£10,000 tanker-trainer
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• Since June 10 experienced tanker drivers in the Bulwark United Transport organization have been taking advanced driving training courses at Bulwark's Chippenham, Wilts, depot.
Last Friday this Road Transport Industry Training Board grant-aided scheme was "at home" to a party of Board officers, the press, and the BBC who were invited to see for themselves the general progress being made by the trainees and, in particular, a unique training vehicle specially built for tanker operation instruction.
At a cost of nearly £10,000 Bulwark has built in its own Chippenham engineering workshops a 30 ton gcw tanker which can also transport a full class of six trainees, plus instructors. This has been done by "beheading" that part of the tank which normally overhangs the fifth wheel and by filling the resultant space with an observation cab.
Deliberately constructed from abnormally robust components—both for safety and to compensate for the lost tanker weight —this cab contains two tiered rows of three Bostrom hydraulically sprung seats facing a "picture window" which allows the trainees to see both over and into (via an extra wide rear window) the artic cab. Not only can the passengers watch the instructor and the driving trainee at work but they can also hear what goes on for the two cabs are connected by a two-way microphone /loud speaker system.
The tractive unit is basically Seddon,with a splitter gearbox as well as a two-speed Eaton driving axle. Trainees are not expected to play tunes with the available multiple ratios, but to accustom themselves to the two forms of transmission.
The trailer, with Duramin running gear, is equipped with a variety of pressure and vacuum pumping systems so that almost any kind of condition for handling liquid or semi-liquid cargoes can be simulated. Instruction is given under both laden and unladen conditions, water being the ballast for the former.
Last Friday's visitors were made welcome by Bulwark managing director Mr. D. H. Foulds and general manager Mr. J. Ralph. The company's chief engineer Mr. R. A. Rogers, under whose direction the trainer-tanker was designed and built, explained its construction and use while the training officer Mr. M. G. Haddock, the chief instructor Mr. R. J. Wealleans and his assistant Mr. F. Carter outlined the curriculum for the two-week "Advanced Safe Driving Course". This includes, in addition to the road instruction, tuition on practically every aspect of a tanker driver's work, with specialist talks by officers of the Wiltshire police force and fire service.
A passing-out level of 70 per cent is required for the proficiency certificate and lapel badge and in the four intakes so far trained not one trainee—and they come from among almost 1,000 drivers in United Transport depots all over the country—has failed the course.