Out-of-hours recovery repair and spares facilities for commercial vehicles
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rrHE success of last year's COMMERCIAL MOTOR guide to emergency service, and the growing demand for 24-hour facilities as transport's tempo quickens, have prompted the production of this second edition. With the valued assistance of chassis and trailer manufacturers we have completely revised the lists so that the entries are as up to date as we can make them.
In the process the guide has grown, especially with the addition of Northern Ireland facilities, and it has had to be split in two this year. In this issue will be found the makes from AEC to Dennis, and next week we shall publish those from Dodge (U.K.) to York. As before, the complete list will be reprinted in booklet form and as soon as this is ready for sale, a notice to this effect will be printed in
COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
This guide lists, make by make and in alphabetical order, the emergency breakdown, spares and service facilities for goods vehicles and trailers aedetailed by the manufacturers. It includes the places where any or all of these facilities are available on (a) a 24-hour basis, and/or (b) at weekends, or (c) substantially before 8 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on a weekday or after 1 p.m. on a Saturday. The list does not include distributors, dealers or agents who provide such service only in normal working hours; that is not the purpose of this guide.
Service varies considerably, and with the number of entries in this book it is impossible to check individual standards. It may vary from somebody willing to turn out of bed to provide fuel for a stranded lorry, to a fully equipped workshop and recovery service for the heaviest vehicles on a 24-hour basis.
A separate section for recovery specialists not listed by chassis makers will be published at the end of Part II next week.
Principal abbreviations used in the guide are shown here, but in some cases individual makes have their own notations, and these are explained below the heading of that section.
H. B. COTTE E.
ABBREVIATIONS (24) = 24-hour service provided. (Qualified where appropriate, e.g. (24) br. for breakdown recovery.) se. = service (may refer to workshop or breakdown facilities, or the availability of a fitter).
sp. = spares available at times shown. br. = breakdown recovery or breakdown attendance service.
tel: = telephone number.
em. tel: = emergency telephone number (usually outside normal working hours).
wkd. = weekdays.
Example: (24) br.; se., sp. 8.30 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.—Fri. and to 4 p.m. Sat.; tel: Carlisle 20000, em. tel: Bainbridge 304.
This means that there is a round-the-clock emergency breakdown service, plus workshop service and spares facilities during the hours shown, while the last two items show the normal daytime telephone number and the emergency number for use outside the listed working hours.