BIRDS EYE VIEW
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BY THE HAW
• Those of us in road transport who notice names, keep a subconscious eye open for product nomenclatures that have been used before. The new Javelin coach chassis on Dennis's stand at the NEC must have generated memories of the Jowett Javelin car Of the early fifties, for example. Manufacturers can, of course, protect themselves against commercial plagiarism by registering names, though a blind eye is usually turned when an identically named product in a different market segment appears. Thus Telehoist and Lynton Commercial Units have for several years tolerated eachother's use of "Load Lugger" as a product name — for skip loaders and lightweight drawbar van trailers respectively.
At the Birmingham Show it all came into sharp focus, for there in Hall Five were Telehoist and Lynton occupying adjacent stands with not even a gangway between them, with "Load Lugger" emblazoned on both companies' exhibits and display boards.
This all reminds me of the manner in which Japanese car and cv manufacturers name their vehicles.
Upon construction of a pickup a certain company's "namers" jiggled around words like 'buggy', and 'lugger' to express the vehicle's ability to carry heavy loads over rough terrain. The hapless team came up with what sounds great to the Japanese but not so appealing to western ears.
They called it the 'Dirt Bugger'.
• Speaking of names, a press release landed on my desk concerning the exhibits at the forthcoming Royal Smithfield Show at Earls Court, London, commencing on Monday, December I.
It states that visitors to the show will be able to see Handy Andy, Her Ladyship, Fergie, The Duchess of York and Sarah "all under one roof competing for major prizes". You guessed it — they are the names of some of the cattle.
• The Birmingham Motor Show was the venue chosen by Iveco Ford to present its Trucker of the Year award for an act of outstanding bravery. This year's winner (of a £1,000 holiday for two and a trophy) was Les Sawyer, a Southampton-based truck driver working for Meacher's Transport.
Father of four Les won the award after he put his own life at risk to avert a potentially catastrophic pile-up on a crowded, rush-hour dual carriageway on the A33 Chandlers Ford bypass in Hampshire — a notorious accident blackspot.
Briefly, a drawbar trailer detached itself from its parent truck and came careering across the central reservation. Instead of accelerating his brand new ERF tractor to get safely out of the way, Les deliberately slewed his trailer round to cut off the runaway trailer, shielding cars and tankers which were on his nearside.
The result, had the trailer collided with the two petrol tankers which were in the vicinity of the incident, is too awful to contemplate. The runway trailer smashed into the back of Lea's curtainsider trailer with a combined impact speed of 190krn/h, police later said, and the skid marks are still visible five months later, Well done Les, seen in our photo (above) receiving his trophy from Peter Nevitt, vice-chairman of industrial operations at Iveco Ford Truck. • For digging up three million tonnes of South Bucks, Hertfordshire and Middlesex, Terry Cruikshank of Biffa Waste Services was recently presented with an antique clock (well, for that and for being with Biffa for 25 years!) Biffa — part of the BET Industrial Services group — is renowned, it seems, for digging quarries, but over the years it has also restored a number of exhausted "holes" in South Bucks, 11 of which have been returned to agricultural use.
Terry is now filling in many of the holes he has created, with industrial waste, and aims — the company says — to reclaim as much land as he has excavated by the time he retires.
On the assumption that it takes as long to fill in a hole as it does to "empty" one, Terry — now aged 47 — will be a grand old 72 years of age when he achieves his ambition. Nonetheless, a worthy goal, don't you think?
• Well, top marks for Neill Tools (incorporating Eclipse, Spear &Jackson, Britool, Moore 8.r. Wright, Elliott Lucas and Stubbs) who this year are not only producing a calendar promoting their product(s), but are charging i1.50 to boot.
How does one manage to get the customer, or potential clients, to pay for what usually is a Christmas giveaway? Simple.
Instead of seasonal views of the British countryside, Neill is featuring three topless ladies, said to be "working out in a classy Hi-Tech health club".
Interested? Then send your 21.50 "donation" to Neill Tools, at Handsworth Road, Sheffield.