Forward Planning for Transport Economy
Page 7
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kilEANS of reducing the time consumed LV1 in loading and unloading of vehicles were closely examined in the course of a paper by Mr. Geoffrey Rose (Fisher and. Ludlow Ltd.) during the National Co-operative Traffic Managers' Association annual conference which started at Blackpool last Sunday.
Movement of goods by road generally involved five stages, said Mr. Rose: taking the material from the warehouse, loading on to the vehicle, transportation, unloading, and placing of the material in the warehouse or store. Analysis suggested that the transport medium should be arranged to blend with solutions to the problems of storage and loading. In the matter of warehousing a fairly recent addition to the pallet-handling equipment was the stacker crane, which enabled increased use to be made of the available height in a single-storey building. A national standard should be adopted for pallets which would enable manufacturers to ensure the hest possible use of the vehicle deck.
Mr. Rose suggested the Cargonization system as a method of time saving. This was particularly applicable to loads made up of separate orders and involved the
use of a. rigid vehicle, which was fitted with runner rails, clamps at the sides, and front and rear ktop s:: The vehicle body, which would bc of container or box design, would be loaded in the warehouse, run •aboard the prime mover and locked in place. By use of this method it had been found that a 5-ton load could be taken on board in five or 10 minutes.
The vehicle manufacturer today was not concerned about lighting loads on the battery but the starting aspect was vital, said Mr. C. J. Bushrod (Chloride Batteries Ltd.). Thus the demand was for better and better cranking performance in relation to size and weight. He was sure the British motor industry was better served in this respect than its American counterpart. Various improvements had led to better battery life expectation hut the motor industry's adoption of voltage controllers on the charging system had done more to eliminate premature failure than anything done by the battery makers.
Mr. P. J. Holman (Automotive Products Co. Ltd.) thought it possible to forecast an extension in the use of disc brakes; they were being considered for the front wheels of light vans.
For use in commercial vehicle braking, existing disc units were a possibility and could effect a • considerable saving On service brake-lining materials. The Thompson design; currently .being used in • America, was now becoming niore-• common on long-distance vehicles in this country.
in fleet maintenance, said Mr. Holman,failure to make use of the manufacturers' recommended materials in the shape of linings, fluid, hoses and seals, was to court inefficiency. A hydraulic brake hose of Terylene and rayon construction now available had an ultimate bursting pressure of 14.000 p.s.i., whilst the minimum requirement of an S.A.E. specification for bursting pressure was 5,000 p.s.i. Maximum pressure likely in a braking system was less than 2,000 psi.