LOCAL KN EDGE COUNTS
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By Alan Smith, F.R.S.A.
THE area of London east of Bloomsbury to dockland is the home of numerous light industries ranging from engineering to clothing manufacture, and there are numbers of tradesmen who collectively make or provide everything for the furnishing of all kinds of premises. Shopfitters and office furnishers are door to door with exhibition contractors and makers of hospital and laboratory equipment.
Within a 54-hour run (provided that there are no delays in the first 10 miles), one may reach the Vale of Evesham, which, if another shire already claims the title of the Garden of England, may fairly be called the Market Garden of England. From its holdings come fruits and vegetables, eggs, bacon and beef.
Part of the east-west route across the busy north-eastern district of the capital bears the name of Old Street, into which runs Central Street from where operate the Newold Transport Co., Ltd. Their name, which derives from the address from which the company started in 1925—New Street, Old Street—is sometimes misread: Newold often receive cheques made out for "Newbold," and before the recent Cheques Act a suitable rubber stamp was needed for their endorsement.
Nature of Operation
Newold have a fleet of 14 vans which deliver the products of local manufacturers mainly within London and the Home Counties to customers, or to trunk hauliers, the railways or docks for onward transit. Goods are also collected for wholesalers from Canal docks and Continental rail depots, and a little long-distance operation is performed.
The nature of the conditions under which the fleet works is reflected by the facts that about half the damage suffered by the vehicles in the course of their business occurs when they are stationary, either loading or unloading, and are knocked or scraped by passing vehicles, and a quarter as a result of not-too-successful attempts by drivers at manoeuvring into and out of narrow entrances in the City and West End. .
One accident, remembered now with amusement by Mr. B. D. H. Falvey, secretary, occurred when a van was sent to deliver some board-room furniture to an insurance company, over whose entrance was an extremely elegant—
c16 and expensive—glass canopy. Unluckily, the roof of the van was an inch higher than the canopy.
IN theVale of Evesham, Messrs. Marshall's
Transport, who garage their vehicles at Badsey and have two premises in the town of Evesham, one a site for the loading of produce and the other a maintenance and bodybuilding shop, have a larger fleet comprising platform lorries and container vehicles. Their work involves regular runs on routes to Lancashire and Yorkshire, Bristol and Bath, and London, and average weekly mileage per vehicle at 750 compares with 150-200 for Newold's vans operating in London, and 300-500 for vehicles delivering within the Home Counties.
Largest outfits in the London fleet are two 1,400-cu.-ft. pantechnicons based on 5-ton chassis. Both are BedCords, as are a 1,000-cu.-ft. 4-tonner, seven 2-tonners and a 11-tonner. Four of the 2-tonners are of 850 cu. ft., two 750 cu ft. and one 500 cu. ft. Remaining vehicles are of Thames manufacture and comprise three 900-cu.-ft. vans, one with a V8 engine, another with a Cost-Cutter engine and a Buttonwood tailboard loader, whilst the third is the only oiler in the Newokl fleet--a 4D. Bodywork is by Sully, Blackford and Hawkey, Ltd.
Fifteen of Marshall's vehicles are Seddon 5L longwheelbase 7-tonners, 12 of which have the latest type of cab with wrap-round windscreen. Three more Seddons are of the Mark 15 71-ton pattern, and it is intended to standardize upon this make largely because of satisfactory experience with Perkins engines and spares service. Perkins engines are also found in two Vulcans. Other vehicles are a Thames 4D and a B.M.C. 5.1-litre 7-tonner.
NEWOLD suffered the loss of their garage and a part of their fleet during the war. Some antiquated vehicles were obtained so that .important contracts could be met, and after the war the concern set about replacing old vans. Predominantly short-distance operators, they escaped nationalization, whereas manyof their competitors were netted.
Confined, however, within 25 miles, Newold. could not undertake some of their specialized work and many customers whom they were unable to serve and who could not find alternative facilities, bought their own vehicles. After a short period when work was hard to find, the concern replaced their fairly small number of big customers by a large number from each of whom a useful modicum of business wis forthcoming. Soon the aggregate amount of work was restored to the prenationalization level, and by today some of these modest connections have become important.
Business became brisker as rebuilding in and around London gained impetus and local furniture and other manufacturers worked overtime to supply a hungry market. On the other hand, on the blitzed sites around the company's premises on which factories and warehouses had once stood, there grew up flats and office blocks—buildings which are not sources of traffic. At the same time, many local furniture manufacturers, cramped for space, moved into satellite towns or other outlying parts. Into the places they vacated, however, came new industries and the nature of Newold's traffic broadened.
Mr. R. H. Ames, director and uncle of Mr. Falvey, told me that denationalization had had a demoralizing effect on the local depots of British Road Services and their facilities deteriorated. B.R.S. customers suddenly found that the depots they used were closed, and that the vehicles which regularly Called upon them were either put up for disposal or transferred to other depots. Newokl were then almost overwhelmed in trying to meet demands from such concerns and had to decline much work. None of the company's tenders for B.R.S. units was successful. Despite the local transport shortage at that time, the company made no application to add vehicles to their licences, considering that their case would not be compatible with the apparent availability of B.R.S. 'units. The depletion of professional haulage capacity was again made good by customers buying their own vehicles. .Newold lost some business in this way, but the loyalty of certain old customers who became C-licensees prevailed to the extent that they signed up with the company for the supply of fuel from the Mobilgas service station which they operate in Central Street.
Management of the Newold company, as may be gathered, is in family hands, the wives of Mr. Ames and Mr. T. C. Oakenf old, managing director (who also runs a building company), and Mr. Falvey's mother being sisters.
THE same applies with Marshall's. which is run by two brothers, whose two sisters are married to other Evesham hauliers. Folk in this part of England have a definite character of their own which, ignoring any unwarranted political significance in the term, could be called "collectivist."
Each haulier engaged upon the distribution .of produce serves a specific area or areas of the country and poaching traffic outside recognized boundaries is just not done. The result is that growers know always to which hauliers to consign their goods for different destinations, and are not caught up in rivalry between operators. The orderly system which the transport providers have evolved among themselves is recognized and endorsed by the users.
As an antidote to abuse of this system is another aspect of the local character, typified by the answer Mr. .1. A. Marshall gave me when I asked why he did not num her
cl 8 the vehicles in his fleet rather than use the full registration figures on various documents.
" You can't do that in Evesham," he smiled. " if people should start to see any of your lorries with high fleet numbers on them, they'll reckon you're getting too big."
Mr. Marshall entered haulage in 1938 at the age of 19, taking over a vehicle from another operator. After two years in the Services during the war, he returned to transport and in October, 1949, his 13-vehicle business was nationalized. For a year he worked for B.R.S., but left to run what are now the maintenance and bodybuilding shops in Evesham as an independent engineering and coachworks enterprise.
He was successful in ..,.cquiling vehicles when denationalization came,
and in gathering back nearly all his former employees. There are 45 men on the payroll now. The principles upon which Mr. Marshall works are to adhere to vehicle weight ratings, avoid overloading and eschew rate-cutting.
He would rather lose traffic to rate-cutters than work at a less, he told me. This, happily, was not the case. In fact, the reverse was true, for certain other hauliers who had trimmed their prices had found themselves joined in battle by the railways and hauliers based in distant towns but operating local depots.
Half of Marshall's fleet is engaged upon fruit and vegetable distribution, vehicles leaving Evesham according to timetable to catch the markets, even if they are not fully laden. Container vehicles, operating from Badsey, carry 14 tons of fresh or frozen eggs each night to London.
Frozen chickens and soft fruits are also carried in insulated containers, of which Marshall's have eight of the Walker Litex pattern. They are 16 ft. long and weigh 25 cwt. unladen. When used to transport beef and bacon,. a container may have 4 tons suspended from the roof. Return loads include ingredients for meat-processing concerns, cartons, of which IA tons are delivered every two days to a local sausage manufacturer, and empties.
Marshall's rarely hire vehicles to other hauliers, but themselves sub-contract 30-40 tons of traffic a day. When the plum crop is ready in July and August, there is great competition for it among hauliers, but the firm keep their own vehicles on their normal work and deal with requests for plum transport by hiring up to 20 vehicles a day.
This means that the work of Marshall's own vehicles stays fairly steady throughout the year, except for a natural slackness during the winter. This is a great advantage enjoyed by operators serving the food trade. People must always eat, whereas with most other goods their level of spending fluctuates according to many influences.
I N this respect, Newold might be experiencing ups' and downs in pressure of work, the rush at the time of denationalization having by now subsided, were it not that local manufacturers are now more varied than ever before. Another stabilizing factor is that four of their vehicles are under long-term contracts, two with a concern of officefurniture makers whom Newold have served for 20 years, a third with a large upholsterer, and the other—with the tailboard hoist—with a company specializing in removing office equipment and safes.
The rest of the fleet, which operates under A licence, works for a host of customers. Shop fittings and laboratory equipment are often detailed for long-distance delivery, and there are frequent loads of cabinets for radio manufacturers. The company's greatest asset is a staff skilled in handling the kinds of goods which are the mainstay of the business. • , Like the local work, mediumand long-distance operations are special in nature. A vehicle may take a day to be loaded, have to rendezvous with skilled labour at the delivery point, take another day to unload, and have to return with staff and bits and pieces, so that a back-load is out of the question. Rarely are Newold's drivers able to take a return load, and consequently the company are not well known to sources from which one may be obtained, so that when a suitable opportunity does occur further difficulties arise.
Work of this kind entails its own method of charging,
but because of its variety tends to discount, although not nullify, the value of keeping and analysing costs. Accurate costs can be calculated only when a vehicle has covered a substantial mileage, and in Newold's case the mileage would need to be divided into sections for town, suburban and long-distance work. Then various costs would have to be appropriately apportioned, but if, say, £50 worth of tyre wear has taken place over n miles, how can this sum be properly divided under each heading, bearing in mind that town work is harder on tyres than long-distance?
Whilst being faced with such conundrums, Mr. Falvey nevertheless realizes that close costing is essential when quoting for new contracts, although his cost records are of doubtful value, as the figures invariably relate to vehicles which have been in service for some time and are inapplicable to models of newer design.
Vehicle agents have, however, been helpful in obtaining accurate cost data from various operators who are customers of theirs and willing to pass on the benefit of their arithmetic. Useful figures are also available to Newold from other sources. The company take the higher of either a mileage or time basis when charging for town work. The accepted practice of allowing six miles of running per hour is followed. About 60 per cent. of town work would cost the customer the same whether charged by time or mileage.
When asked to quote for work involving journeys longer than normal, Newold employ a complicated formula arrived at after much experience and translated into readyreckoner form. When the nature of the work is fully appreciated, the relative incidence of standing charges and running costs can be appropriately equated. Quoting by tonnage is completely foreign to Newold, who share Marshall's antipathy to rate-cutting.
Average fuel-consumption rates of vehicles employed in London vary from 9-10 m.p.g., but 13 m.p.g. may be returned on journeys into the country. The Thames 4D averages up to 19 m.p.g. compared with 13 m.p.g. of the petrol vehicle it has replaced. Except for major overhauls, which are undertaken by the Capital Motor Co., Ltd., on the Bedford vans, and the Highbury Corner Motor Co., Ltd., on Thames, Newold perform their own maintenance work. Petrol engines arc rebored at 40,00045,000 miles, and exchange engines arc obtained at 60,000 miles.
HAVING premises completely equipped for such work, Marshall's perform all their own vehicle maintenance, a procedure simplified by the almost complete standardi zation upon one type of engine. The immediate postdenationalization fleet was a motley of types. Perkins spares are obtained from H. R. Wilson-Scott, Ltd., Gloucester. At 70,000 miles, engines are fitted with new piston rings and, if necessary, new big-end bearings, and replacement units are bought under the Perkins Perpetuity scheme at 150,000 miles.
At one time, the company experienced trouble in that the cover plate at the front of the waterjacket of P6 engines corroded rapidly until leakage occurred. Removal of the plate necessitated either taking off the timing-chain cover or raising the cylinder block, each job taking half an hour. As so many of the plates failed, for reasons which were investigated and have recently been removed, two of the bolt holes were slotted so that a plate could be taken off without disturbance to other parts. The trouble was connected with use of an anti-freeze of outmoded formula., Morris S.A.E. 30 engine oil is used and vehicles are greased monthly and rebuilt and repainted every 15-18 months. Tekaloid spray enamel is used. As Evesham water is hard, anti-freeze is retained in the radiators throughout the post-winter months because of its antiscaling inhibitors. Long-range fuel tanks are fitted. As bodybuilders, Marshall's have evolved their own body design which they apply not only to their own vehicles hut also offer to numerous local farmers and other operators.
The platform longitudinals are laid on nine cross members, four of which are behind the rear axle, and the platform itself is ringed with a steel band. The keroin and ash timbers are stout, and stand up well to the shaking vehicles suffer when running over Yorkshire cobblestones.
Pirelli Carriload 268 8.25-20 tyres are favoured and last for 50,000-60,000 miles. Retreads are not used, a,s the time involved in taking covers off wheels and replacing them is considered to offset any saving that might result from buying new covers, bearing in mind that an allowance is made for usable worn tyres in part-exchange. Before the winter, new tyres are fitted to all vehicles for safety.
City work takes a heavy toll of the tyres of Newold's vehicles, and only 40 per cent. of covers are in a state acceptable for remoulders when replaced. Normal tyre life is reckoned to be 20,000-25,000 miles and tread-wear is rarely cause for replacement. Remoulded covers give between two-thirds and as much as new-tyre life.
Operating in parts of the country that could scarcely be more different from each other, and working under conditions that may be reckoned as opposite extremes, these two busy hauliers have in common a close knowledge of the needs of their local customers, and both in their own ways strive to provide services intimately attuned to them. From this shared recipe, both succeed by various paths.