Granite Hauliers Buy On Service
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LARGELY engaged on the haulage of granite, Messrs. Dafferns (Atherstone), Coleshill House, Atherstone, Warwicks, are standardizing on one type of vehicle, and it will be their policy to dispose of • lorries after two years of use and replace them with new units. The model of their choice is the Dodge 7-ton tipper, with Perkins R.6 . engine, in varying wheelbase lengths.
The business typifies those which form the backbone of this country's haulage industry. It was started in March, 1927, by Mr. Frank Daffern, who carried coal from collieries to factories and bricks from kilns to sites in a Ford Model-T. By the time licensing was imposed, he had five vehicles and at the outbreak of the war 14, most of which were tippers.
Further vehicles were acquired during the war, when granite was carried all over the country, but mainly to the south, whereairfields were under construction. Coal traffic, in which hired vehicles assisted, ran at a high level during and immediately after the war. Some 4,000 tons a day were carried from opencast sites to screens, the peak coinciding with D-day, June 6, 1944, when the tonnage was 5,200.
Today, however, Dafferns carry almost no coal. In the two years fol
lowing the war, Mr. Daffern told me, many hauliers were engaged in this work, but now that opencast production had fallen there was only about 600 tons of site-to-screen coat traffic available in the area each day. Moreover. the mining contractors now provided their own vehicles for such movements.
Transport capacity for coal had not declined correspondingly and, he said, " rates have been slashed to ribbons." Three years ago, after showing no profit on this work, he gave it up to concentrate more on granite haulage.
Together with an associated business, Keith's Transport and Plant Hire, the firm have 16 Dodge R6 vehicles, all but one of which are tippers, 13 Bedford P6 tippers and a Bedford P6 Taskers lowloading articulated oufit.
Dafferns have a B licence for 10 vehicles to carry granite where required, coal within 25 miles and general goods within the locality. Five vehicles serve fee's Hartshill Granite and Brick Co., Ltd., under contract-A licence.
Keith's Transport have a B licence for a vehicle in terms similar to that of Dafferns. and three A-licence vehicles bulldozer owned by Keith's Transport.
The A-licence vehicles of Keith's Transport arc Dodge models with Boys trailing rear axles. The tipping bodywork is 18 ft. long. Most vehicles have _Weston steel bodies and tipping gear. The six-wheelerohave Homalloy bodies with Edbro equipment.
New Weston tippipg gear includes stabilizers to accommodate side thrust, and the newest vehicles have a special valve to facilitate spreading gravel. The body can be raised, lowered or held in position at any angle by turning the valve to one of. three positions.
Soon after the war, Dafferns began converting from petrol to oil by installing P6 engines in Bedford chassis when docked for reconditioning. One of these units covered 250,000 miles before the cylinder head was removed.
Dodges' 81-ton Loads
Bedford 5-tonners were reinforcd to carry 7-ton loads by welding or bolting flitch plates to the frames. Loads of up to 81 tons are carried on the Dodge lorries in standard form. These vehicles, which have Eaton tivospeed axles, return 14-19 m.p.g. and the Bedford P6 types 14-17 m.p.g.
Decision to standardize on the Dodge was largely influenced by the quality of after-sales service available from the suppliers, Kay's (Derby), Ltd. Had Dafferns preferred to continue their practice of extending vehicle life by periodic rebuilding, this factor would have been given even more weight.
It is, however, thought that the advantages of frequent replacement— among which Mr. Daffern includes greater reliability, less tying-up of capitalin workshop equipment and having at all times a modern fleet—are to be preferred.
Apart from some difficulty with the timing-chain tensioner of the R6 engine, which was soon satisfactorily rectified for them by the manufacturers, • Dafferns have had no trouble with this unit. When engaged on granite haidage, vehicles not only carry heavy loads, but to one quarry have to climb a long hill. The power output of the R6 has an adequate reserve for these conditions.
Michelin X tyres are fitted to vehicles engaged on long journeys, whilst dualpurpose textile covers are preferred for vehicles working locally. and which have to run off hard surfaces to quarry sites. Life of 9.00-20 semi-metallic tyres is some 100,000 miles, which has been calculated to represent a cost of 0,077d. per mile. On the basis of a life of 80,000 miles, a normal textile cover costs 0.091d. a mile. 85 p.s.i. at the front, compared with 90 p.s.i. and 80 p.s.i. respectively for textile covers. Improved road-holding qualities have been reported by drivers. Retreaded textile tyres are used on short-distance vehicles.
Drivers are responsible for servicing their own vehicles at week-ends.. Engine oils are changed at 5,000-mile intervals, the paper filters being cleaned at this period and renewed at 10,000 miles. Sternol S.A.E. 20 detergent oil is used in winter and summer.
Injectors are inspected and tested on a Hartridge device every two or three months and reconditioned by agents if necessary. Brake refacing is performed at 30,000-50,000 miles.
Plant installed in the workshops includes a Davenset charger, an Ingersoll-Rand compressor connected to Tecalemit lubrication equipment, a Weaver Steam Jenny and a Stenor vulcanizer. A pit is provided, and a press, now being used less frequently. than before, is employed for stripping engine and transmission components. Three full-time fitters are employed for vehicle maintenance, and another for attention to engineering plant.
Oil fuel is stored in a 1,000-gal. and two 600-gal, tanks, and petrol in an underground tank of 1,000-gal. There is also a 1,000-gal. tank for lubricating oil. Fuel is bought from the Fina and Power companies in 500-gal. lots and oil is delivered in 750-gal. quantities.
Under the style of F. and K. Commercials, Ltd., new premises are to be built and occupied on the AS road about three miles on the London side of Atherstone. At present the drivers take their lorries home with them at night, as there is insufficient yard space for them, but a covered parking area will be provided at the new 51-acre site.
A vehicle sales and repair business will be operated by the company, and
.24-hour service will be • offered: A
Diamond-T breakdown tender will he available round the clock. Mr. Daffern thinks that there is a pressing need for both of these facilities on the AS road.
The haulage business is run by Mr. Daffern in partnership with his son, Mr. Keith Daffern. "I get the work and he sees that it's done," is how the elder Mr. Daffern described the division of function
Most work emanates from Jee's quarry at Hartshill, but quarries at Hartshill and Atherstone of Man-Abell Quarries, Ltd., are also served and 10-20 lorries (apart from those operating under contract-A licence) are employed daily on granite transport. In addition, up to 20 vehicles may be hired daily for this and other work.
Loads of granite vary in nature from those made up of hand-picked blocks down to fine dust, as used for making hard tennis courts and running tracks. The large material is known as "pitching stone" and is used for road construction in the area. It is usually loaded in the quarries by the digging machines.
Demand .for the finer granite is countrywide. It is mainly loaded by hopper. Much is used for making up granolithic flooring and special reinforced concrete.
Many southern and eastern county councils use H-in, screened granite for ARECENT publication of Chapman and Hall, Ltd., is the sixth edition of "Automobile Engines," by A. W. Judge, price 21s. Intended for mechanics and students, this work treats thoroughly with the process of combustion in theory and practice, engine components, types of engine, supercharging, lubrication and cooling. There are also chapters on the gas turbine, compression-ignition engines and twostroke units.
In the main it is an excellent book, but in places it is misleading and many statements are made that are likely to lead to confusion. For instance, the author, in his introduction, says that
the use Of steam engines is now confined to the heavier class of transport and include ... . steam road vehicles.
Early in the book, the burned gases are said to be ejected from the cylinder r 10
tarring road surfaces, and Daffcrns deliver where required. In addition the firm meet 80 per cent. of Warwickshire County Council's needs for road materials.
An interesting task is the delivery ol t-in. granite to a Wimpey "housing site at Long Lawford, near Rugby. Houses are being made there not by traditional methods, but by erecting shuttering into which to pour cement and granite mixture to form the walls.
Some 50-150 tons of granite is delivered daily to the site, and should this method of construction increase in adoption, as it shows signs of doing, there is a pointer to a possible change in the nature. of the building industry's haulage demands. .
Daffern's rates schedule showing charges per ton per mile is reviewed at the end of each financial year in the light of the profit figure revealed in the audited accounts. Apart from fuel, records, from which m.p.g. figures are occasionally worked out. cost accounts are not analySed in detail, as little.purpose can .be seen. in doing so.
In a small business, any defect which cost analysis may be expected to reveal can be traced by management without its aid. As an incentive to efficiency, drivers are paid weekly bonuses according to the cleanliness and condition of their vehicles and record of attendance.