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OPINIONS and QUERIES

26th December 1941
Page 32
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Page 32, 26th December 1941 — OPINIONS and QUERIES
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF EFFICIENT MAINTENANCE MANY articles have recently been published concerning quicker turnround to speed up loading and unloading, but very little has been said about the maintenance of the vehicles. This is a factor which is often overlooked by many responsible officials outside the transport departments.

It is more than ever necessary that the transport managers and engineers be given greater scope, and more attention should be paid to this vital part of the organization, because without efficient maintenance all the bestlaid schemes will be in vain.

It is to be hoped that the new Man-power Boards will be fully alive to the position of skilled mechanics, upon whose work and initiative rests much of the success of

the quicker turnround. L. C. WALKER, M.I.T.A.

London, N.W.10. United Dairies (London), Ltd.

PLEA FOR BETTER CONTROL OF SPARES AND TYRES

ONE reads in the Press of steps being taken to prevent the hoarding of spares and tyres. In my opinion, firm action should be taken at once to stop this racket of dealing with such items at much over the manufacturers' prices. I have had offered to me axle shafts, crown-wheel sets, etc., at many pounds more than the prices at which they can be obtained through the usual channels, but usually, in the latter case, only after weeks

of delay. • The trouble is that the operator is, in many instances, onl5r too pleased to pay such exorbitant amounts in order to keep his vehicles on the road.

In my opinion it should be an offence to deal' in spare parts except through the makers' usual distributors or agents. Stocks from unauthorized dealers should be taken over at their proper trade prices and re-issued through those authorized to sell them.

It is my experience that the Certificate of Need, which has now had a fair trial, is not of great assistance. Perhaps the makers are out of stock or require the parts for their own use, and, consequently, cannot release them. Failing some better procedure, more and more lorries will be going out of action as time goes on. We cannorkeep on for ever postponing the replacement of worn or broken parts. The time comes when urgent repairs and overhauls must be carried out.

Bushey. H.W.H.F.

ANOTHER PLEA FOR BETTER DIRECTION SIGNS

A CORRESPONDENT, " Aclolad," in your issue of ri November 21, raised an important question with regard to street names, to which I should like to add

some constructive suggestions. .

. Let all street name plates be made far more uniform, both in design and position, so that it may be possible for a driver to know just where to look for them. The ideal position is clearly right at the beginning of the street, and the height, roughly 8 ft. from the ground. If there be no convenient walls, then let posts be erected for the purpose.

Where one street gives access to another it should often be practicable to state this fact on the name plate, e.g., "Richmond Road leading to Gauntlett Street."

Perhaps in these days it may be asking too much to expect immediate help in these details, but as part of post-war planning a little attention given to this matter

by the appropriate authorities would do much to save the time of, and ease the strain on, many a harassed driver.

Might &add a plea for the return of our signposts? Surely their removal was, even at the time, little more. than a panic measure and now, when the paint is wearing thin over many once obliterated place names and nobody thinks of asking for credentials, it has become a farce and serves only to hinder drivers and waste time on important journeys. G.S.E. Winchester.

INSURANCE LIMITED TO THE TAILBOARD

REFERRING to your editorial remarks in your issue %dated December 12, anent the Ministry of War Transport rule that delivery of goods is to be at the tailboard of the lorry, it appears that the Ministry is only endorsing what has been the policy, at any rate of tariff insurance companies, for many years.

Our own motor policies exclude the company from liability in respect of " death, injury or damage caused or arising beyond the limit of any carriage-way or thoroughfare in connection with the bringing of the load to such vehicle for loading thereon or the taking away of the load from such vehicle after unloading therefrom."

Further, we have always understood that the legal definition of " delivery," so far as transport contractors are concerned, is "as near to the door of the consignee's premises as -good and hard roads permit and at the tailboard of the lorry."

London, S.E.1. JOSEPH S. F. POLLITZER,

For Beck and Pollitzer.

A HAULIER WHO CANNOT FIND DRIVERS

rAN you do anything about the undermentioned • --,position, or put me in touch with those who can? I am a haulage contractor 'of many years standing and handle all kinds of work. Due to repeated calls my original staff has all gone (including my two sons, who had been running the business for the past six years). This has left me dependent on " raw " labour, and I find now that it is difficult to keep this, as the men, young and old, are going into factories.

I have repeatedly asked the Ministry of Labour for men and am told that it has none. Recently I was told to advertise, but I have been doing this for some time, and, so far as I can see, all that is happening is that men would be leaving someone else in the lurch to come to me, or they are untrained youths who, by the time I have trained them, will be called up.

The reply from the Labour officials is: " Well, we have not got any men or trainees, so you must let your trucks stand." Asking them what they would suggest I do to prevent this waste, I was told that they were part of a vast machine which must go on working and that I should get out of its way.

So, while they scribble on forms, machines designed to do work stand and rust. At the moment I have three trucks, tractors and a 300-ton-per-day power shovel standing idle without drivers.

I have dealt with the Ministry of Labour, the War. Office, the Ministry of War Transport, etc., and the reply is: " It's a pity but yo'u must make the best of it" My sons in the Army (one has been in for two years, serving from the first month through France to Dunkirk)

disgusted that the facilities they built up by hard work are being allowed to rot, when every day Ministers are asking for increased output.

I can give you instances of fruiterers who have gone into haulage since the outbreak of war, and who have taken drivers from those who had always made it their livelihood. They say openly that they have done it either 'for personal protection, of for what can be got out of it, and that they will leave haulage the day that peace is declared.

Am I requesting too much when I ask for labour to run this equipment? Who in the Government can get the labour on to the job? What we want is a simple, direct, district "boss," who can say "Yes" or "No "; "Do this," ," Do that "; in other words a one-man responsibility, not group of officials who "pass the buck." .

Can you give a lead, or has the " national red-tape conveyor.belt " got you on it, too, just going nowhere?

Wolverhampton. , W. .LEG.

[This journal has been giving leads in many directions since it was first published, and we were rather priding ourselves that it had done even more in this direction during the present war. The" zed-tape conveyor belt," to which Mr. Legg refers, would, we think, have to be well gummed before we became stuck on it. In any case, a conveyor does indicate that something is taken somewhere, so it is hardly a happy simile. Perhaps, as a result of publishing this letter, Mr. Legg will have some applications from drivers, as, whilst there may be shortage in some areas, this doe3-not yet appear to be general, several letters having been received from drivers who were not employed, whilst our recent suggestion that operators who were shoot of men should write to us has not resulted in any considerable number of applications,—En.]

" AN INSURANCE WHICH DID NOT EVENTUATE iv ILL you kindly advise me on an insurance matter?

" On June 27 this year I paid a premium of to a local insurance broker in respect of 12 months' thirdparty insurance for my vehicle. I received a cover note, but not the certificate of insurance, and, consequently, lost the use of the vehicle through being unable to tax it until I again contacted the broker on August 9.

He then told me that he had forgotten about my-case, and issued a further cover note for 14 days. After this I heard no more, and was unable to find him, but eventually, on September 30, I received a letter from the local office of the insurance company stating that it required a further premium of about £.1 19s. By this time I had insured elsewhere, so got into touch with the local branch manager. He 'promised to look into the matter, and on November 11 I received a letter saying. that the broker, being satisfied that he would not receive the remainder of the premium, had closed the cover.

The branch manager then proposed that I should reinsure with his company and pay DS, less 16 per cent. no-claim bonus. By telephone I expressed a wish to see the broker and was told that he was now away on war work. I then rang up the insurance company's head office, but although I gave dates and cover-note numbers, no trace could be found of the insurance.

What course would you advise me to take? The broker definitely informed me that the premium was £4, which I paid, and for this I have had merely two 14-day cover notes, and lost the use of the vehicle for a month. Have I grounds for legal action, and against Whom? G. RoGERs. Whitton.

[This is certainly a somewhat complicated problem, and is one which should really be placed in the bands of a solicitor, but, with such a small amount in question, his fees would probably render this course uneconomic. From what you have said, it would appear that you have had to pay dearly for'a very short period of carer, and .ftIVO rwegusre.mAreArrAerdwIMADV,,env.a.

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Diagrammatic seeIncrl drawing of the International brake servo elbow and naive showing the pin inserted.

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if the facts be exactly as you state, there would seem to be grounds for a claim on the insurance company concerned for a return of at least a fair proportion of the premium paid. If you will send us full particulars, together with the names of the broker and insurance company, and, if possible, the cover notes of copies of them, we will write to the company for an explanation.—ED,]

A TIP CONCERNING THE • INTERNATIONAL KR8 MODEL

HLWAVING greatly benefited in the past from many tips that I have read in your valued journal, I think that the following may be of interest to other readers:— My company, John Morton and Son, Ltd., has taken delivery of a number of International vehicles of' the KR8 type, and, in the main, they are giving most satisfactory results. Recently, however, one of them developed a curious brake trouble. The driver stopped at a café and switched off. On restarting, he found the brakes had, suddenly become almost ineffective.

I questioned him on the matter and found that.

through pre-ignition, his engine had back-fired when he switched off. Searching for the trouble, I removed the elbow containing the non-return valve in the brake-servo system and found that, as a result of the back fire, the rubber valve in the .elbow had been forced into the hose and, when the engine was again started, it sucked the valve against the metal end of the elbow, so shutting off the suction; in fact, it acted as a one-way valve, but in the wrong

direction.

To prevent a recurrence of the trouble I drilled through the threaded portion of the elbow, and inserted, just below the rubber valve, a I-in. steel pin about -14in. long. The ends of this pin come just below the bottom of the threads. The upper portion of the elbow, when screwed on, secures the pin and prevents air leak.

Coventry. W, R. WILLIAMS.

HOW CAN MERGER OBSTACLES • BE OVERCOME?

THE issue of" The Commercial Motor" for December 5 contains a note from Mr. Richardson stating that he is now all out for a full merger of all associations. As I would certainly prefer this to the proposed new association of A and B licence holders, I rather wonder how Mr. Richardson proposes to effect this merger.

He knows full well the causes of the breakdown of the last attempt, and it occurs to me that, as be is now " flirting " with one of these "causes," he could possibly give us his ideas as to how the merger should be effected. The same stumbling blocks are in existence. The same leaders are there, and whilst Mr. Richardson may have faith which can remove mountains, all his

efforts will be of no avail. PESSIMISTIC. Newcastle-on-Tyne.


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