NEED THE M.T. BE DIRTY?
Page 13
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By "The Inspector."
THESE LAST FEW revolutionary years have rather accustomed us, to a regrettable degree, to a good deal of slackness of method and to the idea that, so long as the effort was gigantic, the detail of it did not much matter. In. one direction particularly has, to my own way of thinking, this tendency become most marked, and that is towards dirtiness and untidiness of method generally. It is noticeable, of course, in the war-time soldier who has never been brought up in a " spit and polish" school. It is noticeable in our highways and byways, littered from end to end with rubbish and refuse in many districts. And to accentuate it all there is the untidiness .of posters by the million and the• general and forced neglect of paintwork, now, at last, and to some extent, being remedied.
But what, particularly, has drawn my attention to the subject is the disgracefully dirty _condition in which, much Of the mechanical transport belonging to the Army and to the Air Force exists. It may be merely a pose—thatjyaintwork does not matter in war-time, or it may be that the enforced and allpervading ' dirtineas, of much active service has banished from the minds of the 'powers that be all suggestion that cleanliness inevitably spells efficiency. There is yet another possibility, and that is that those in charge of military motor transport are under the impression, like the linut with his motorcycle or his misnamed light car, that dirt is evidence of hard use, and therefore ensures for the owner or driver public appreciation due to accomplishment. The type of youthful driver who glories in a muddy camouflage is not dead. Rather am I inclined to think that he is very much more alive than ever.
.Whatever the cause may be, the fact exists that, although appearances may, as always, be deceptive, the military motor vehicle as a rule has the appearance of studied neglect. I am not a professional soldier, but those known to me who are, have always been Aicklers for cleanliness and for having any military plant, of which they may have charge, beyond all criticism in the matter of paint and polish, and, failing that, at any rate, of cleanliness and the absence of dirt. I am perfectly certain that many of the W.D. and R,A.F. machines on home service, where at least the conditions should be reasonably easy, are not properly cleaned and polished once a month—many of them not once in six months. There are, of course, exceptions. I know M.T. officers who are as proud of their vehicles as a Naval officer of his vessel and its fittings—but they are most certainly in the minority. And if the officers do not care, the rank and file most certainly will not put themselves td any avoidable trouble in the matter.
" I may be wrong, but with the shining examples of the Navy, the Fire Brigades and the L.G.O.C. before me, I am of opinion that cleanliness spells reliability and good maintenance, and that slovenliness means exactly the opposite. I maintain that the regulations as to the adequate cleanliness of Army M.T. units are not properly interpreted, and that the vehicles themselves suffer accordingly. There is no excuse for any home-service unit keeping its machines in anything but.apotless condition. Thew „ire plenty of men—very often far too many and there is no lack of cleaning material—and generally plenty of time. The evil of the whole thing is the villainous training it means for tens of thousands of men, the majority of whom will sooner or later be drifting into commercial life—as drivers or garagemen. Habits of neglect thus formed are not easily thrown overboard, and, whereas many employers will imagine that a man's proof of Army service will at least ensure discipline and scrupulous care for whatever he may be in charge of, if these same people pause to think, they will recall the filthy state that characterizes Government transport far too often. Commander Sladen, lately retired from the London F.B,, often told me that the principal reason for the absolute dependability of London's big fleet of fire engines was due to the eternal round of "spit and polish" they undergo. He always held that it was almost impossible for a nut or a pin to come adrift or work loose when constant cleaning ensured constant inspection.
Now that we have got such a lot less war-waging to do—in "spite of Russia and Egypt and India and Turkey and President Wilson and so on, and still far too many men to do what is left of some parts of the job, let the Powers that be see to it that mud and filth, torn canvas, bent mudguards and shields, dented tanks, splintered woodwork and grease-caked rods and levers are no longer tolerated—they never should have been. It is better for a man to waste" his time polishing than similarly to get rid of it with nothing to occupy his idle hands and brain. There is a great deal more good in a coat of paint than mere change of colour. It often induces pride in a man's work when it has been lacking up till tken. There is no excuse nowadays, if ever there were, for neglect to keep in first-class condition such expensive items of plant as thousand-guinea lorries or equally valuable touring cars. But, particularly if methods like these are counted good enough or the Army or the R.A.F., they are far too bad for the men to carry back with them into civilian life. The careless dirty driver is a very serious bar to the satisfactory service of any good commercial motor. Dirt may have been an asset in war time—I do not know. It is nothing of the sort even in Armistice time and should no longer be tolerated.
In view of the interest which has been aroused amongst demobilized M.T., R.A.S.C. men, as well as those expecting early release, by our articles on "STARTING LIFE AS A HAULAGE CONTRACTOR," we have had them reprinted. Those who are desirous of securing copies of any, or all, of the articles published, can obtain them, free of all charge, on application to the Editor.
No. I of the series offered general advice to the prospective contractor. No. 2 dealt with Working Costs and Mileage Charges. No. 3 dealt with Passenger-carrying Vehicles, Chars-a-bancs, Buses and Cabs, and their Costs and Charges. No. 4 referred to the Common Carrier and His Responsibilities. No. 5 discussed Organized Tradesmen's DelMerres, and How the Carrier Can Replace the Tradesman's Van. 6 dealt with One-man One-machine Businesses. No. covered Light Van and Agrimotor Contracting.