Experience of the 600 Group Proves that Vehicles can be
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Operated Economically for Many Years by Systematic Attention to Maintenance WITH the rising tide of industrial production making in creasing demands on road transport operators, and with new vehicles still in very short supply, the stnctest attention to maintenance is vital.
An example of how extreme care in maintenance work enables transport operations to be carried on despite current difficulties is provided by the measures adopted by the 600 Group of Companies, which has wide ramifications in the transport field. The group has found that it is still possible to employ old vehicles at an economic operational cost provided that unremitting attention is given to details of maintenance.
The " 600 " possess a fleet of some 400 vehicles, with an annual mileage of well over 2,000,000, and most of the maintenance, repair and bodybuilding work is carried out at the central garage in North Acton, London.
Because of he diverse nature of the Group's activities—it represents 14 associated concerns under the parent company, George Cohen, Sons and Co., Ltd.—it uses a wide range of commercial vehicles,. There ale 8-15-cwt. Commers, employed mainly for servicing excavators, cranes, dumpers, rollers and other plant hired out to contractors, and Guy, Dennis and Commer 4-6-tonners for delivering machinery, structural steel, etc.
Scrap Collection The collection of scrap or of material from dismantling jobs is carried out by Scammell 3-ton and 6-ton mechanical horses with a number of interchangeable semi-trailers. Dennis, Albion and E.R.F. 71-ton lorries are used for long-distance work, and E.R.F. and Scammell 1025-ton lorries are employed for moving large excavators and cranes. In addition, there are between 30 and 40 trailers and over 200 staff cars.
The North Acton garage extends over some 29,000 sq. ft., .but, even so, it is far too small for present-day requirements. It was opened in May, 1938, after the amalgamation of the transport activities of the various companies in the group. There are two other garages—one in Leeds, serving the Northern area, and one in Birmingham, covering the Western area—but the Acton garage is responsible for the servicing and maintenance of most of the vehicles.
The machine shop t.t,t Acton is fully equipped with lathes, grinding, drilling and screwing machines, boringbar valve cutters and grinders, an hydraulic press, degreasing equipment, tyre vulcanizers, metal and wood-cutting machines, floor cranes, and so on. A cellulosing bay is to be installed shortly.
Besides maintenance and servicing operations, the bodies for new commercial chassis are built there, according to the particular requirements of the job for which the vehicles are in/ended. In the past nine months, some 14 new bodies and cabs have been constructed, and recently the workshop has been turning out a body each fortnight, as new chassis are received.
A standard Karrier QCK3, the body of which was specially built for the transport of mixers, compressors, rollers and dumpers, etc., in the Leeds area, was exhibited in the Motor Industry's Golden Jubilee procession in London last July.
Engines are reconditioned at the rate of about one every two days, and, as a result, there is a permanent reserve of spare engines. There is also a similar reserve of differentials, gearboxes, shafts, etc.
The staff consists of some 15 employees, including fitters, carpenters, panel-beaters and tyre fitters. There is also an electrician who carries out weekly checks on all batteries, and attends to the reconditioning of dynamos, windscreen wipers and other electrical devices. A night Maintenance staff is on duty five nights a week to deal with running repairs to any of the vehicles, of which there are over. 50, returning to the garage every night.
All faults in performance noted in the day's run are reported, and, after testing to ascertain the defect. rem-tit-a are carried out that night, so that the vehicle may be fully servicoble by the next morning.
A greaser, after consulting the weekly chart for each vehicle, showing the number of miles accumulated since the previous oil and greasing service, makes any necessary oil change.
The work of the day staff starts at 6 a.m. with a thorough check of the tyres of all vehicles due to go out that day. Tyres are again tested as the vehicles leave the garage at approximately one-minute intervals from 7 a.m. onwards.
Care of Tyres
This extremely careful attention to tyres has more than proved its worth. It is coupled with a system of tyre bonuses, which was adopted in 1942, when the tyre position was particularly acute. Each driver who completes 30 days' driving within a monthly period without incurring tyre trouble, is given a bonus of 10s. for that month.
A measure that has also helped to reduce the number of accidents is the tionus paid for safe driving. Each driver receives an accident bonus of 5s. a month, payable at the end of the year, for every month that he has completed in the year without an accident.
Each driver enters for the National Safety First Competition held by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. For 1945, the total number of awards was 79.
Costing figures for the company's vehicles show the results of the careful maintenance routine. The most remarkable machine is an Albion 6-tonner, bought at the 1934 Corn mercial Motor Show, which has run nearly 400,000 miles in the past 12 years. It still has the same engine, and the crankshaft, when the engine was recently stripped, showed only 0.0006 in: wear and 0.0015 in. oval ity.
Direct comparison in costs between vehicles of different ages, but of the same make, is not always possible, as the War-time seizure by the Government of all new vehicles has 1tcl to the assembly of a heterogeneous fleet. But certain comparisons can be made.
In the case of vehicles over five years old, the mileage costs no longer include any allowance for depreciation, as this is normally commuted over the initial five-year period. As, however, repair costs on old v h'cles are apt to be high, these factors tend to cancel out.
One of the most striking comparisons is provided by the costing figures for the petrol-engined 5-tonnets. A 12-year-old vehicle, with an annual rriileage of 17,000, shows an operating cost of only Is. 2d. per mile, compared with Is. lid. for a two-year-old 5-tonne r.
Comparative Costs Vehicles of 3-3i-ton capacity which have been in service for about 18 months, with a yearly mileage of 20,000, show an operating cost of lOid., whilst 3-tonners which are eight years old are being run at a cost of only id. per mile more. A year-old 4-tonner with an annual mileage of 17,000, shows a cost of lOid.,. compared with 111d. for a seven-year-old 4-tonner.
Figures for lorries engaged on long-distance work are, at first sight, even more favourable. A petrolengined 7-ton lorry which is eight years old and has an annual mileage of 32,000, costs 11d, per mile, as against 11-d. per mile for 7-ton oilers of one to three years old.
These latter, however, bear a heavy depreciation charge of some £300.a year each. As the eight-year. old lorries were reconditioned some 18 months ago, with the repair cost charged entirely within the year, the seemingly more economical operating costs of the older petrol lorries are thus explained.
Despite all that can be accomplished by this careful attention to servicing, the 600 Group, in common with most other companies operating their own transport, urgently needs replacements. On order at the moment are 38 commercial vehicles of 8 owl to 15 tons capacity and 123 private cars.