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MOTORS
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for
MILL-WORK
on Merseyside
mERSEYSIDE, the greatest milling centre in the Empire, is excellently served by many forms of transport—road, (railway, sea and inland waterways. All these services are closely knit in an organization which enables the merits of each to l)e exploited to the utmost advantage, There are fleets of road vehicles operated by roughly half a dozen undertakings, carrying on business in Liverpool, I3irkenhead and SeacoMbe, that are the largest employed in the flour-milling industry and these comprise tractors, steam wagons, heavy petrol lorries and light vans and lorries. The last-named are• used mainly for small express deliveries. The mechanical road vehicles which are employed by the flour millers work against an imposing background of huge tonnages. It is on record that the approximate capacity of the Liverpool and district flour mills is about 750 sacks of flour (each of which weighs 280 lb.) per hour, but in addition to this, cognizance must be taken of the direct imports of flour from other countries. Since the year 1018, however; the
n34 volume of these has shown a substantial decline, owing to the more successful competitive methods of the millers in being able to market their products at a price acceptable to their clients. Something like 2,000,000 sacks of flour are sent yearly from the Merseyside to destinations which are more than 50 miles from the-port, whilst about 300,000 sacks are being delivered within an area which extends for over 150 miles. This is a triumph in 'Conipetitive vitality.
The • flour mills of the North Shore Mill Co., Ltd., are among the largest in Liverpool and they are served by a direct railway siding, bY''canal and by road vehicles. Situated in Boundary Street, about half a mile from the nearest docks, the mills 'are within a few minutes' travelling distance of the dock granaries.
Receiving the Raw Material.
• The main supplies of raw material, however, are delivered by canal barges, which receive their loads oversicle from steamships and are emptied at the mill -by means
of an elevator which is slung out from the wall of the mill, and lowered into the hold of the vessel. Wheat, etc., is thus transferred to the warehouse with amazing speed, and is weighed and roughly cleaned in -transit. The capacity of the North Shore mill is 12,000 sacks (280lb.) of flour per week.
When the grain in sacks is stored in ;dock warehouses it has to be brought to the mill by road vehicle, and throughout the working day steam wagons and trailers hauling 14-ton loads may be seen, as well as a tractor with 10-ton loads, working continuously between the two points. Thus, an enormous tonnage is cleared per day.
Composition of the Fleet.
The transport fleet Of the North" Shore Mill Co., Ltd., comprises a Foden 6-ton steam wagon, six Sentinel steam wagons, two super Sentinel . steam wagons, a Sentinel tractor (converted from a steamer), six Peerless 4-ton lorries, some of which are fitted with high sides for the bulk transport of corn, and Maxwell 30-cwt. lorries. The Sentinel steam wagons are employed not only for bringing grain into the mills but also for delivering flour, mill offals, provender, etc., to addresses within a radius of about 60 miles of Liverpool. The latter work is competitive. Quotations for supplies are on an ex-mill basis. Hence, buyers have to determine for themselves how delivery is to be effected. Some elect to place the work in the hands of haulage contractors ; others collect consignments with their own vehicles, whilst some entrust the North Shore Mill Co., Ltd. with the task of delivery. When that is the case, a definite rate which is based on a schedule is quoted and thus the mill fleet is brought into immediate competition with outside vehicles.
When we visited the company's mills we saw in the loading yard vehicles of all descriptions, including Scannell eight-wheelers, belonging to outside undertakings, and which were being loaded up for journeys to the Midlands. The previous day one of these had arrived at Birkenhead with a load of steel and now, at 10.30 in the morning was receiving a 17-ton load of flour, represented by about 260 sacks.
The Maxwell vehicles are stationed at outside depots—Caernarvon, Menai Bridge and Valley, where stocks are kept for prompt delivery to farmers and dealers in the vicinity. These depots are regularly fed from the Liverpool mills, Chutes Used for Loading.
The most interesting part of the company's transport work, however, is the transference of large quantities of wheat, etc., from the dock w.arehouses to the mill. This traffic is continuous throughout the working day, two classes of vehicle being regularly employed : (a) the Sentinels and trailers; and (b) the tractor and trailers.
The Foden and Peerless vehicles are loaded up at the warehouses by means of chutes and the required tonnage can be put on to the motors in less than five minutes. Unloading can be performed with equal despatch. A slide in the lorry floor is drawn out and this causes the entire load to be released into a chute, without the intervention of manual labour. Bagged grain constitutes the loads for the Sentinels and trailers. The trailer used with the tractor carries 160 sacks of flour, ?ach of which weighs 140 lb„ makng a total of 10 tons. Working within a distance of about two miles, the tractor makes nine complete journeys per day. A Sentinel and trailer will carry about 224 sacks of flour, representing about 14 tons. In this case, however, owing to the time taken to load and empty the haulage unit, the number of round journeys per day is only about four, Making a comparison, therefore, the following results emerge: one tractor working with a spare trailer can transport in the ordinary working day 90 tons of material, and one steam wagon and trailer cart carry about 56 tons per day. The company is well pleased with the experiment which it has made with Its first tractor. This machine covers about 36-40 miles per day.
The time taken to load and empty vehicles, which are heavily laden with sacks of grain and flour, is a big slice out of a working day, but, fortunately, by the utilization of spare trailers the earning time of the wagons themselves is amply safeguarded.
Speedy Loading and Unloading.
To load 160 sacks upon a 10-ton trailer occupies about 30 minutes and a similar time to unload, both operations being performed by means of hoists. By the present method of working, the tractor can enter the mill yard, deliver a loaded trailer, uncouple and attach a spare trailer in less than ten minutes.
On an average, four steam wagons per day are delegated to out-oftown duties, chiefly to North Wales and the Lancashire towns, When long-distance journeys have to be undertaken the vehicles are often loaded up overnight, so that the drivers can make a start at about a.m. or 6.30 a.m. the following morning. On each of these journeys the load, consisting of flour, offals, provender and feeding cakes, has to be delivered to between four and eight addresses.
Vehicles Always Busily Employed.
In connection with the mill Bervices, there is alwaya plenty of transport work to be done and when there is a lack of traffic for out-of-town journeys the vehicles can be easily diverted to dock work, which, as has already been pointed out, is of cOnsiderable volume.
The -North Shore Mills Co., Ltd., has its own workshops and repair plant, and each vehicle in the fleet is overhauled annually, in rotation. One vehicle is always on the stocks (at the time of our visit it was the Fodeu). By this system of maintenance, vehicles are always in a roadworthy condition and it is only on rare occasions that mechanical trouble is experienced in the exert', tion of routine dudes. One vehicle passes through the workshops every three weeks. The system of keeping records is on the usual principles, the basis of which is the drivers' report, which records the number of journeys per day, between what points tonnage is carried, mileages, etc.