HAULIERS Put Evesham on the Map
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6 4 OAD transport put the Vale
on its feet in the early days."
"The hauliers are indispensable," "They're a keen lot, and they bring the empties back." ." They know us and our ways."When we bring the stuff late, they still get it there early."
These were typical of the sentiments expressed by growers in the Evesham district when I talked to them about road haulage and deliveries of market-garden produce to distant parts of the country. It was then the season for cabbages, but discussions had ranged over all types of produce from spring onions to soft fruits.
There are 10 hauliers engaged on long-distant transport from Evesham and four with a radius which does not normally extend beyond the Birmingham market. One of the largest firms are Messrs. Preece's Transport, and Mr. Fred Preece, when asked to supply details of his fleet, and to describe the difficulties of the job, said that he carried chiefly to Newcastle, Stockton, Darlington and Hull.
The fleet comprises three Maudslay Moguls with trailers, an E.R.F. sixwheeler, a Foden 7-1--tonner, and a Chevrolet articulated outfit. Bilateral loading and hiring agreements have been concluded with concerns in Gateshead and Newcastle by which return loads of steel products are brought to Birmingham and produce loaded at Evesham for the northern companies.
Mr. Preece vouched for the success of this arrangement, and praised the co-operative spirit which is often demonstrated in a practical way by the local hauliers.
Each of the vehicles averages about 1,000 miles a week during the cabbage period, and much higher mileages are recorded at the height of a good plum season, when, as Mr. Preece said, "the engines never get cold." With fruit, the Moguls carry 15 tons, the E.R.F. takes 14 tons, the Foden over 8 tons, and the Chevrolet 10 tons. With cabbages the loads are much lighter.
Typical of all the hauliers I met, Mr. Preece was tolerant when enlarging upon the frustrations of a busy day.
" None of us ever refuses a load, although we can't plan ahead with any certainty," he said. " We have a general idea the day before what will be wanted, and we start 'phoning round about 10 a.m., after the growers and merchants have contacted the market. At 11 o'clock there may be two trailers and one solo booked. At 12 we may be asked to run another wagon or two, or not so many as previously planned. And there are different ideas about packing. In some crates there are 200 cabbages; in others 250.
When the Rain Comes
"We may have hoped that the last wagon would have left by 2 p.m., but then there are showers of rain and other troubles, and we're lucky to get cleared by 6 p.m. All the same, we'll get it there in time for market and the growers know it."
For the most part, the produce is brought to the hauliers' yards, or to one of the loading-sites near the centre of the town, in the growers' vehicles. There it is transferred to the carriers' vehicles either direct, or after re-arrangement to obtain the right sequence of unloading at various destinations. Sometimes a load is collected at the grower's ground. There are single-crop loads and mixed loads.
Merstow Green is the main loading-site, and is conveniently situated within a few hundred yards of the market. Here I talked with Mr. P. Marriott, of Messrs. Marriott's Transport, who owns three Fordsons, a Proctor oiler, a Guy Vixen and a Leyland Beaver, running a regular Monday, Wednesday and Thursday service to the North of England. Huddersfield, Macclesfield, Manchester, Doncaster, York, Hull and Blackpool are all included in the towns served.
Could Use 20 Vehicles
Mr. Marriott claimed that all deliveries were through by 4 a.m. and that he could run 20 vehicles in season if he could obtain the licences, Mixed with a seemingly endless line of cabbage crates at the loading site used by Messrs. Marshall's Transport were leeks, spring onions, parsley and wallflowers. Mr, Alan Marshall, one of the five brothers in the firm, was supervising the loading of vekicles destined for London, Bradford, Bristol, Sheffield and Leeds.
Some of the machines were stacked higher than the others and it was explained that in a closed market, such as Leeds, there was insufficient height for full seven-crate stacking. An Austin 5-tonner was about to leave for Bradford with a full load of 200 crates, each containing 56 cabbages. On an average, an acre of ground produces sufficient cabbages to fill about 800 to 1,000 crates.
Messrs. Marshall's Transport operate a total of eight vehicles, comprising three Commer 2i-tonners, a Seddon 10-ton articulated vehicle and four Austin 5-tonners. The average mileage covered per week by each vehicle is between 750 and 1,000 miles.
Mr. Marshall, discussing the matter of breakdowns, said that they did not really worry him or the growers. "More often than not," he added, "we can send a relief which still gets there in time, and if it looks as if the delay may mean missing the market opening, we 'phone to let them know just what's happened and when the stuff will be along."
At the beginning of April a special goods train to Newcastle, Glasgow and intermediate centres, Vas introduced after representations had been made to British Railways by the Evesham branch of the National Farmers Union. A second 'special" has since been added on the York shire run. •
Many t of the growers and merchants agreed that the railways were doing their best and were providing an improved service, but they maintained the opinion that the flexibility of road transport constituted an advantage which the railways could not challenge on many of the runs.
The stipulated loading times frequently give insufficient latitude for unavoidable delays and complaints were heard that distribution problems at the larger centres often result in late deliveries at the markets. Moreover, if there be a hold-up on the line, a large tonnage may be not only late, but completely spoilt.
Road transport can be co-ordinated more exactly to individual requirements, there is less handling, more reliable delivery and the empties are returned on time.
was impressed by the spirit of co-operation which obviously exists amongst the hauliers, and the willingness to pool their knowledge and resources to substantiate the boast that " refusal is a redundant word.
The only acquired concern in the district is Messrs. Davies and Brownlow, the premises being used as a depot and loading base for vehicles from the headquarters of the company in St. Helens.
A total weekly cabbage load of about 400 tons is transported to Liverpool, Manchester and the Potteries on a nightly service, but in the plum season double this tonnage is moved. The vehicles used are all tractor-trailer units, and are either Leyland or Atkinson eightwheelers.
Mr. Davies spoke in praise of the conditions under which the men worked with the maintenance of a definite schedule. "The small man loads and drives, drives and loads," he said. " That could never happen in an acquired concern. But," he added, "this kind of traffic is difficult. I have told the B.T.E, that the hauliers must be left alone to get on with the job."