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Road Transport for Steel
Page 106
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Saves Cost and Time
STEEL AND EUROPE were the two subjects discussed at the annual congress of the Institute of •Transport held in Cardiff this week. Indicative of the wide range of interests represented by the delegates to the congress,one paper was presented by a user of transport services.and the other by a provider.
." Transport and Steel" was the subject , of the first paper to be presented, the , author' .being Mr: W. F. Cartwright, managing ciiredior,. The Steel Company of . Wales, Ltd. . • • • !
Admitting that a great proportion of sheet steel and tinplate was now being handled by road, Mr. Cartwright added that, it had been found that delivery was quicker, the cost was usually. less and there was reduced risk of damage to the • thin steel sheets and tinplate which were very vulnerable, to rough handling. Whilst they could be elaborately packed to avoid such injury, this would merely increase the already high cost of dispatch
by rail, . • ,
In ,a brief survey of the iron and steel industry, Mr. Cartwright Said that this Was :no longer. based onlocal resources. Many such -works were now located near th consul-per industries:and in localities best suited . for the reception of raw materials.
Efficiency is Vital
The efficiency and cost of transport was now a tremendously important factor in the production of low-cost steel. In highly industrialized countries the location of steel works tended to be determined by the proximity to consuming industries and ease of reception of raw materials.
The primary raw materials needed were iron ore, coal, scrap and limestone, together with oil for fuel.
Scrap arose from two sources. About 25 per cent. of ingot is fed back to the steel furnace. Varying quantities of scrap were Made during fabrication processes.
Because the open hearth furnace was now losing favour in modern steel making development, the source of scrap supply was not now so important relative to the location of works. When it was necessary to buy scrap it was essential that the transport cost should be low. This was the reason why there had been the tendency for steel sheets from the works to be delivered by road to the customer, because the vehicles could bring scrap back as a return load with a resulting saving both on the original sheet and on the scrap.
r(18 It had been found impossible to obtain an economic payload when sending scrap by rail. When the limestone quarries were located close to the steel works, as in South Wales, transport could best be done by tipping lorries discharging their loads direct in the stockyard without assistance. .
Comparing the merits of road and rail for the transport of the finished steel product, Mr. Cartwright said that in the majority of cases a road haulier could offer a cheaper rate than the railway. Moreover rail transits took much longer• than road, except for one or two regular booked services, whilst the risk of damage was much greater. The steel maker had therefore little choice how best to send his product.
Costlier Alternative Because of the many customers of the sheet steel industry located in the Midlands area, Mr. Caetwright claimed that it should be possible, to devise a • highly efficient system taking materials in bulk in train loads from the steel works to the destination. centre, for final delivery by (-bad. Such a system should be able :o offer the same speed of transit as conventional , road delivery, but there were doubts as to whether it could be done at a lower price. Yet a lower price would be essential since the loading operation for road transport was provided by the driver, whilst by rail it was done by the steel works staff, the same procedure being repeated on delivery.
Similarly, although rail transport would appear an ideal method for the handling of large quantities of sheet steel in the form of coil, road transport had provided vehicles specially adapted for carry ing heavy coils and had been able to offer efficient facilities at a cost which the railways had not equalled. Moreover both the steel works and the customer preferred to have an even flow of traffic, which was convenient to the road operator but not to the railways.
Much steel went for export and here again Mr. Cartwright admitted that trans port to the docks was often better done by road than by rail, and he posed the question whether or not the railways wished to carry this traffic.
Outside the steel industry it was seldom realized how large an amount of material was moved internally within the steel works. Up to 15 years-or so ago the internal transport of most steel works was very inefficient, everything being
handled by rail. Substantial redevelop ment had now taken place and it wa, realized that conveyor belts offerec cheap .transport over distances of abou half a mile. freyond that distance th( capital cost Of the belt became it obstacle.
Comparative costings between. road rail and conveyor over, a. distance mile showed that. road haulage. wa, cheapest. As a result, in _a particula instance,a weekly output of 8,000 ton. of coke was now being handled by tw( eight-wheeled tippers, one of which wa only employed part-time.
Road vehicles were used for man types of internal transport. Larg( dumpers, beyond the size permitted az the highway, handled slag from blas furnaces to steel shops, whilst Marre demountable/tipping lorries handled tarp quantities of light scrap and genera debris. Articulated vehicles were use for engineering stores and brick traffic.
Road's Share is Up Because of the expense and inflexibilit■ of rail transport, Mr. Cartwright said tha the traffic carried by road had increase( phenomenally since the war and viewe( in this context was probably very efficient Even so, axle-load and dimension restric tions tended to be more severe than ii the U.S.A. or major Continenta countries, and greater efficiency might b, gained if these restrictions were relaxed The most urgent need was to have a clear cut transport policy agreed by all politica parties to permit the transport industr to plan itself economically. At presen there appeared to be no policy at all In Mr. Cartwright's view the countr could not allow unbridled competitia between privately owned road haulag, and the nationalized railway system.
Relative to future road operation, . saving in both the number of row vehicles and cost of operation could h achieved if the Ministry of Transpat were to announce that, over say 10 yeao stepped increases would be made in th maximum gross weight of an eight wheeled vehicle from 24 tons up to, sa) 35 tons.