Changed Distribution Needs Quoted as Evidence for More Vehicles
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Theft Prevention By Gearbox Lock AN effective means of locking the gearbox of a commercial vehicle in neutral-as a deterrent to its theft has 1-een devised by Mr. M. J. Koopman, Denmark House, 71-72 Piccadilly, London, W.I. In its present form the invention, which
the subject of a patent application, could be applied to any vehicle with a floor-mounted . gear lever, whether this operated direct on the gearbox turret or through a remote-control linkage.
• The actual lock is housed in a sheetmetal box which is interposed in the actual lever stem. The lever is cut about 2 in, above the floor of the cab; the box is screwed on to it and welded in position. A horizontal plate with locating flanges which engage with slots insidethe opentopped box is welded to the upper portion of the lever so that it can be locked into the box by the key-operated barrel-type unit provided.
• A flap with similar locating flanges and locking facilities to those fitted on the detachable portion of the lever is hinged to the floor behind it. Thus, when the vehicle is left, the lock can be opened to release the gear lever. The flap is then swung forward to cover the top of the box and lock into it to hold the gear lever stub in neutral. Skirt members at tither side of the flap enter channels in the cab floor to prevent levers being
• inserted. The box so formed could be used to cover master switches for the starting and lighting circuits as a further deterrent to attempted theft.
The device exists only in wooden model form at the moment, but if produced in quantity—a manufacturer is being sought—would employ hardened steel for the accessible surfaces to prevent them being cut.
ANOTHER ROAD-AIR SERVICE
ON Monday a new road-air goods service began between Britain and Holland. Initially the service will operate twice-weekly. The depot in this country will be that of Silver City Airways, Ltd., at Chelsea Bridge, London. Silver City are the operators of the service. They already operate a similar one to Belgium. -FACED with the evidence of five I witnesses who had travelled from London, Glasgow and Yorkshire, the British Transport Commission last week withdrew what was understood to be a serious objection to an application by Alfred Bell, Ltd., of Newcastle upon Tyne, to add four A vehicles (vans) to their fleet, with a normal user of: "Furniture, household effects and general goods, United Kingdom." The application was granted by the Northern Deputy Licensing Authority, Mr. G. W. Duncan, at Newcastle.
• Throughout the proceedings, the company made it quite clear that the application would only fulfil half their requirements—they already had applied to -add a further four vehicles from the Metropolitan area.
First for Long Time
Opening the case for the applicants, Mr, T. H. Campbell Wardlaw said that, apart from a short-term application heard by the Authority regarding extra vehicles to carry potato crisps (The Commercial Motor, October 7), this was the first substantial application the company had made for extra facilities for a long time. Alfred Bell operated, with their associated companies, some 52 vehicles and seven trailers, based in the Metropolitan, North Western and Northern areas. The application was to enable them to cope with an "exceptional increase-" in the warehousing and distributing section of their business, and was largely due to a change of policy on the part of customers, who required their products to be distributed on a nation-wide basis.
Recent Practice
Whilst deliveries to their warehouses were made by either customers' own vehicles, British Railways or British Road Services, a practice had built up recently for distribution to retail shops, together with all the accompanying documentation, to be carried out by Bells own vehicles. During recent years several of their customers had insisted that they operated warehouses in other areas apart from London and Newcastle, in order to expedite distribution and reduce transport costs.
The applicants, having entered into hiring contracts with hauliers in the localities concerned, acquired warehouses in Bury, Glasgow, Kingswinford and Worcester. This, for a while, eased pressure at Newcastle and London but, because of still higher tonnages passing through, they were now forced to make the present applications.
Mr. H. F. Marks, managing director, gave evidence of the extreme difficulty his company were experiencing in the handling of goods for their principal customers who were, with one exception, biscuit and confectionery manufacturers. Because vans had to be absolutely clean and free from odour, it was almost impossible to hire other hauliers.
In the case of one customer, they had asked them to use the railways' Condor container service to transport bulk loads from Glasgow to London, for distribution from their London warehouse, and had persuaded the same customer to use B.R.S. vehicles to carry goods to their Bury warehouse.
After minutely . cross-examining the witnesses, Mr. 1. Robey, • representing the objactors, requested a short adjournment to enable the figures to be examined in detail. This was granted by Mr. Duncan, and upon resumption Mr. Robey said that he had " reached agreement" with Mr. Wardlaw • on the basis of four vehicles in the Northern area. But he stressed that this was entirely without prejudice to the "battle pending" in the Metropolitan area, or „the substantive application pending in the Northern Area for five vehiclesto carry potato crisps.
Granting the application,Mr. Duncan said that the applicants operated a highly specialized business and the customers were entitled to have their goods carried in the Way they wanted. He did not consider four vehicles were too many.
LATEST SCAMMELL AT PUBLIC • WORKS ".
ANEW version of the Scammell NEW dump truck, to be known as the Mark II, will make its debut at the Public Works Exhibition, Olympia, London, to be held from November 11-19. Unlike the original Sherpa, which is still available, the . latest model is . intended solely for use off the road. it has twin rear wheels and a permissible maximum gross weight of 22 tons,
The 9-11-cu.-yd. Telehoist hody of the Sherpa Mark II is mounted directly on the chassis frame, whereas the earlier dumper employed a sub-frame. . This lowers the centre of gravity and improves stability. Both Sherpa models have the Leyland 0.680 engine, which drives the double-reduction rear axle through a Six-speed gearbox. The Mark will be exhibited at Olympia by R. Cripps and Co., Ltd.
BIGGEST YET?
ELIEVED to be the largest individual loads ever carried on road vehicles across the English Channel, two 60-ton castings were moved from Tilbury to Antwerp last week by The Transport Ferry Service, after a road journey from Redford. • The castings, which form part of a rolling mill, were carried by B.R.S. (Pickfords), Ltd.
WHEN TO LOOK AT BOILERS
r-p-TE. frequency with which it is desir able from the safety point of view to examine steam boilers is discussed in a report by the Advisory Committee qn the Examination of Steam Boilers in Industry, which has been published as a White Paper (Cmd. 1173, H.M. Stationery Office, price is. 3d.)