TRANSPORT TRAINING TALKS IN NEW YEAR
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By H. B. Cottee
ROAD transport associations and the unions are likely to be approached shortly after Christmas by Ministry of Labour representatives concerned with the setting up of an Industrial Training Board for the transport industry, under the Industrial Training Act, 1964. The Ministry of Transport, too, will be involved in the discussions.
It has not yet been decided whether separate boards will be established for road haulage, passenger transport and vehicle repair, or whether one large board for road transport will be inaugurated instead, It is also uncertain to what extent the ancillary users represented by C-licensees will come 'under the wing of any road transport board. Details of training schemes, levies and such like will not be decided until the Board has been set up and had time to examine the needs and possibilities in the industry.
Taking the time-scale of existing or imminent Industrial Training Boards as an example it is likely that, if the postChristmas talks bring fairly swift results, the Board(s) for transport would be set up by the middle of next year the first levies could well become payable within the ensuing six to 12 months.
Although the initial intention of the Act is to provide adequate training for entrants to the industry, it is clear that ultimately the standards of existing staff might be examined to see if retraining were needed; there is provision for this in section 2(l) (a) of the Act. AFULL range of rear axles based on designs manufactured by the Rockwell-Standard Corporation of America have been put into production by Centrax Gears Ltd., Shaldon Road, Newton Abbot, Devon. Centrax has the sole U.K. manufacturing rights for these axles, which have been given the name CV Centraxles and, as already announced in The Commercial Motor of September 11, 1964, are to be used by Dennis Bros. Ltd., for the Maxim. Atkinson Vehicles Ltd. has also ordered units.
Axles with individual ratings of from 17.000 lb. (7.6 tons) to 29,000 lb. (13 tons) will be made and the design is based on the Timken-Detroit 3-for-I axle made by Rockwell-Standard, The 3-for-1 design is so named as it allows the basic axle to be fitted with any one of three separate drive centres—single-speed, single-reduction; single-speed, double-reduction; and two-speed, double-reduction. There are three basic axles currently being produced in the U.K. for each type of final drive and all components are interchangeable. Model 170 has a load rating of 17,000 lb. (7.6 tons), Model. 220 has a rating of 22,000 lb (9-8 tons) and Model -230 has a rating of 23,000 lb. (10.3 tons). These three axles are the only ones offered at present and a wide range of standard ratios—from 3-7 to 10-08 to 1— is available. The two-speed axles have a ratio change which can be by air, vacuum or electric actuation. All three types of drive have hypoid gearing; on the twospeed and single-speed double-reduction it is used for the first stage, the second stage being by helical gearing.
Rockwell-Standard Stopmaster brake units which have automatic adjustment are recommended for air-brake systems, although the axles have Girling FCSS cam brakes as standard for hydraulic operation and similar Lockheed equipment available if preferred. ,The CV-230 axle can be fitted with a " tractionequalizer " differential as an optional fitting.