1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202 
That was the year...
Page 13
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
CM was launched in 1905; for our centenary year we're bringing you stories from years gone by. This week we're back in 1914 and 1964.
1914
The Panama Canal was opened, the House of Commons passed home rule for Ireland and WH Carrier patented the air conditioner. And even the worst student of history will recall that one event dominated the year, coyly described as the European situation", otherwise known as the First World War.
Practical help
Commercial Motor rose to the challenge of wan In the very week that war was declared on Germany, CM had set up three major practical initiatives.The first was setting up a register of drivers to fill the gaps left as men headed to war;200 such vacancies were filled in the first week.The second was a telegraphic freight exchange register to match vehicles with return loads to provide maximum operational efficiency CM also supported the CM Users Association's "Mechanical Fitness for Service"scheme, a register of vehicles and drivers volunteering for active service. Possibly, the magazine's finest hour.
Exports help
Even before war was declared,trade with Germany diminished. In the first five months of the year,its commercial vehicle exports fell from 468 to 294 compared with a year earlier.
Answers to queries
This was the title of a regular series in which readers' questions were answered, although the actual questions remained intriguingly unpublished. One answer which intrigues us was from "Dairyman".The reply was "You can rely upon the absence of contamination of the milk by any smell of the petrol." Hopefully the question was hypothetical.
1964
Internationally,1964 saw Malta gain independence,Tokyo host the Olympics and The Beatles invade the USA. Domestic arrivals included Harold Wilson, BBC2 and the Forth Road Bridge, passing the Daily Herald and the death penalty on the way out.
Blind alleys?
The award for technical advance of the year must be a tie. From Russia, the ZIL-164 was a tipper,but not as we know it. Lift was provided by three large bellows filled by exhaust gas, in about 50 seconds.The home team in the shape of an amateur inventor from Kent was a patent for a tractor unit with a folding fork lift arrangement on the front of the cab, able to unload its own trailer. A device which superimposed data from speed and direction sensors on a map display could position a vehicle on the correct side of the road in zero visibility.
Smokers' corner
We reported on the Mutual Smoke Scheme. No, not a fag buying co-operative, but a joint venture between the RI-IA and the Traders Road TransportAssociation. Members were issued with post cards to advise one another if their trucks were seen to be emitting excessive smoke.Don't worry though," the postcards are intended for executives and not commercial drivers".
Fickle fame
59 mid-Wales operators being taken by the Automobile Palace of Llandrindod Wells to visit the BMC truck factory at Bathgate were mistaken for those Beatles when they arrived at Edinburgh Airport just ahead of the Fab Four.