More Petrol Before. Xmas.
Page 1
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
There will be more petrol before Xmas, and we believe enough to place every commercial consumer in a position to obtain. about 85 per cent. of his requirements. The new supplies, carried•in new tank steamers, will be more than at the increased rate of 10,500,000 gallons per annum which is involved, but the Government will allow other demands to be in part satisfied. It is now fully recognized in the Cabinet that the consequences of the petrol rationing are more serious for the country than the alternative slight modifications of the exchange and the shipping positions. The pressure upon them—most of it both genuine and legitimate—has proved absolutely irresistible. The likely impressment of more subsidy-type vehicles from the civilian service of buyers who have received delivery during the past Six months will to some extent, whilst aggravating other troubles, relieve the petrol situation.
The Uncertain Position of Steam-wagon Output.
Commercial-motor users who have in the past relied solely upon fleets of internal-combustion-engined vehicles will -undoubtedly do well at once to apply the lesson. Their "eggs" have been too much in one basket. There must in the future be more of a division of patronage, and the claims of steam must be taken more seriously into account. Steam, which has so gamely held its own in the load categories of three tons and upwards, must now be developed downwards—at least as low as the two-tonner. We forecast a development in that direction, and especially are we confident that it will occur by reason of the good market that exists for the lighter model. The word " go " is alone restrained by the delay which has proved inevitable over the deliberations and decisions of the L.G.B. Committee which has in hand the settlement of new constructional limits of weights and other fundamental points to which designers must in future conform. Relief from this source will not be available, therefore, until next year at the earliest, so far as two-tonners are concerned, seeing that new classes of output are involved. It is in respect of steam as applied in standard practice to three-ton and heavier loads that something can be done without intermission. The C.M.U.A. continues to use its influence, through the Ministry of Munitions and other Departments, to the end that this "owe lamb" of so many users may not be taken. There are reasons for hoping that, part pas su as shell orders (or other munitions work) is transferred from the steam-wagon works, it will be possible to ensure their being duly licensed to extend their normal output by reversion. T.,f this sanction should unhappily
i prove mpossible of attainment, inclusive of the essential authority to get supplies and to keep men, the delivery, of home-built vehicles to existing and new buyers will be in a terry state in relation to buoyant demand. Bids and premiums will be of no avail. There will be but a trickle of supply to maintain the would-be stream,of road transport by steam power.
Battery Vehicles Dependent Upon Supply Stations.
Our battery-vehicle friends are all agog. They hope to reap a golden harvest from their iron-nickel or their lead resources. Their anticipations are likely to be fulfilled, but degree of accomplishment by "the electric" is closely dependent upon the attitude of power companies and the average facilities which they provide. It is useless, from the point of view of )ong-distance traffic, to have low charges and ready attention at even nine out of ten electric-supply stations on any line of route. Unpreparedness, or unwillingness, or inordinate delay at the tenth— above all if it fall anywhere near the middle of the route—may turn the scale against electricity, and may undo all the good work at the other nine. The Electric Vehicle Committee is striving to eliminate " black spots" from its records by adding black spots of another kind and significance to the map of the country. We refer to places at which current for vehicle-batteries can be had, on demand, without delay, at not more than ld. per B.T.U., in conjunction with a nominal or reasonable fee for handling. The electric vehicle per se is a commercial success, but only where and while it can be re-charged under .-favourable conditions, and at fair rates. The coal problem hangs over "the electric" ag much as it does over the steam wagon, if not more so. Whereas the electric-supply station is immoble, and is perforce dependent upon railway (or other) transport for its vital fuel, the individual steam wagon can be driven ,to any gas-works, to take up coke, if the coal supply is suspended. The rate of introduction of _the battery-equipped vehicle is accordingly a matter of grave uncertainty, although from no faults inherent to the vehicle itself or the choice of batteries for it. Time will remove both drawbacks, but that is unfortunately the factor which few commercial-motor users have at their disposal in the present crisis. Their future may be assured—may, in fact, be one of erabarras de richesse ; their present is bound to remain one of anxiety. We cannot make a pretence hereanent.
The Law of Locomotives.
We continue the series of articles, four in number, from the pen of a barrister-at-law, dealing with the law of locomotives. There is grave confusion, especially amongst the police and magistracy, concerning the legal differences which exist between locomotives (traction engines) and heavy motorcars (petrol or other vehicles with unladen weights in excess of two tons and not exceeding five tons). We repeatedly find, for example, errors in administration of the law as regards the emission of smoke or visible vapour, and as regards the number of men required to be in charge of a heavy motorcar. Our contributor, in his present series, which is the second series to be published by us, helps, to remove some of those sonices of error. The earlier series, chiefly • aboirt heavy motorcars, appeared in THE UOMMERCIAL MOTOR between the 6th April and the 4th May last.