DOMESTIC TRANSPORT-PROBLEM AND ANSWER?
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It is not only major policy decisions which occupy the manager and engineer of a large passenger transport undertaking. An interesting example of the lesser, but important, problems which arise is provided here by Mr. W. C. Wilson, general manager and engineer of Stockton Corporation Transport FOR road transport operators, especially those on the passenger side, the transport of personnel can be a commitment of some consequence. It may be something of a fringe benefit, which should not be allowed to incur unnecessary expense, yet unless it is a service adequately performed it can become a major problem. When staff are not delivered when and where they are wanted, the most carefully arranged schedules must inevitably go haywire, probably with far-reaching effects, and it is surely worth while to give careful consideration to the arrangements made for picking up staff from their homes to man vehicles starting very early and to return others to their homes late at night, or even in the early hours of the morning. In the very big concerns there may also be the need to run such journeys to focal points during the day.
Ii could be said that wherever there are vehicles to be driven the resources are there for collecting the operating personnel, but this can prove a quite costly procedure. It is inadvisable to employ a larger vehicle than necessary, not only because of the higher running costs but also because, where the collecting has to be done down side streets and in places not normally considered accessible to lorries .(or buses), it is all too easy to be involved in accidents which affect the serviceability of badly-needed vehicles. In fact, a little investigation might surprise many operators who realize that some assistance is being given to their staff engaged on difficult duties from the domestic transport point of view, but have not made themselves fully aware of the manner in which this is done.
Some years ago I found that we were using doubledecker buses to pick up small numbers of people, this coming to my notice because householders complained that vehicles were running over unsuitable roads in their locality. To overcome the difficulty a small personnel carrier with 12 seats was purchased, and the standard petrol engine exchanged for a four-cylinder diesel unit. There arc many thousands of this type of vehicle in use for an infinite variety of purposes, and no doubt many employed in the same manner as our own. Unfortunately, we found the vehicle completely unsuitable and most difficult to maintain in a serviceable condition; for example, the gear-change linkages, which needed careful manipulation and a sympathetic hand, simply gave up the ghost in the hands of dozens of drivers, most of whom were familiar only with the very large and robust gear lever fitted to public service vehicles; and scrambling into and out of the vehicle was somewhat trying, particularly for big people.
My perfunctory description of our personnel carrier deliberately made reference to the diesel engine because this unfortunate essay into the ultimate economy became a standing reproach. Whenever committees needed to use the vehicle for civic purposes, tours of inspection and so on, the noise of the engine reflected through the compact metal body made conversation impossible.
From the foregoing it will be understood that when I was authorized to purchase a more suitable personnel carrier the specification and design received a great deal more attention than might otherwise have been the case. A small coach would have been too costly and in our conditions unsuitable for any other form of employment. So we needed a robust vehicle capable of giving good service so far as the chassis was concerned, no matter how many
different drivers were employed, with power enough to go anywhere for the kind of lOad with which we were concerned, ind sufficiently compact to operate almost anywhere that a .private -car could go. A_ minimum of 18 seats was desirable and the intention was to arrange these in such a manner as to provide access comparable With that on a public service vehicle. After our previous experience of being cramped, ample head room was a "must ", as also was the highest possible standard of visibility, so that if necessary, in alddition to securing the comfort of our, own staff, a seated committee would have a good an-round view.
The chassis selected was the Austin forward-control FG K30. The standard four-cylinder petrol engine offers adequate performance, with a very welcome low noise level. The general construction' is certainly more robust than our • form of operation will ever test, and in these Circumstances the automatic lubrication equipment which we had installed might seem an-unnecessary luxury; yet the complete reliability of this ,vehicle and its long-term serviceability are So importantthat the extra trouble taken will, I feel, be well worth while. We have one criticism only of the chassis— and this would apply to any .form of use—in that the windscreen is too shallow, so that any man above medium height finds ,himself above the comfortable level for yirisicin and a tall man has to peer under the top of the screen. With our mode of employment we shall need to strengthen the floor. of the cab by the addition of metal strips around the gearbox cover, but this difficulty would not emerge in most forms of use for which the chassis would be employed.
The body designed for our chassis was in a sense a co-operative effort, for Mann Egerton and Co. Ltd., of Norwich, supplied the chassis and built the body, whilst we supplied the seats from our own resources and added a few
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extra items, such as linoleum floor covering.' Unkind references have been madeto the fact that it looks like a horsebox "; but when the humorist was invited to consider the , standard of comfOrt offered for the form of use intended, the ease of circulation,the almost clinical clean-' ness of the interior and the lightness promoted by the provision of a clear glass-fibre roof, he had to agree that the vehicle had a great deal to recommend it. • We had an advantage in having the seats available, and the staff needed to install them, and the Completed vehicle cost only a little overi1,200. This gives room for manceuvre as -compared with any other similar vehicle with seats for 20 people, including the driver, and that was what we finished up with.
My inspection, at the framing stage, of the teak members proved most interesting, for most passenger vehicle operators see little of this kind of construction nowadays— certainly this body puts to shame some of the examples of composite bodybuilding which could be seen in the early post-war years. The material appeared, to my admittedly inexpert eye, carefully selected and well prepared and thp joints would not have disgraced good quality furniture.
There is just one note of caution that I would offer to anyone following our example, which is that the standard of sound control must be appreciably higher for a vehicle intended for passengers than one which is only to transport goods. We found an irritating drumming caused by movement of the panels between waist level and floor, which in the ordinary way would have been of no consequence, but in fact we put in an intermediate rail and a facing of felt which produced the desired effect. Perhaps we have aimed rather high, as the company did not agree with us that this addition should be necessary, but at all events we are now quite satisfied with the completed vehicle.