkman's cart, which delivers very light loads to several houses in one district.
This is not at all the class of transport aimed at, I am sure, in your leaders of November 14th, 1922, and September 18th last, in which you refer to the delivery of goods to shops, and in which you describe a van which can carry two tons of goods in a roomy body. Surely this is not what one would expect to find in a baker's or milkman's house-to-house cart.
With regard to the class of transport which Mr. Sturmey seems to have in mind, it is doubtful whether even the horse can hold his own against the. hand barrow, the " pram," the bicycle, and even the basket carried on the arm. As the horse has by no means beaten these methods of delivering very light loads, such as a loaf of bread or a pint of milk, how can we expect the more expensive and complicated motor to do so? I have read your two articles in the issues of the dates mentioned, and think I can plainly see the class of vehicle you have in mind, and consider that we may dismiss the class of owner to which Mr. Sturmey refers who would buy a "third or fourth-hand Ford."
Such firms as J. Lyons Ltd.' Carter., Paterson and Co. and Pickfords, Ltd., and the railway companies still employ large fleets of first-class horses, not for delivering single loaves, but for carrying heavy loads over short distances. This, I take it, is the class of trade you refer to in the two articles on the subject. It seems a pity to confuse this very important development with a side issue, as one has only_to look round London or the large manufacturing towns of the Midlands and the North to see a fair percentage of heavy goods still being drawn by horses.i •
It is obvious that such companies as I have referred to are not influenced entirely by first cost, nor are their deliveries 'so close together that the want of a satisfactory self-starter would materially control the matter ; there is a more important reason than this, and in my opinion it is the lower cost of working when the horse is compared for ehort-distance work with the motor lorry, which is designed for long distances at high speeds. It would appear to me that all that is needed is to design a suitable model, and the horse would be beaten in this class of transport as he has been in other work. No new method can be expected to replace an older one unless it offers some distinct advantage, and foe the particular class of transport under consideration it is evident that the present pattern of motor does not do this. There are doubtless many difficulties ahead, but there have been difficulties 'to overcome from the first introduction of the 'motor. With our present experience I feel sure that such a model could be produced.—Yours faithfully, C.M.L.
How the Haulier Would Do the Job!
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTO.R. [2218] Sir,—I should like the opportunity to offer a few criticisms of the figures which are quoted by your contributor, "The Skotch," in his reply to
query No. 211. If I were in the market for a lorry to-day I should pay between £50 and .2100 for a second-hand machine, take it home, spend a like amount in making it into a good one, and then get to work with it This procedure would materially reduce the item of 8s. a week for interest on first cost, as quoted. Having got my lorry, I should expect it to carry six tons at a time on its own back, without having to call in a trailer to help it, and I should expect it to travel at a speed in excess of that suggested in the statistics given in the answer to the query. I have not actually owaed an F.W.D. myself, but think that a lorry of that type, with a crew of three up and without tipping gear, should easily get out 30 tons, or 24 cubic yards of material such as described, carry it three miles, and discharge.
I have an old lorry, which had seen rough service in France before I bought it in 1919 and which has been at work ever since I got it. At present it is. doing four, journeys a day, 13 miles each way, and loaded with five tons every time. I should think that a lorry which is worth calling a lorry should do six journeys a day on the work outlined in query 211, Arad carry five tons every time, or five journeys with 'six tons up. If I had the job to do should buy a lorry as near as possible to the following specification :—Tyres, 6 ins, twin on rear, 6 ins_ single on front. It should he chain-driven and have laminated secondary springs fitted, arranged so that they only came into effect when the lorry was loaded. They would he required, of course, only on the rear axle and could be fitted as an extra. A single transverse spring of the same strength as one of the standard rear springs would do quite well, or, if two were fitted, then they should each be about hall the strength of the main springs. I would strengthen the frame by fitting tie rods under it from the front end of the rear springs to the rear end of the front springs, making them adjustable by means of.turnbuckles. A machine thus" equipped would be capable of handling 40 tons of material a day over a five-mile trip, and would be a most economical unit for road constructional work.—Yours faithfully.
W. Bnowis.
24, Pitreaston Road, St. John's, Worcester.
A Runaway Trailer.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTO'
[2219] Sir,—The daily Press, ever eager for sensational matter in connection with motor vehicles, had a paragraph appearing under the above heading recently, in which it describes a remarkable accident occurring to a lorry and trailer when on a hill. The cause of the accident is given as due to the lynch pin becoming detached, and this appears to be extremely probable. It has often amazed us to notice the light-hearted manner in which drivers of lorries and trailers proceed about their business, and doubtless in many eases-, such accidents are due to neglect on the part of the driver not keeping his apparatus in good order.
Nevertheless, it appears to us that the responsibilities of the manufacturer, of the vehicle are not sufficiently appreciated. To supply a motor lorry for hauling trailers, equipped with a -trailer bar connection consisting of a lynch pin dropped into a bentover sheet-iron plate, appears to us to be asking for trouble. Another point is that seldom, if ever, is provision made by the lorry manufacturer for operating effectively the brakes of the trailer. The connection of a motor lorry with a trailer weighing, with its load, anything from two to ten tons, demands much more consideration than is usually given to this subject, as, should the trailer run away or get out of control, the amount of damage that can be caused is immense.
The Saurer Co., who have had a very long experience of trailer haulage, have given their particular attention to these two points. The connection pro
vided on the chassis for the towing bar is a substantially built, fool proof affair, which cannot, in any normal circumstances, permit of the connection being accidentally broken while the outfit is travelling. In the second place, they have designed a special type of trailer brake-operating gear, which ensures the employment of the brakes fitted to the trailer at their full efficiency and, at the same time, obviates damage to the cable or operating gear itself by means of a special form of friction clutch, which allows for automatic slipping in the event of an overload.— Yours faithfully,
For THE SAURER COMMERCIAL VEHICLE CO. LTD., RALPH E. WILSON, Sales Manager.
The Effects of Unfair Taxation.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2220] Sir,—In my copy of The Commercial Motor which I was reading I noticed in the " One Hears" column that it was seven to three against the petrol tax. I was sorry to read this, for I was hoping that the petrol tax would again be adopted. So far as I am personally concerned, 1 do not care which method of tax is decided upon, but I know that it is the present tax which Is stopping sales of motor lorries to farmers and market-gardeners in my district, as the small mileage that they cover does not justify their paying the tax, and that is the only reason why the horse is still on the road in this district, for most of the farmers and, in some instances, those who have adopted the motor, say that on the mileage they do the tax works out at one penny per mile. At a local show at Altrincham I heard the remark made by some farniers who wore looking at some fine three-toriners which were on view, that they would purchase the vehicles but for the tax which was payable on them—Yours faithfully,
Timperley, Cheshire. R. C. MARSLAND.
Exceeding 100 Ton-miles per Gallon.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. [2221] Sir,--We have an advance copy of the Royal Automobile Club's certificate, No. 551, in front ot us. It has been issued by the Club in respect of a trial made with a Saurer SAD chassis, carrying a load of a little over six tons. You will recollect that in your issue of July 24th, under the heading, "Does the Tractor Lorry Attain Extreme Fuel Efficiency?" you stated that you felt some doubt of the possibility of substantiating claims to 100 tonmiles to the gallon in the case of 12-ton tractor lorries. We then sent you particulars of some tests -that we ouiselves had made -with a Saurer lorry with trailer. Admittedly, the higher the gross weight
the higher the ton-mileage performance. ,
In order to demonstrate the efficiency ef the Saurer, we entered one of our SAD Chassis, with a load as stated, for-a thousand-mile trial. The fuel consumption was 9.84 miles per gallon, or 104.66 tonmiles per gallon. This is a certified performance, and we believe establishes a record in petrol 'consumption. It also answers the letter of your correspondent, Mr. Murphy, in your issue of September 11th. Mr. Murphy stated that he " challenged" either of the firms who had Published their " stunt " results to exceed SO ton-miles per gallon in a test measured on an average country run with full load. We are not advocate S of " stunt" performances, and prefer to justify our claims by obtaining -an official certificate such RS that granted by the R.A.C., which we consider a full answer to Mr. Murphy's challenge.
In addition to the most excellent petrol consumption result, the consumption of oil was 1,452 miles per gallon and the total amount of water evaporated during ten days' trial was one pint.—Yours For THE SATTRER COMMERCIAL VEHICLE CO., LTD.,
London. RALPH E. WitmoN, Sales Manager.•