METHODICAL ROUNDS IMPROVE TILK CARRIER'S POSITION
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AT a time when most traffic is earning i.triproved revenue milk appears to be practically the only commodity carried by road that is not so favoured, Mr. Cohn Jaffrey, a leader of milk hauliers in the Manchester district, recently told a representative of The Commercial
Motor, One reason is that the farmers have been officially instructed that they should not pay more than a 15 per cent. increase on their carriage charges.
The present position, however, is, in reality, largely due to the fact that some operators concerned with milk transport have almost invari ably just muddled through. By businesslike methods rates could often be improved and operations made more profitable.
Rate-cutting Evils
Milk carriers as a whole appear to have been hit because of previous rate-cutting on a large scale. Mr. Jaffrey, who is a director of Fairhurst and Jaffrey, Ltd., of Wilmslow (Cheshire), contends that competition between operators has been a more serious matter than the various difficulties in connection with transport that have been encountered in dealings between farmer and dairyman. Mr. Jaffrey has preached the need for fair rates and has always . endeavoured to put his precepts into action.
Mr. N. H. Fairhurst and Mr. C. Jaffrey set up in business largely as a result of the General Strike in 1926. At that time the depression could be seen approaching Lancashire, so Mr. Jaffrey and Mr. j.
Fairhurst . (Mr. N. H. Fairhurst's son), who were employed together in a Manchester business house, decided that they could perform a useful service in providing road transport for farmers in the district.
At the start their rolling stock -consisted of a Ford 1-ton lorry and a converted WolseIey private car of 1911 vintage. Helper springs were fitted to the Woilseley by a local blacksmith and tests were carried out by piling all the scrap .metal from the smithy on to the lorry. The springs came triumphantly out of this trial, but were a fairly constant source of trouble when it came to the actual use of the vehicle on milk transport.
Trade quickly developed and shortly aftewards two Manchester lorries were obtained. The present lorry fleet consists of a Leyland Cub, which was purchased in 1932 and has been' in regular service ever since, a Thornycroft Nippy and Thornycroft Sturdy.
The first operations were on extremely long rounds, so that Mr. Jaffrey and Mr. Fairhurst had to be away from the garage at 5 o'clock every morning. Before long, however, they discovered that it was possible to make better arrange
ments. Gradually the trips were rationalized and now the farms are linked closely together, whilst deliveries are necessary at only two dairies in Manchester, instead of at six, as formerly.
During the past summer on one round,a, vehicle was able to pick up 800 gallons in seven calls, taking the load straight through for delivery to a single destination. Against that is another round where 21 calls are necessary in order to collect 500 gal. ions, and in winter just the same circuit may be covered for a total of only 200 gallons.
Heroic Work by Drivers Although it is little realized by the general public, drivers of milk lorries put in some heroic work daring the near-Arctic conditions of last winter. Quite a number of villages in the East Cheshire hills was completely isolated and, owing to the severe road conditions, there was one period of three days when the vehicles did not carry a single gallon of milk.• Sometimes they were on the road from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., when they used far more petrol than normally, but, of course, the charges remained just the same.
On one occasion Mr. Jaffrey drove nearly five miles over ploughed fields to reach a village. When he arrived the farmers were willing to make extraordinary bids if only their milk could be taken into their dairies, but in every case the needs of regular customers received the first attention. One vehicle was completely snowed up for four days, whilst at the end of a week it was necessary to have a complete set of new mudguards on another.
Collecting the Churns
In the majority of cases it is necessary on milk collection to collect the churns out of the farmyard, but in some instances fatmers from remote places will drive four or five miles to make contact with the collecting vehicles on the main road. To a certain extent, cans are left on staging by the roadside near the farm gates, but this course can only be adopted in a limited number of instances, because it implies the need for three complete sets of churns.
Obviously, for this system to work satisfactorily, there must be one set of empties delivered, one set ready to take away, and another in the process of filling. However, the extra cost is often worth while, in view of the saving effected in the farmer's time. Incidentally, it is interesting to learn that at least a dozen of the original milk customers are still being regularly served by the company.
From the operator's point of view milk traffic, if anything, is too regular. Seven days' work a week at fixed hours and the need for bringing back the empties are liable to stifle enterprise in other directions. Nevertheless, Fairhurst and Jaffrey, Ltd., found that there was a period in the afternoon that, usually, was going begging, and, as wages had
to be paid for the full day, it was decided that a coal agency should be operld up. Rapid growth took place in this branch, but its development had to be restricted in order that there should be no interference with the existing rounds. Now it forms a useful outlet and brings in enough revenue to pay the vehicle taxes. A certain amount of middle-distance haulage is undertaken with trips to places such as Buxton, Blackpool, Lancaster and Mid-Wales. The company's own lorries are always used for this purpose, and, if necessary, they are taken off the milk runs and a hired vehicle is substituted for the work.
Valuable Route Cards For the guidance of drivers, who may be tackling roads with which they are unacquainted, Mr. Jaffrey prepares route cards giving lists of places that will be encountered and mileages from point to point, an arrangement that is particularly valuable in these confusing signpostless days.
All ordinary repair work is carried out at the company's own garage, but the assistance of manufacturers or specialists is often employed in the case of the larger jobs that have to be undertaken.
A few years back the business was formed into a limited company with Mr. N. H. Fairhurst as director and secretary. Mr. Colin Jaffrey and Mr. J. Fairhurst are also directors, but both take their share of practical duties, including regular turns of driving.