MORE BODY/CHASSIS CHOICE FOR LOCAL
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AUTHORITIES by lain Sherriff, MITA, AIRTE
If legislation bites in 1973, plating may hit crew-cab vehicles
A NEW PROFESSIONALISM is entering the field of local government transport. Since the beginning of May seven local government appointments have been advertised in Commercial Motor, and this week Bucks County Council was interviewing a short list from more than 100 applicants for its transport supervisor's post. The introduction of operators' licensing is largely responsible for this new approach to transport by local authorities, although there is still some way to go before each of the 1500 authorities in the UK has a qualified transport man looking after vehicle operation and maintenance.
Indeed, the full significance of the Transport Act 1968 may not be felt until 1973. This is the year being forecast when the now-exempted vehicles will require to be authorized on an operator's licence and at the same time plated and tested. So that from an operational point of view and so far as legislation is concerned,local authorities will differ little from their commercial counterparts.
While the Department of the Environment cannot confirm that 1973 will be the year for the change, a spokesman did say this week that exempted vehicles were under consideration and that undoubtedly they would eventually come into the normal scheme of things.
At the same time there are signs that the manufacturing industry is becoming alive to the requirements of the new professionals and that much of the traditional thinking in this field is changing.
Until recent times and indeed in many areas today, local authorities have standardized on a particular type of body and because of past practicetheytie themselves to one vehicle make.
For example, not many years ago it was unthinkable, indeed impossible, to order a Shelvoke and Drewry body on anything but an S & D chassis cab, nor would a request for a Dennis body on a "foreign" chassis cab be viewed very favourably at Guildford.
These two manufacturers and Seddon have long been recognized as municipal specialists. However, they have not always had the field to themselves because each of the four biggest vehicle manufacturers, Bedford, BLMC, Chrysler and Ford established municipal sections within their organizations many years ago; indeed. Karrier, the municipal wing of Chrysler, has been in operation since 1907.
The main difference between these fotir and the more municipally oriented manufacturers is that they do not have their own bodies. Nevertheless, for many years it was extremely difficult to specify a body make of your choice when ordering one of these chassis. Whether by intent or by accident, manufacturers succeeded in establishing in the minds of local government officers that their chassis were married to a particular body—Karrier with Glover, Webb and Liversidge, Bedford with Eagle. BLMC appear to have had divided loyalties between Eagle and Gibson. The one exception was Ford, but then this was not an altogether popular municipal vehicle until the advent of the D series.
In more recent times the tendency has been for vehicle manufacturers at least to be prepared to fit a "customer's choice" body although customers have not yet fully appreciated this.
Bedford is now perfectly happy to have any body of the customer's choice fitted on its vehicles which are, of course, suitably modified to meet the municipal specification. Such modification does not necessarily affect a standardization policy which municipal transport officers may be following and, of course, the Bedfords can be used for refuse collection and disposal, street washing and sweeping, or for lighting-repair towers. Mr P. C risp, who looks afterBedford's municipal interests, emphasizedthatBedford's range of municipal applications would meet braking and plating regulations either now or in 1973.
Karrier, although happy to meet customers' requirements still appears very much attached to the Glover, Webb & Liversidge stable. Mr S. Cooper, Chrysler's municipal specialist, sees dangers when plating is introduced. Although he is confident that the Karriers will meet plating regulations, his concern is that if local authorities continue to specify crew-cabs then rear-axle overloading will result. He has voiced this opinion on many occasions and it appears that the message is getting through since a number of authorities are now specifying standard cabs.
Mr Cooper is concerned about the number of 10-year-old vehicles which are still being used on refuse collection and disposal, and he warns local authorities that these vehicles will not meet braking standards and that they are unlikely to survive the first DoE test. The danger here appears to be that there will be a last-minute rush by local authorities for replacement vehicles which manufacturers will be unable to meet.
The Ford Motor Company stands apart from any alliance with a particular bodybuilder. It believes it is Ford's function to supply a suitable chassis cab and thereafter to liaise with the body manufacturer of the customer's choice. At the same time, however, Ford is constantly in touch with bodybuilders around the country to ensure that they are fully conversant with any developments in the Ford range.
Swap bodies are already a wellestablished feature of commercial vehicle operation—but not in the municipal application. Only Ford is offering a type of swap-body system for local authority vehicles. For example, in the Transit range the 35cwt model can be fitted as a tipper cum refuse collector cum lighting tower wagon Wm pick-up, all on the same chassis. This vehicle would be particularly suitable in rural areas where only small quantities of refuse have to be collected, perhaps on only one day each week. When not on refuse collection the vehicle would be used on one of the other functions of the authority. If the need is for a tipper cum refuse collection vehicle then the Transit can be fitted with a tipping body and supplied with a side-loading "Derby" canopy which can be fitted as required.
This construction can also be applied to the D range of vehicles although the loading height could be a disadvantage. Where capital cost is the prime consideration, smaller authorities will undoubtedly show interest in this unique Ford development.
British Leyland revealed to me last week that it was going for a much larger share of the municipal market in the future. Mr R. E. I. Turner, the truck and bus
Above left: This Bedford /Gibson refuse collector operating in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea may not be as well serviced as its Baghdad counterpart. At the moment body manufacturers appear reluctant to set up adequate spare parts facilities for their products.
marketing director, takes the view where a local authority settles on standardization, BLMC is the only company which cansatisfy the need at every weight from Mini to 32-tongross machines. It is, however, on the Boxer range that the company will be pinning its faith in the area of refuse collection and disposal and street sweeping.
Refuse collection vehicles break down on more occasions than their commercial counterparts. This is principally because in addition to vehicle failure, bodywork failure puts the vehicle off the road. Cleansing inspectors are frequently harassed by agitated councillors whose garbage awaits collection. All too often this is because one small body part is not readily available.
It is for this reason that many local authorities order vehicles with bodies which are manufactured in close proximity to their field of operation although, of course, this is not always the case. Cannibalization of bodies and the borrowing of spares between authorities are fairly common practices.
It seems that although manufacturers were at one time favourably attached to bodybuilders there was no arrangement between the two to service the body spares market. However, for the large authorities some body manufacturers are prepared to make special arrangements. Unfortunately, this does not apply to the vast majority of local authority users throughout the country.
Changes in this attitude are now becoming apparent and BLMC said last week that it is giving serious consideration to stocking body parts at its main distributors. Mr Turner indicated that if half a dozen vehicles with similar bodies were located in an area then he would hope to stock fast-moving parts for them. He made the point that the vehicles need not all belong to the same authority. "Although the Maud Report will have the effect of reducing the number of authorities," he said, "we would expect that small cleansing units will continue to be locally based and will therefore require the on-the-spot service which I envisage BLMC establishing."
The future for municipal vehicles will be almost identical to that of commercial vehicles—stringent maintenance requirements and a compliance with the plating requirements. It seems that within the next few years that remaining ties between one builder and a particular manufacturer will be broken and that local government officers will come to realize that they have complete freedom of choice.
Chrysler's warning The warning from Mr Cooper of Chrysler should not go unheeded otherwise local authorities may well find themselves without a refuse collection fleet overnight. Reorganization of collection beats and working conditions of operators will be essential if the forecast that crew cabs are to disappear is to materialize. It is difficult to envisage authorities meeting plating regulations if crew cabs continue. Where professional transport men are employed it seems likely that any company, whether vehicle or body manufacturer, which meets the spare parts requirements of the body, will find favour.
Indications are that in large conurbations bigger and heavier vehicles which offer maximum compaction will be the order of the day, but there is undoubtedly a future for the Ford concept of municipal swap body. This is something which will appeal to the economically minded transport man. With Ford now as firmly established as were Bedford and Chrysler and the promise from BLMC that it intends to increase its activities in the municipal field, local authorities will be afforded the opportunity to choose from a wide range of vehicles and body applications. In addition to these four Dennis, Seddon and S & D will continue to develop their municipal applications. Of the three, Dennis would appear to be the best placed since it has both the vehicle and body manufacturing plants established under one roof and already has an outlet for spares through its distributor network.
The next few years in local authority transport should prove very interesting.