OPINIONS and QUERIES
Page 31
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ARE MANY " SCRAP " TYRES SERVICEABLE?
THE letter from Lt.-Comdr. M. Grahame-White, pub lished in ." The Commercial Motor " on November 10, seems to need little reply after reading the leading article published by you on October 20 and headed, " Are Tyres Being Wasted?"
In your very ably written article one learns that there are over 5,000,000 old tyres lying on various Ministry of Supply dumps, and that a test-check on 1,000 of these tyres carried out in June last revealed 270 as being "suitable for re-use," yet the Minister of Supply refuses permission for the dumps to be sorted and these " usable" tyres put into circulation, and states that "no useful purpose ' can be served by further investigation."
A little arithmetic will show that something like 1,350,000 tyres suitable for re-Use may be in existence on these dumps; and Lt.-Comdr. M. Grahame-White might, therefore, address his fears to the appropriate Department of the Ministry of Supply. presumably Tyre Control.
The concluding paragraph of your article, "The whole position appears to be most unsatisfactory," is certainly true, and it must be galling to the many essentialvehicle users, who—although in possession of the necessary acquisition permits—cannot obtain new tyres, to know that well over a million usable tyres are lying dormant on the Ministry of Supply dumps. It mdkes one wonder what is behind all this, and whether it has any bearing on the question asked in the House of Commons on November 7 by Major Thornycroft as to what steps he (the President of the Board of Trade) Was taking to prevent the Tyre Manufacturers' Conference from establishing a post-war monopoly in this industry.
A. A. CRESSALL.
(Director, Cressall Tyre and Rubber Co., Ltd.) New Malden.
[An official of Tyre Control has claimed that the suggestions made by the Tyre Casing Collectors' Association .cannot be justified, and that nothing like the number of tyres usable in one form or another is available. We asked him for an official reply from Tyre Control if the facts, which were taken from a voluminous report issued by the Association concerned, were not as stated in our leader, hut, so far, nothing of this nature has been received. Incidentally, our informant added that Tyre Control would welcome checking of the dumps, but this does not seem to tally with the information from the Association—ED.]
AUSTRALIAN OPERATOR'S VIEWS ON OIL ENGINES
I HAVE just read the issue of "The Commercial Motor" I dated August 18, 1944, and, in particular, the "Memories of an Oil-engine Pioneer." No doubt Major Goddard is the author of the article, and I read into your comment an implied criticism about the Gardner engine, which has generous bearing areas.
As one who has had many years of transport experience with all types of vehicle and engine, I would like to say that in Australia, during this war, the Gardner engine has shown itself to be superior to all corners —British, American and Continental. As spare parts have been unprocurable for all mikes, the Gardner included, local resources have had to be used to keep vehicles .in operation, and the quality of remetalled bearings is possibly below new and original bearing standards.
It is interesting to record that, because of the ample bearing surface, crankshaft breakages have been almost non-existent with the Gardner engine, but, unfortunately, this cannot be said of other British makes.
Therefore, in considering the production of oil engines for countries like Australia, a robust design is much more important than a light-weight, tightly " packed " engine, which is minus the necessary stamina for outback conditions and bush-garage reconditioning. I hope that you will bear in mind the necessity of British designers studying overseas conditions, particularly in view of Britain's need for increasing her exports after the war.
Your superfluous remark seems uncalled for—there are many other points in the article which should also receive your criticism—but perhaps your policy is dictated by fear of offending advertisers of other engines or vehicles. A journal to be of real service must be fearless, and I
hope my impressions are incorrect. P. TAYLOR.' Sydney, N.S.W. [You are cptite right in assuming that Major W. H. Goddard wrote the article referred to in your letter, but we think you are wrong in reading into it any criti cisms of the Gardner engine. This would probably be•the last thought in the author's mind, as he is a Gardner enthusiast and sole agent for a large area for this make of engine, as applied to road transport. As regards our so-called " superfluous remark," it was purely a matter of opinion', and if you read this journal constantly you would have appreciathd by this time that our policy is not dictated by the fear of offending advertisers; in fact, we have, on many occasions, been congratulated upon our frank comments, which have always been made without fear or favour.—En.]
NATIONALIZATION OF TRANSPORT WOULD BURDEN THE COMMUNITY
I T was an impressive moment for the A.R.O. chairman when all the members present at the recent extraordinary general meeting voted in favour of amalgamation. Let us hope that this move will at last enable the industry to speak with a voice that will be heard.
The parties aresquaring up and the gloves are off. Is it just a coincidence that "The Sunday Express" describes goods vehicles as "The Baby Killers," or is that paper in any way justified in using 'such a description.
The trade unions have said that they want nationalization of transport, so has " Common Wealth,and a great many people not attached to any party think likewise. We now read in your "Opinions and Queries" that a driver has changed his opinion and thinks conditions under M.O.W.T. are working out fairly well.
I cannot help thinking of the quotation "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread," but my impressions, recently gained, are that we are not ready for nationalization. When you read, hear, and see practically every day that men take every advantage to slack or strike, is it feasible to suppose that they will reform under nationalization, and work for the common good? This also goes for the operators of transport. Are we ready to put the country before our pockets? Until that time arrives, nationalization of transport would be a burden to the rest of the country. BRISTOL HAULIER. Clufton.