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Observations on oods Vehicles
Page 85
Page 86
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AS distribution manager to J. Lyons and Co., Ltd., the author, Mr. W. H. Gaunt, ORE., M.Inst.T., who is president of the Mansion House Association on Transport, has had an excellent opportunity of observing the behaviour of many classes of transport vehicle.
Mr. Gaunt commences by stating that it is a significant matter for congratulation that the road-transport industry stands out amongst others, both in its Press and in its conferences, for education and self-government contributed to by the views and criticisms of its members who operate such an important arm of modern commerce. No longer an it be said that the British business man, in our sphere at any rate, is afraid of expressing his views.
Factors to Consider in Choosing Types.
The author has ventured to comment upon the changing relative proportions of the three most-used types of vehicle, without pursuing the technical questions of relative cost.
life and performance. The technical Press and papers before various gatherings provide information for intelligent users to compare their particular fleets and problems with individual adjustment.
With many users, running costs plus depreciation per mile or per ton are not the final deciding factor. Adaptability in service, cleanliness of vehicles and operators, fire insurance of vehicles, goods and surrounding properties, avoidance of stopping-out allowances, simplicity of maintenance and interchangeability of drivers are all considerations in the final choice. Some of these have a bearing upon the changes in the proportion of types. In the five years up to 1935, we find that there are now six times as many vehicles of 12-cwt. unladen weight, approximately half as many I2-20-cwt., no increase in 1-14-ton, twice as many 14-2-ton, five times as many 2-24-ton, a 50 per cent. increase in 24-3-ton, a one-third decrease in 3-5-ton, a marked reduction in 5-ton, and nearly six times as many of the articulated type.
There are no worth-while relative figures in respect of load capacity, and it would be valueless to hazard any deduction in regard to total transport work done by road, there being no guidance as to whether a ton be carried 5 miles or 50.
Popularity of the Light Vehicle.
The big increase in the lighter types is a matter of service fulfilled. It is a feature of modern life, created by the advent of the motorvan and almost entirely ad hoc to the railway system, having not only displaced horses, but intensified local deliveries out of all knowledge. In the main, it is ancillary traffic, largely unaffected by any form of co-ordination. Much of it does not affect the railways.
The weight-carrying interest begins with the intermediate classes, after that heavier vehicles are steadily losing ground or giving way to the articulated types. Probably the aggregate carrying capacity remains about the same. There is another factor of artificial stimulus to be remembered—the arbitrary dividing line of 24-ton unladen weight, bringing
with it the differentiation between 20 m.p.h. and 30 m.p.h. and consequent alterations in the rates of pay, etc.
However, one might have considerable doubt as to the inroads of ordinary users and contractors being unduly prejudicial to railway and canal intereSts.
There are important modern developments which would never have arisen but for the inception of the goods vehicle. Laundry work, the ice-cream, multiple 'catering and country fish trades are just a few directions where there would have been comparative limitation thrcugh any form of railway or canal service.
The author would prefer to operate unreservedly over every public road in the country with moderate-weight vehicles, than to see the same road expenditure divided into huge sums for certain arterial roads built to carry incessant heavy loads, leaving a system of unclassified and some second-class roads unusable, without excessive wear upon them and the vehicles. What would be still more objectionable would be reservations against large areas of unclassified roads being used by heavy vehicles.
The Problem of Traffic Congestion.
There is now a tendency for trade supplies to be little and often rather than big and seldom. There will always be some work in big loads, but there is a limit. Congestion in cities does not diminish, and unhamliness in delivery and restrictions upon loading periods have their bearing upon choice of vehicle.
The steam vehicle, at least fired by coal or coke, will before long be a negligible quantity. The steam and smoke are to modern ideas intolerable and dangerous. Frequent intakes of coal and water become tedious in modern ranges of operation, and the ratio of payload to unladen weight is uneconomic for present taxation principles. Their performance, however, is reliable.
The oiler is a serious rival to steam as well as to petrol. With the oiler, difficulty of garaging mixed fleets disappears, and costing seems definitely in its favour. The small oil engine has not been in use long enough to permit an operator to say that he will specify this unit in large numbers, but there is a great interest in its development, and many users think that it has a good future. For the distribution of foodstuffs, where the vehicle is used in close proximity to the warehouse, the oiler, with its absence of noxious fumes, possesses another advantage. In experiments with oilers, the author hung a packet of tea in the exhaust stream. Testing revealed no trace of impurity.
What of the Future?
The author believes that the future of heavy haulage lies in oil. This is borne out by the enormous development made in other countries, and in this connection he refers to statements made by the Editor of The Commercial Motor in his paper read before the Royal Society of Arts. It is to be hoped that makers and users will not regard the
oiler as simply replacing the steam vehicle. There is undoubtedly a field for the development of lighter types. The low-gear work in traffic causes an increase in petrol consumption, against which the better running costs of the oiler show a correspondingly increased saving.
The author believes there is a fruitful field of enterprise for a cheaper vehicle to meet local and small-mileage requirements, as was emphasized by representatives of the railways at a conference held at the Commercial Motor Exhibition in 1935. They stressed that the problem was common to 50 per cent, of the hauliers of this eountry.