INTERNATIONAL SERVICE THE BELGIAN WAY
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ANTWERP port authorities claim that Belgian hauliers can give British operators a better tractor service than can be provided by hauliers in any other country. They say that the service has a flexibility derived from the best features of freeenterprise initiative, and that it is backed by an unrivalled knowledge of inter-Continental transport and trading difficulties.
Largest operators in the country, Messrs. L. Van Gaever, and Messrs. Carnerman, respectively operate fleets of 68 and 85 vehicles, and although the work of many other Belgian hauliers is of existing or potential value to direct export, these two companies now provide the bulk of the tractors used for hauling semi-trailers from Britain.
Extra Licences Their normal operations are also indicative of the type of general traffic in which local hauliers are engaged. Extra licences are freely granted by the Belgian authorities to operators seeking increased direct-export capacity, and the existing capacity of progressive haulage concerns is therefore of particular importance to the development of this form of trade.
In addition to their main depots in Antwerp and Brussels, the Van Gaever company operate branch depots in Paris and Milan. Regular daily services include runs to the Rhine Valley, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Bremen, for which some loads are collected in the Netherlands. Regular runs are also made at two-day intervals to various centres in Italy, about 60 c.20 per cent. of the traffic being directed to Milan, Turin and the north, and 20 per cent. to Rome, Florence and Bologna. The remaining 20 per cent. is dispatched to other industrial centres.
To qualify as a Van Gaever driver, the applicant must have a fair command of Flemish, French, German and Italian, and he must possess a sound technical knowledge of the various makes of vehicle in the fleet. The vehicles include 12 M.A.N. multiwheelers, eight Mack machines powered by the maker's engines, two of the same make converted for operation by Gardner 8LW units and two vehicles of Cummins manufacture. The largest number of one make consists of 37 Steyr vehicles of which 32 are tractors, and the smallest vehicles are two Seddon 5-tortners. Two American Rogers 60-ton low-loaders are employed, whilst the total number of trailers is 46.
Mr. L. Van Gaever comments favourably upon the performance of the Gardner 8LW 150-b.h.p. units, which provide a substantial saving in fuel costs. The Van Gaever company are distributors for Seddon oil-engined lorries, and Mr. Van Gaever pays tribute to the merits of this and heavier makes of British vehicle. He emphasizes, however, that many Continental operators are deterred from purchasing British chass;s because spares and service facilities are generally inadequate for trans-Continental work. A notable contrast is the spares organization of the M.A.N. company, which covers all the Continental countries visited and enables a mechanical defect to be rectified in the minimum time in any area on the normal routes.
Runs are frequently made to Spain, and Mr. Van Gaever has noted that Spanish operators are using an increasing number of Leyland Comet and Beaver lorries. He states that the Leyland spares organization is possibly the best of any vehicle maker on the Continent.
Variations in the regulations and taxes applicable to visiting lorries in different Continental countries create difficulties that can confuse any operator who does not possess a thorough knowledge of the factors involved. The collection of back-loads, particularly for British semi-trailers, also requires an extensive knowledge of industrial developments, and there are many difficulties to be overcome before a steady flow of back-loaded traffic can he expected, Mr. Van Gaever is, however, confident that the "rational exploitation" of the existing back-load potential, and fostering new sources of traffic will enable overall costs to be reduced and more efficient service to be provided within the next six months or so.
The development of the European Common Market has a potential, Mr. Van Gaever believes, that few operators fully appreciate. One of the most valuable advantages it may provide would be the concession by all Continental countries allowing British semitrailers to be used for back-loads destined for other Continental countries.
Every type of overhaul is performed in the workshops of the main Brussels depot, including complete engine reconditioning, chassis repairs and bodybuilding. Features of the workshops include an extended pit which can accommodate several vehicles and is provided with an overhead travelling crane. A comprehensive range of fastmoving spares is stocked in the stores department located centrally in the workshops, above which the offices of the manager and his staff are located.
Combining the stores and offices at the centre of the workshops has reduced wastage of labour time to a minimum, which in part results from
the commanding position of the offices giving a view of practically every corner of the building. During the visit of over two hours to the workshops. I was able to investigate the details of a number of major repairs, and can testify to the advantages provided by this central position of the stores and offices.
Other features of the workshops include Oil-burning space heaters and a loudspeaker address system. Overhauls of fleet vehicles are combined with repairs to vehicles of smaller operators, and the increased staff of mechanics employed provide a reserve capacity for dealing with emergencies.
Well Equipped
Reception and accounts offices on the perimeter of the building are equipped and furnished to a high standard, and this also applies to a restaurant and rest room for the employees and to a surgery. A particular feature of the social facilities provided, which would be envied by the large majority of operators' employees in this country, is a two-roomed bar which could be compared with the best " local " on this side of the Channel.
A new direct-export department has recently been established by the Camerman company, controlled by a manager with no other responsibilities.
A separate fleet of five tractors is employed by the department and these comprise two Missing vehicles with S.A.E. fifth-wheel couplings, and two Ccimmers, powered by the maker's two-stroke engine, which are equipped with Seammell couplings.
• Although there will be close liaison between this and other departments, its creation as a separate unit of the company will, it is envisaged, give the staff a purposeful pride in fostering its expansion. .
The majority of the tractors and rigid vehicles in the main fleet are of Bussing manufacture, Camerman's being Missing and Commer distributors for the Antwerp area, and the official "assembly agents" of the Biassing company. A number of International and Mack vehicles is also employed.
The concern specialize in tanker transport but also operate 30 articulated outfits on general traffic. These include 10 25-ton two-axled trailers, a similar number of 20-ton trailers, five of -10-15-ton capacity and five lowloaders, of which four have a capacity
of 45 tons and one is a 50-tanner. Branch depots include one at Malines, 20 miles to the south of Antwerp, where five lorries are based, and another depot will shortly be opened in Ghent.
The goods-vehicle fleet is additional to one of 36 coaches based on Bussing underfloor-engined chassis powered by oil engines of 140 b.h.p. These are employed under contract by Antwerp municipality for a Pullman service in the area.
Vehicle selection is based on the principle that an adequate power output gives operational economy, the largest Bussing vehicles being equipped with oil engines developing 200 h.p. There are six of these vehicles. Twelve more have engines with an output of 185 b.h.p. In the case of five vehicles the rated output is 150 b.h.p.
General traffic includes weekly runs to France with toads of glass from Antwerp, and with machines to French ports for export to Canada, back-loads normally comprising champagne and other wines destined for Antwerp. Regular deliveries are also made to Germany of loads of imported wool, and back-loads mainly consist of machinery from the industrial centres.
Consignments of glass also represent the main loads to Finland, Sweden and Norway, from which countries wood paste is collected for distribution in Belgium. Loads to the Netherlands include shipbuilding materials for Rotterdam, imported from America, England, Germany, France, Sweden, Norway and Italy, and goods imported from America and England are frequently transported to France, Spain and Italy.
Special welded-steel bodies are built in the workshops for the carriage of glass, and all the trailers in the fleet are also of Camerman construction. A welding machine of unusual design is employed for building both these types of body and was used for the construe tion of a twin-tank butane-propane tanker. Liquefied gas is supplied in bulk for a wide variety of industrial processes.
Every type of overhaul is carried out in the workshops, including complete engine reconditioning.