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IF a vehicle operated by A. H. Adams and Sons Ltd., Great Bridge, Tipton, Staffs, is overloaded by a customer, it is not allowed to proceed with the load and if no vray round the difficulty can be found the job is refined. Moreover, all drivers who are away from base for the night report to the Great Bridge traffic office by phone between 5 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. to give details of their whereabouts and movements during the day, and no driver is allowed to "take his vehicle home". The driving-hour regulations are strictly enforced and drivers are issued with printed
Instructions regarding handling of their vehicles, tyre checks and speed on motorways.
Insistence on meticulous methods of operation is symptomatic of the approach to traffic problems shown by the company's managing director, Mr. Albert H. Adams, and by his father and co-director, Mr. A. H. Adams Snr., his brother Mr. N. A. A. Adams and his sister, Mrs. C. S. Udall. Mr. Albert Adams is chairman of the Dudley sub-area of the Road Haulage Association and a member both of the West Midland area committee and the long-distance functional group.
In Mr. Adams' view, the typical , haulier frequently loses traffic unnecessarily to C-licensed vehicles because of his failure to meet the needs of his customers in special cases.
Although the carriage of steel bars, sheet and plate represents the main traffic of the 16 A-licensed long-distance lorries in the 27vehicle fleet, regular loads also include chemicals, concrete bars and sections, wire mesh, agricultural seeds, imported fruit and home-grown vegetables. Whilst the transport of steel is " non-specialized" it has been necessary to provide a small warehouse for the temporary storage (normally a maximum of three days) of fruit and vegetables and also for chemicals for longer periods. In the main the fruit carried is imported via London and Liverpool docks and an office was recently opened in Liverpool to assist in the operation of vehicles engaged in this and other traffic.
The carriage of concrete sections may also be cited as specialized in that the most appropriate type of vehicle is employed for the job. Two Dyson 15-16-ton Aeroride tandemaxle trailers, hauled by Leyland Beaver tractive units, were purchased for this traffic and offer a number of advantages over the vehicles with standard leaf springing, notably a constant platform height for loading, a smooth ride for the relatively
fragile loads and improved suspension characteristics for empty running.
All long-distance vehicles are equipped with a Selmar antitheft device which is of the double-pendulum type that sounds an alarm if the vehicle is rocked about either axis, and vehicles visiting the London area overnight are left in art approved parking site. The Selmar alarm was originally fitted to the vehicles about two years' ago as a condition of the insurers for covering the fleet within 10 miles of Charing Cross and has provided immunity from theft for the entire period.
Drivers benefit from two types of bonus scheme, one of which is based on freedom from accident and vehicle damage, and one on general conduct, timekeeping, cleanliness, civility to customers and so on. In both cases each qualifying driver is paid 10s. a week and a further sum of £10 at the end of the year, so that •a total of £72 is payable in the year to a driver with clean records. On average approximately three drivers qualify for the maximum award.
In addition to the Dyson Aeroride units, maximum-load articulated trailers in the fleet also include an oscillating-axle type of the same make, and a York tandem-axle trailer, all of
which are hauled by Leyland Beavers. Three Bedford TK tractive units are employed in conjunction with five B.T.C. Four-in-Line semi-trailers, whilst rigid four-wheelers comprise three Albion Chieftains, two Albion Reivers, six Leyland Comets and Super Comets of up to 10-ton capacity, three Bedford TK 7.5-tonners and one 3-tonner of the same make, an older Atkinson and an Albion Cairn underfloor-engined lorry of 2-ton capacity. The remaining vehicles comprise six Austins of 10to 25-cwt. capacity.
Fuel consumption of the Beaver tractive units is about 8.5 m.p.g., the Bedford attics average around 11-8 m.p.g. and the consumptions of the Bedford 7-5-tonner and Comet rigid are approximately 15 m.p.g. and 12.75 m.p.g. respectively. All the Bedfords and one Comet are equipped with two-speed axles, the remaining Cornets and one Albion being fitted with sixspeed gearboxes with overdrive top gear.
The normal traffic area covers the larger part of England and Wales, with the exception of Cornwall, but occasional runs are made to. this county and also parts of Scotland. Although use is made of the motorways Gn appropriate runs, it is not considered that MI offers an overall advantage, mainly because of relative high incidence of tyre failure and the very high cost of a breakdown.
Failure of one of the tyres of twinned wheels normally results in failure of the mating tyre and to irreparable damage, and the cost of the break down may be as much as in addition to loss of itehicle utilization. More rigid enforcement of regular tyre checks and of moderate speeds on the motorway is, however, expected to reduce tyre troubles.
In terms of cost per ton-mile, the oscillating-axle trailer is favoured in comparison with the tandem-axle type, the maximum effective carrying-capacity of the heavier vehicle providing an increase in Payload of only about 1.5 tons. An allimportant advantage of the four-wheel-in-line trailer is that its use reduces tyre costs by about two thirds, which is shown by the record of two B.T.C. units each of which has covered over 80,000 miles on the original set of four tyres (with one puncture) compared with an average for the eight tyres of the
tandem-axle trailer of -.45,000-50,000 miles. Most of the vehicles are equipped with Michelin X tyres.
Articulated outfits are equipped with fifth-wheel couplings and with trailer braking systems that can be operated independently fi.Orn the cab, and it is pertinent that the outfits were operated throughout the last long, wintry spell without serious incident: Particular tribute is paid by Mr. Adams to the performance and reliability of the Bedford-B.T.C. system, which comprises air-over-hydraulic tractive-unitbrakes and airpressure trailer brakes. On average the brake's of the fourwheel rigid vehicles, the Bedford articulated outfits and the tandem axle trailers are relined after 60,000 miles, whilst the B:T.C. trailers have covered over 100,000 . miles without Vehicles are docked for greasing and a thorough inspection at intervals of 1,000 miles, and enghle -oil is changed after 6,000 miles, together with the filter element. ,Shell lubricant is employed throughout, all the diesel engines being run on Rotella oil and transmission units bn the recommended grade, whilst Retiriax A all-purpoie'grease is used for chassis lubrication. Linkage's and so on are treated with Copaslip before
assembly. • • Major engine overhauls are performed in the workshop, apart from crankshaft' grinding, and it is notable that the later types of heavier unit normally now, require new cylinder. liners and pistons at about 80,000-85,000 miles, whereas it was customary to obtain 250,000 miles in the case of older vehicles before any type of overhaul was necessary. . Starter failure is frequently experienced in colder weather, arid Mr.. Adarni is critical of the general standard of electrical Wiring. The spraying of junction boxes with Underseal has been introduced to provide pfotection in bad weather. .•
On the question of eXcessive. diesel. smoke, Mr. Adams nain tains that it can be avoided entirely by proper attention to the injection equipment. In the only case of police prosecution of a company driver for engine smoking; the cause was traced to the action of another recently'-dismissed. driver who had filed appropriate part S 'of the' equipment to obtain increased output. ,