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Points to Consider in Body Selection.
Page 99
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The Body as Important as the Chassis. Obtaining Official Approval.
THE choice of a body for a vehicle designed for passenger work is not a matter which should be undertaken lightly. It must be remembered that, to the passenger, the body is of far greater importance than the chassis, and may easily mean all the difference between comfort and discomfort.
The primary Consideration is the class of work upon which the vehicle is to be employed. It may be perfectly satisfactory to utilize a vehicle finished in an almost luxurious manner in neighbourhoods where the class of passenger will appreOate such comfort and not be likely to cause damage to the finish ; but it would be invidious to put such a vehicle into service in, say, a mining district, where, careful as the passengers might be, soiling of the cushions and light paintwork of a vehicle could not be avoided.
Then there is the point as to whether the vehicle is to be employed on longdistance work or on services involving a large number of stops at short intervals. If the latter, it is of the utmost importance that the doors and their opening and closing mechanism be so arranged that entry and exit of passengers are expedited, otherwise an undue amount of time is likely to be wasted. It must always be remembered that it is only in the time during which the vehicle is actually travelling that it is earning revenue ; any periods of nonrunning represent so much loss and
should be cut down to the minimum.
The Briton is innately conservative and where there are vehicles already running it is important that any alterations made in new types put into service should be in accordance with his ideas and not made too drastic, otherwise it may well be found that passengers, instead Of making use of the newer facilities, will continue to avail themselves of the old. In other words, the operator_ must convince himself as to the most popular type of vehicle for his particular class of work, and it is impossible for anybody to advise him from a general point of view ;.each ease must be taken upon its merits.
Likewise, what may be termed the custom-capacity of a service must be considered. It • is useless providing vehicles of large sire if there be not sufficient passengers to make use of them. Certainly the provisiat of transport facilities does much to encourage the use of those facilities, but there must be a limit, and even owners of big fleets often find that they have to run certain services at a loss for a considerable period while the custom is being built up.
In the opinion of some bodybuilders, there is a tendency to make public-service vehicles even too luxurious for ordinary custom, from the point of view that the primary cost is increased to a considerable extent and maintenance costs are bound to be greater if the bodywork is to be kept in a satisfactory condition, for nothing looks worse than faded beauty.
Apart from luxury, it is important to provide adequate comfort in respect of knee room, seats which do not force the occupants to sit bolt upright, etc.
It is only after having settled upon the number of people who are to be carried that the user should consult the bodybuilder and make his choice amongst the chassis designed for such a body as will meet the circumstances Of the case.
It will be much cheaper in the end if the user co-operates with the bodybuilder in the type of body utilized. It must be remembered that even small deviations from standard practice inyolve extra cost and may really be of little moment.
The actual construction of a body, so far as its main dimensions are concerned, cannot be arbitrarily settled by the user or coachbuilder, for strict attention must be paid to the recommendations of the Ministry of Transport as regards overhang, etc., and it must be borne in mind that seating arrangements are often controlled by the local licensing authorities as well as such practical considerations as by the intrusion of wheelarches, etc, into the body, and before taking serious steps it is always as well to find out if suggested designs will meet with official approval.