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NEW EQUIPMENT
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and publications
From Canada .. .
CANADIAN mechanical handling equipment is now available from Gascoignes (Kee Klamps). Main features of the range include simple design linked with rugged construction requiring minimum maintenance; where bearings are incorporated they are either sealed or self-lubricated.
Examples of the equipment of interest to vehicle users are the Blue Giant four-sided lift table and mechanical dock leveller. The former measures 6ft by 8ft and has a load capacity of 10,000lb. It can be used as an elevating dock where clear, all-round access is required.
There are two basic models of standard lift table, one with three open sides, mobile, battery or mains operated, hydraulic lift and manual motivation. The other has four sides, is portable or stationary and mains operated Standard capacities of both are 2,000 to 4,000lb and table sizes of 24in. by 48in. to 36in. by 72in. are made. They can be pit mounted if required, although a feature is a low collapsed height.
The dock levellers provide a positive and accurate link between the lorry platform and loading bay. There are again two basic mechanical models—pit mounted and independent free standing. Capacities range from 12,000 to 20,000lb and the size range is 5ft by 5ft to 7ft by 10ft. Dock levellers are bolted down independent of the building so they may be removed to another site if needed. Hydraulic operation is an alternative and a special feature of the design is a safety swing-away lip as a standard fitting. Marketed by: Gascoignes (Kee Klamps) Ltd., Gascoigne House, Berkeley Avenue, Reading, Berks. AN ADJUSTABLE load-retaining strap extends the range of goods-handling systems made by Colt Staplers. It is claimed to be in advance of any other method of securing goods in transit against impact damage and consists of tough black nylon webbing with two heavy-duty hooks of steel alloy or as an alternative, one hook and at the other end, loop stitching for permanent bolting to van sides.
Quick-lock/quick-release mechanisms fitted enable the user to pull the strap tight on a load. Two widths of strap are available, 1.5in. with a breaking strength of about 6,0001b, and 2in. with a breaking strength of approximately 8,0001b for heavier loads.
Made by: Colt Staplers Ltd., 30 Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon.
Tic° platform
A WORKING—PLATFORM attachment is now marketed by Colchester Tillage for use with the Tico K.52, IC.54 and K.100 hydraulic lorry-mounted cranes.
Fitting the unit to the crane is said to be simple and the platform is raised and lowered by using the normal crane operations. The crane stabilizers ensure safety and stability when the unit is in use.
Maximum working height of the platform when used with the K52 /1(54 with 13ft boom is 26ft 6in. and maximum working radius is 14ft 9in. In the case of the K52 /K54 with 15ft boom the figures are 28ft 3in. and 16ft 5in. respectively and with the K100 with 17ft 6in. boom, 30ft lin. and 19ft 2in.
Marketed by: Colchester Tillage Ltd., Colchester, Essex.
Price: £145 ex works.
C and U Guide updated
THE GUIDE to the C and U Regulations as they affect York Trailer Co. artics has been re-written. It covers current legislation and includes information on combinations of all popular makes of tractors coupled to appropriate York trailers at 18 to 32 tons g.t. w.
The York C and U Guide is said to be so popular that York plans to make it a hi
annual publication to ensure that the information given is as up to date as possible.
Anyone wishing to receive new copies on publication is invited to register his name with the York sales secretary.
Published by: The York Trailer Co. Ltd., Corby, Northants.
Disposal problems ended
CASTROL SOLVEX ICL.161, an acidbased aluminium cleaner and brightener has now been made biodegradable—it can be broken down by the bacterial action which is part of the normal sewage treatment process. Aluminium-bodied vehicles can therefore be treated with the substance without requiring any special arrangements for disposal of the wash water.
Data Sheet No. 13 in the Castro! Solvex series describes Solvex ICL.161 and its method of use.
Made by: Castrol Industrial Ltd., Castro! House, Marylebone Road, London, NW!.
A NUMBER of advantages are claimed for a hand inspection lamp produced by Bloctube Controls which incorporates a fluorescent tube mounted in shock-absorbent connector caps and can withstand being dropped or knocked in use without failure.
The slimness of the unit allows it to go into confined spaces, impossible with normal hand lamps and it is cooler in use than a filament lamp.
The casing is sealed against the entry of water and the 12ft lead provided to connect the lamp to the mains is abrasion and water resistant. No earth connection is required.
The tube is rated at 6W and has an output of approximately 180 lumens. Around the tube is a protective acrylic sheath and the handle and the top cap are of PVC with buffer flanges 2in. in diameter. The lamp is Ift 5in. long and weighs 17oz. The complete assembly is flash tested to 2,000V. Versions for use on 110V are available as well as the standard 230V.
Made by: Bloctube Controls Ltd., Bicester Road, Aylesbury, Bucks.
Price: £4 10s.
Way to answer White Paper
AFTER READING through the proposals of Mrs. Castle, I am to say the least extremely disgusted.
In the early 1930s there was a hue and cry about road transport "robbing" the railways of goods transport. The outcome of this was in a way a protection for the trade—the A and B licences, with C licences added for carriers of their own goods. These licences have served as a road haulage "trade protection" since their inauguration.
In normal business procedure it is up to the manager to recoup his overheads and then show a profit. If he fails to do this then his directors terminate his services. But applied to British Railways it does not seem to matter: this year's deficit is £154m. In future years the National Freight Corporation, so we are told, will have to at least break even, but until 1974 will if necessary be subsidized by up to £25m.
Road haulage transport managers first and foremost have to show a yearly profit to their directors and secondly have to provide an economic service to their users. Overheads have recently been forced up by many Government interventions. These overheads have to be passed on to the users of road transport and in turn by them to the general public. who in turn demand more money through wage increases. A truly vicious circle.
Now we have Mrs. Castle's White Paper proposing further cost increases which if allowed to go through will cripple if not kill the transport industry. If this should happen repercussions will be felt by manufacturers having to lay-off more employees, and all because Mrs. Castle wants to force everybody to use inefficient, time-wasting, more expensive British Railways. Result: a standstill if rail strikes should occur, unnecessary increase in cost of living. What do they want? A repetition of the 1926 General Strike?
The purpose of the Labour Government should be exposed—its first and foremost aim is to cripple the Conservative Party beyond all possible recovery, even at the country's expense, in order that Labour can be returned to power time after time.
The only answer to the White Paper is for the TRTA and RHA to get together headed by the Shadow Minister of Transport and tell Mrs. Castle to get out. Let Mrs. Castle have her standstill now; a few days would be enough to show her the type of chaos she is trying to inaugurate. Perhaps the Prime Minister would intervene and have Mrs. Castle removed from office.
Nationalization was bad enough but this is daylight robbery.
L. WILSON, Commercial Service Manager, Salford, Lancs.
Let's get a paid president
AT LAST the Road Haulage Association is being reorganized. May all members have a vote in electing a permanent paid president capable of standing up to the Ministry of Transport. Many, including myself, have lost faith in an organization that has little imagination and foresight; this became very obvious after our trip to the USA last year.
The RHA, while dictating rates and opposing fellow members for licences, has allowed the C licence operator to grow four times our own size, most of them with only one-way traffic.
Hauliers outside the "clan" have been regarded as "cut throat operators"--a favourite expression in the industry. They should have been encouraged and not oppressed.
N umbers make an association strong. The dogmatic attitude of the RHA members themselves has given incentive to ownaccount hauliers over the past 20 to 30 years; so far as I am concerned through our own folly we do not have enough status today to oppose the Ministry of Transport.
It is not too late to enrol new members or renew acquaintances with old ones, incorporate garages, tyre distributors, suppliers of accessories and motor manufacturers as affiliated members.
If you want new customers you have to go out and look for them, not wait for a member to be proposed by another haulier. The new Ministry proposals present us all with the same problems ----unlike nationalization when large concerns sold out at a handsome profit. So the sooner we unite and fight the better. 0.m.o. 'like Underground'
MR. SQUIRRELL (CM, November 10) queries the times I gave for o.m.o. fare collection. I would point out that I did give times and routes so that anyone who wished to check my figures could do so. Mr. Squirrel apparently prefers guesswork.
His guess of a 2s fare is a little out. Most of the tickets sold at that point are 9d singles or Is 3d returns. Right money every time? He would be lucky.
Anyone with any real experience of o.m.o. will know that there is no connection between traffic conditions and the speed at which tickets are sold. On all the one-man-buses I have seen or driven, the tickets are sold while the bus is stopped. Is there any other type?
It is worth noting that the conditions under which an o.m.o. driver actually sells the tickets—with a fixed ticket machine and cash till—are far more like the conditions in an Underground railway booking office than those under which a conductor works. I would suggest that anyone could check on ticket-issue speeds by seeing how many tickets a minute the booking clerk at a London Tube station like Balham or Mile End could sell in the morning rush.
RAY TOOKE, Stowmarket, Suffolk.
Unwelcome visitors
THIS COMPANY operates a round-the-clock heavy recovery service. I feel that your readers will be interested in the vigilance of our Ministry officials, for this morning having worked from the early hours in the bitter cold clearing a particularly dangerous road with two of our heavy recovery vehicles—we had a visitation.
At the crucial moment of lifting the last vehicle to clear the road, a Customs and Excise van pulled up in the lefthand lane, thereby creating yet a further obstruction, and calmly proceeded to test our vehicles for incorrect diesel fuel.
One wonders whether, in fact, had anyone been trapped under this vehicle, they could have been persuaded to wait a few minutes while we dealt with the problem.
The look of disappointment on the face of the inspector upon finding that we recovery operators are not trying to evade tax was a joy to behold at an early hour.
WM. C. JACKSON, Managing Director, Chaseside Motor Co. Ltd., Hertford.
Good thinking, gentlemen!
MAY I BE ONE of the first to congratulate Mr. Wilding and Mr. Cater on their excellent article "Futuristic Trunk to Glasgow" (CM. November 10).
I was particularly pleased to read the comments in favour of the two-piece flat windscreen. It is time to apply a steadying hand to the more enthusiastic of our stylists before it is too late. Let us to keep the accent on safety, comfort and ease of maintenance.
Designers of heavy lorry cabs seemi to be in danger of getting caught up in the pointless competition to introduce maximum numbers of curves and minimum amount of headroom, which has spread through the private car industry.