Canada's Big Loads By Road
Page 47
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AVING always been interested in the road transport " industry, I naturally kept up my subscription to The Commercial Motor" when I left England to make my home in Canada three years ago, and I receive the journal regularly every week.
In this country hauliers have, on occasion, to deal with large individual loads, as happens in England, and road transport frequently comes to the rescue.
Recently I saw some illustrations of the carriage of such loads in Canada. One showed a dozen or so huge logs, 10 ft. in diameter, being hauled on 10-wheeled tractor-trailers, one making a load for each. They were giant Douglas firs en route to the saw mills on the coast, where they would be sawn into timber for new homes. The other picture was of a semi
trailer carrying a building 30 ft. wide, 140 ft. long; weighing 80-90 tons. The haul was 62 miles, and one bridge of five which had to be negotiated took two hours to cross. The total time occupied was from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. the same day.
would like to take this opportunity of wishing your journal every success, and hope that, despite the unsettled future of road transport, you will continue to give me many more years of pleasurable reading concerning this most important sphere and its many activities.
St. James, Manitoba. W. A. JOHNSON.
[We were interested to receive your letter, and appreciate" your comments concerning this journal. Road transport certainly seems to be making headway in Canada, and whilst many large and awkward loads are carried by road in Britain, at least one of the loads to which you refer must have presented great diflieulties.--Ev.]
AN "INNOCENT" ON THE ROAD
I RECENTLY observed an incident which struck me as being somewhat humorous. A lorry had been careering down a road at a good speed with a police-car _" hanging" on to its tail. Eventually the vehicle, which was a "heavy," was stopped, and the police asked the driver to get out and to go to the back of the lorry. When he did so, a constable pointed to the "20" plate and asked the driver for what reason it was being carried. The victim looked rather blank, scratched his head, and said: " Dunne, mate. It must be the age of the damn thing."
Dumfries. GORDON M. GAYNOR.
ARE EXTRA MIRRORS A MIRAGE?
CONCERNING several letters published recently on the subject of driving and other mirrors, I would like to express my personal views.
I believe that F. L. Aikman is quite correct in his remarks upon the desirability of having a mirror at the near side. I find such a fitting invaluable, for it is possible to keep under observation the movement of " runners" who will persist in boarding a bus after the conductor has given the starting signal and the vehicle is actually moving away. Furthermore, while the conductor is upstairs, he can have only an imperfect view of the platform through the staircase mirror, and he may ring off just as someone is approaching the platform. The driver is, however, able to take precautions in these circumstances if he has his near-side mirror.
There are certain undertakings in the country which do not provide this, and I am inclined to wonder what their platform-accident statistics must be like.
As to interior-view mirrors, an excellent type of these is specified by Birmingham Corporation, and it might well be adopted as a standard elsewhere. This, again, helps the driver by giving him a view of passenger S who are obviously intending to alight at a request stop. In such cases, many travellers do not ring the bell, but leave it to the conductor who, however, may be taking fares on the upper deck. All bus crews are familiar with the outburst of bad feeling which may occur when a passenger tackles a driver as to why he did not halt to enable him or her to get all at the previous stop. It is of little use for the driver to reply, " No one rang the bell."
The type of mirror fitted is also of importance. In my view, the most unsatisfactory for this particular work is a rectangular one with a ball joint at one end. This is usually adjusted at an acute angle in a vain attempt to obtain a good view.
The trouble is that a mirror like this cannot take into account the fact that a bus cab tapers, and that to be satisfactory the device must project sufficiently far to overcome this taper and thus give a good view covering as wide an area as is possible.
The best mirrors that I have yet seen are those fitted to the new Daimler vehicles at Salford. They provide an excellent field of vision.
Birmingham, 22a. R. A. MILLS.
A REQUEST FOR REVISED TABLES OF COST I WONDER. if it be your intention to publish a revised version of "The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs for all Types of Commercial Vehicles."
We have always attached great importance to the statistics given therein; in fact, I would go so far as to say that we have operated our eight public service vehicles very largely on the basis of your figures and with considerable success.
You will, I am sure, agree that the recent addition to the fuel tax and the general increase in operating costs, together with a restricted public purse, make experienced opinion even more valuable to all in our industry.
DEREK MODRE-HEPPLESTON, Manager.
(For Messrs. Tcim Peet Luxury Coaches.) Maltby, Rotherham.
[We are pleased to learn that you find our "Tables of Costs" so valuable and that they have been of such practical use. We have every intention of issuing revised tables as soon as these can be prepared. You will understand, • however, that their preparation involves a considerable amount of work and that much of what has already been done in this direction has had to undergo further revision as a result of the changes in certain items such as fuel nrices, also the incidence of the new purchase tax.--ED.]