Saving Seconds in Towel Deliveries
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The Initial Carrier Co. Runs Some 200 Vans in London and Provinces and Provides Unusual Facilities, Including a Service for Opticians
OPERAVON to a rigid time-table,much on the lines of a bus service,
is a feature of certain branches of the activities of the Initial Carrier Co., the big transport-contracting concern of 193, Goswell Road, London, E.C.1_ The provision of vehicles for the Initial Towel Supply Co. in London and the provinces makes exacting demands upon the organization, for the service calls for 100-per-cent. efficiency and is worked to fine time limits.
The towel concern supplies on contract towels and afternoon teas to offices and works, and coats for shop and factory employees. The conditions of transport operation affecting laundries apply in this respect, in that a large number of calls has to he made in a day and every effort has to be made to avoid delay en route.
This is one of the considerations that has induced the Initial Carrier Co. to take up the design and manufacture of its own bodywork. At present, the company is concentrating on the construction of bodies for the Bedford and Guy units in its fleet.
The principal time-saving features of the vans are a low loading level, a shallow tailboard and sliding doors for the driver's cab, which is designed to afford easy access and egress. So great is the faith pinned by the company in the workmanship of its bodybuilders that, according to Mr. E. P. Sayers, general manager, at least 10 years' life is expected from the coachwork.
The company runs some 200 delivery vehicles, mainly of Austin, Bedford, Ford and Guy makes, ranging in payload capacity from 5 cwt. to 3 tons. Apart from the large contract for the towel concern, the Initial Carrier Co. supplies vehicles on contract for users engaged in widely varying classes of business. Among those availing themselves of this trouble-free service are opticians, drapers„ shoemakers, electrical manttfacturers, radio engineers, tailors, food traders and printers.
A particularly interesting branch of the business concerns a service for 12 London . manufacturing opticians, devised by Mr. Sayers. These concerns, all competitive, are saved considerable sums of money by the provision of a co-ordinated system of transport affording a link between the wholesale and retail sides of the business.
This is another sphere of transport in which seconds are valuable, for each route embraces many calls and urgent orders are the rule. Each concern participating in the scheme pays according to its use of the facilities, but no other customer is able to find out the amount of business passing between any manufacturer and retailer.
Thus, conditions of secrecy, similar to those which would obtain were each concern to run its own transport, are observed.
The Initial Carrier Co. is responsible for all its own maintenance work and each vehicle is overhauled at least annually, during which period an average of 13,000 miles is covered.
An undertaking of this kind calls for a great deal of personal supervision in management and it is a credit to the company that an exacting, up-to-theminute service is carried out with such quiet efficiency.