The Value of Winch-equipped Lorries.
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Far from being reticent concerning the use of petrol-propelled vehicles for effecting deliveries, Shute and Co. advertised the fact that it had purchased motor vehicles and drew attention to the value of direct delivery by such machines. At the same time, mention was made of the utility of winch equip. meat for ensuring speedy unloading and the use of the absolute minimum of labour.
Shute and Co. has also found that, with the aid of these winchequipped vehicles, it has been able to unload railway freight trucks in a much shorter time than was possible when horsed vehicles were 'employed, thereby saving the expense of demurrage. Meantime, the delivery radius of the company has been extended for many miles into four States—Pennsylvania. New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware.
As is well known, hay and similar commodities are often stored in the upper floors of high
buildings. The company, therefore, has been able to give better service to its customers, not only by way of prompt deliveries, but also in getting the material exactly where it is wanted, even as far up as third-floor lofts.
A 4-6-ton Autocar owned by the
company delivers four capacity loads a day, each journey being anything from 10 to 30 miles long. With this vehicle it is possible to unload 150 bags of grain or trusses of hay in from 25 to 30 minutes to a third-storey loft. It is only by the use of winch equipment that it is possible to tackle such an amount of work in so short a time.
With the aid of the class of
winch equipment used on these lorries it is possible to transfer a load of oats from a vehicle into a second-storey loft in 15 minutes and to deal with a load of hay in the same manner in 20 minutes. The first four lorries purchased by E. L. Shute and Co. are doing more economically the work formerly performed by 40 horses.
The value of the motor vehicle in many trades of a vastly different nature is often appreciably increased by the use of special equipment to facilitate loading and unloading operations, and in this connection the power of the engine is, in many instances, employed to good advantage. As a direct result of the time that is thus saved, labour charges are materially reduced. Furthermore, the risks (particularly to the men concerned) often associated with the handling of heavy and awkward loads do not exist.