OPINIONS and QUERIES THE UNCERTAINTIES OF CREOSOTE FOR OIL ENGINES
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AilAY I be allowed to congratulate you, also your corMrespondent "-Azote," on the very useful and informative article which appeared in your issue of November 14 under the title of " The Uncertainties of Creosote." This explanation was very satisfactory to me, as it clearly corroborates my condemnation of creosote as a fuel for oil engines, which appeared recently in your journal.
Of course, as usual, there are two sides to this question, and a friend of mine, a well-known corporation bus engineer, points out to me that, in spite of all the snags and difficulties, the employment of a certain percentage of well-washed and centrifuged creosote of a certain type did enable him to run many more thousands of miles yearly and so keep his travellingpublic happy and contented. At the same time, the use of this fuel resulted in savings more than sufficient to cover any extra maintenance costs incurred.
From a corporation engineer's point of view this is very satisfactory, but when the war is over and 'our normal oil fuel is again available, it is fairly safe to wager that creosote willhe eliminated and forgotten.
.Leeds. NORTHERN ENGINEER.
ANY DRIVERS' ASSOCIATION SHOULD INCLUDE THE P.S.V.. MEN K you, Mr. A. A. Wright, for your letter pub K you, Mr. A. A. Wright, for your letter pub rill in" The Commercial Motor" of October 17. I confess to an unintentional sin of omission regarding the P.S.V. drivers.' Most certainly it was my intention that these drivers should be included in any proposals regarding a drivers' Association. I 'appreciate your promptitude in calling my attention to this matter.
May I assure you that there watt not the slightest intention on my part to "have a dig at you" in my remarks regarding the I.T.A.? I think that you will, if you again read my article, be satisfied upon this point.
The additional suggestions made by you have my full support. I would like to emphasize, however, that no progress can be inadetowards the establishing of a drivers' association until the drivers themselves make known their wishes in this matter. TANTALUS. London, W.1.
IMPROVING FUEL ECONOMY• IN GOODS TRANSPORT nNE must agree with:the need for the utmost economy
of fuel for vehicles operating in the C-licence category, and service to customers has been curtailed owing to the cut in the basic ration. There are, however, still customers wha demand a delivery of grocery more than once a week, and these live in the built-up areas, some within a mile of the shop.
No one would like bread, milk or grocery delivered in the fishmonger's van, as was suggested in a Ministry circular for the pooling of delivery. Milk has been reduced to one delivery daily, and is essential for the ,,well-being Of the community.
Bread is another essential, and at a group organizers' meeting early in 1940 the D.T.O. was asked to try to obtain a Government instruction to the consumers of the country for a four-day delivery of bread each week, i.e., on •Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The immediate saving in fuel would be enormous, there could be no unfair competition, and the saving of other fuel (oil, coal or coke for ovens and electricity for power and light in bakeries) would make for great economy in the war effort. The Order should include grocery delivery only once a week.
The pooling of thi.s essential transport is not necessary, as vans are always loaded to capacity, but if it were possible to sectionalize areas or towns and allocate them, overlapping would be eliminated.
Woking. F. G. Consosr, A.M.Inst.B.E.
LIGHT ALLOYS FOR POST-WAR VEHICLES '
have read with interest the articles which have
appeared in" The Commercial Motor" dealing with the design of vehicles after the war, but we must take up one pOint in the contribution by " Pioneer ." in your issue of October 10. We refer, of course, to the sentence, "Further, with the post-wax scarcity of aluminium, some other good medium will have to be found . .," which appears on page 179.
We were pleased that your disagreement with this statement was expressed in an editorial note, in view of the enormous increase in productive capacity which has taken place throughout the light-alloy industry for war purposes. Post-war difficulties are more likely to be associated with absorbing the products of the light-alloy prodUcers than with finding substitutes for them, and one of the most important functions of this Association after the war will be to advise potential users of the light metals on any aspects of their application.
Before the war considerable development work was in hand on the design and production of light-alloy for commercial vehicles, and it may be corifidently expected that this work will be continued and extended as soon as conditions permit. It should be quite clear that reduetion in weight results in substantial advantages in every
type of commercial vehicle. E. Gs. WEST, Manager, Wrought Light 'Alloys Development
West Bromwich, Association.
DO STREET NAMES REQUIRE BETTER POSITIONING?
ERE are, no doubt, large numbers of people con cerned in municipal work who read your journal, and I would like to ask them to use their influence to persuade such departments as are concerned in their respective districts, to take up the matter of the positioning of street name plates.
Many of these are so placed that they are extremely difficult to find. Some that I have seen recently have
been mounted so high on corner buildings that one almost needs a ladder to read them. Others are so far around a corner that it is impossible to see them from a vehicle passing along a cross-street. They might just as well be half a mile away, so far as their usefulness is concerned. Drivers may quite easily miss a particular street for which they are bound, and then have to turn back, thus wasting both time and fuel. This is not the sort of "turn-round "which the Minister of War Transport is advocating.
Recently, while delivering a load, I was delayed quite a long time as a result of this very cause. It was nearly closing time at the factory at which the delivery had to be made, and my late arrival caused some ill-feeling.
Slough . ACLOLAD.