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DEPOT SYSTEM FLATTENS PEAKS

27th November 1953
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Page 46, 27th November 1953 — DEPOT SYSTEM FLATTENS PEAKS
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

— In the Distribution System of Ushers Wiltshire Brewery, Ltd.,which Employs 57 Goods Carriers and Serves

Eight Counties By A. E. Sherlock-Mesher

BREWERS are about to enter the Christmas peak period and their transport systems will for the next ,month or so be extended to the full. Hauliers' vehicles will be pressed into service to supplement C-licence fleets and Work will continue . up to the maximum .number of hours permitted by law.

At times-such as these, the depot system of distribution employed by Ushers Wiltshire Brewery, Ltd., Trowbridge, is of great assistance. It enables increased stocks, on which a rigid chuck is kept, to be built up a month in advance at -the five local distributing centres, • so • that when the peak occurs the -brewery-based fleet is not subjected • to excessive pressure. It is, therefore; unnecessary to reserve transport for extra supplies to depots. Instead, it cgri be fully engaged in urgent deliveries to horses.

Like other brewers, Ushers have recourse to hiring at peak periods, but hauliers' vehicles are loaded only after the C-licence lorries have been dispatched, and are employed only within a 25-mile radius.

The brewing industry has four peaks a year—Easter, Whitsun, mid-summer and Christmas. Trade climbs steadily from Whitsun to August and begins to decline about mid-September until, late in November, preparations for. Christmas start. For a fortnight before the holiday, the quantity carried by Ushers' fleet is twice as great as the normal.

The company have 91 vehicles, of which 57 are goods carriers, 26 are directors' and representatives' cars, and the others are miscellaneous vehioles. The goods fleet

consists predominantly of E.R.F. vehicles, of which there are 32, with six Albions, five Austirts, a Bedford, three 'Morris-Commercials, a Sentinel and two Scammell mechanical horses. Each of the Scammells works with a 5-ton tanker semitrailer and a flat-platform semi-trailer.

All the E.R.F.s have Gardner oil engines. Three are 15-ton eight wheelers with 6LW power units, four are 71-tonners with 5LW engines, 18 are 74-tonners with 4LW engines and seven are 6-tonners with 4LK engines. The AlbiOns are divided

equally, between FT3 5-torinerS and AZ5 45-cwt. lorries. One of the Austins is a 25-ewta, three-way van and the others, are ' 10-cwt. vans.

The Bedford is a long-wheelbase 5-termer.

Four 7-ton uriderfloor-engined lorries are included among the Commers, the remainder of are of 25-cwt. and 10-cwt. capacity. The building department uses a Morris-Commercial 2i-ton lorry and the distribution fleet includes a

Morris-Commercial 2i-ton van and a J-type van. The Sentinel is a fl-ton 4DV lorry. The E.R.F. 71-tonners are notably economical, averaging 17-19 m.p.g.

Among the miscellaneous vehicles are an Austin 3-ton' fire tender with a Leyland pump unit; a trailer pump, and a Dennis fl-ton breakdown tender which was described in The Commercial Motor on September 11.

For the past three years, light-alloy bodies, built to Ushers' own design and specification, have been fitted to the delivery vehicles. Abbotts Garages (Walsall), Ltd., and J. H. Sparshatt and Sons (Southampton), Ltd., and other bodybuilders have supplied the bodies. The E.R.F. lorries have Jennings cabs. Vans for off-licence work have modified standard bodies.

Alloy Floors

All new lorries are fitted with alloy non-slip decks allowing for adequate drainage, and have patent springloaded snap bars at the sides and rear which give a neat appearance and avoid the use of unsightly chains or wire ropes. The latest Abbotts bodies incorporate an. ingenious form of construction for the side raves and body bearers, which obViates the need for rivets. 'It is shown in a drawing on the next page.

At the time of my visit; the Dekalloy floor of a 12-year-oid Sparshatt4midied Albion was undergoing its 'first repair—and a minor one at that.

Rubber buffers are now being fitted at the rear of new lorries, and public-service-vehicle sunken-pan number plates and twin combined tail and stop lights are being used. All lorries have deep anti-splash rubber 'wing extensions and carry Servis recorders.

The fleet covers about a million miles a year, an average vehicle travelling some 12,000 miles.

Transport begins in the brewing stage, for by a process of natural expansion and amalgamation with smaller breweries, Ushers have acquired several premisesin the old Wiltshire town. They are near enough to each other to be easily accessible, but far enough apart to demand the use of road transport between them it is on this internal work that the two

Scammells are engaged. .

Barley arrives by rail at a siding at the maltings and is transferred by conveyor, to the silos, The Scammells,' working with platform semi-trailers, transport the malt B13 daily to the brewery. They also find employment in collecting staves from railhead and delivering them to the cooperage, where casks are repaired and some are made, and in carrying casks from the cooperage to the cask yard, which is situated in the brewery building.

The bottling plant, which includes a mineral-water factory, and the brewery are centrally situated in the town and are separated by about 200 yd. The Scammells, with 40-barrel glass-lined semi-trailer tankers, operate a shuttle service between these departments.

Five vehicles can load at a time in the brewery and in the bottling plant. Mixed loads are carried and after each lorry has been loaded at either the brewery or the bottling store, it crosses over to the other department for the completion of operations. At the brewery, four vehicles load from the rear and one from the side. This system is dictated by the U-shape of the bay, in the centre of which is a store for catering equipment, such as marquees and counters. There are four washing points in the bay, so that in their spare time the drivers can easily wash their vehicles.

At the bottling store, seven vehicles can unload empties on to the inward bay, which is of key formation, and, as I have said, five can be accommodated at the outward bay. A project for five additional bays is in hand.

The . foie main distribution points are the brewery at Trowbridge, where 33 vehicles are based, at Bournemouth (five), Salisbury (two), Swindon (one) and Wallingford (three). Ushers

bought the Wallingford 'Brewery SCE FSAVE Co. and converted it to a depot. .

In addition, there are off-licences at Marlborough. Newbury and Trowbridge, each with cue van.

Eight counties—Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Berkshire. Worcestershire and Oxfordshire—are covered by road. From Trowbridge, Wiltshire, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire_ and part of Berkshire along the London road to Thatchatn are supplied. Swindon depot covers the local borough and territory to the north-east, whilst Wallingford is responsible for Oxfordshire, Berkshire (extending to Windsor) and north Hampshire.

SIDE RAY TOP SKIRT PANEL

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Onward Deliveries

In the southern section of the trading area, Bournemouth covers south Hampshire and Dorset from Swanage to the Brockenhurst-Lyrnington road. Salisbury depot's zone skirts this section from Fordingbridge to Lyndhurst and extends to Southampton, deliveries being made on both sides of Southampton Water.• The aim is for each depot to effect onward deliveries, so that the same ground is not covered twice.

Great importance is attached to the publicity value of the fleet and vehicles travelling to Swindon, Cheltenham, Weston-super-Mare; Salisbury and Wallingford carry large boards announcing "Ushers Beer for -----."

The bank staffs assemble loads, but drivers and mates are responsible for loading their vehicles. Conveyors and hand trucks are used. Vehicles covering the longest distances are loaded overnight or early in the morning and take the road at 7 a.m. A 74-ton vehicle takes about three-quarters-of-an-hour to load and a complete bottle-load of 13 tons, such as is sent to the depots, can be stacked in a fraction over an hour. Some of the a14

vehicles discharge empties in the afternoon and remainder unload early in the morning.

Unfortunately for the transport organization, days of the old large two-dozen case have pa: Wooden one-dozen cases are used and although are easier to manipulate, their handling takes far lor Small bottles and minerals are transported in WO( two-dozen cases.

More Hall-pint Bottles Like other brewers, Ushers have since the experienced a diminution in demand for draught and an increased call for bottled beer. A need for e transport capacity has thus been created. There is a keen demand for half-pint bottles of beer. In Usl country, a favourite beverage consists of a halfbottle of beer topped up with a half-pint of drat and many customers insist on having their own half bottles, instead of splitting a larger bottle.

In allocating transport and loading vehicles, re has to be paid to police restrictions on deliverie congested towns such as Bath, Bristol, Newb Swindon and Weston-super-Mare. Deliveries arranged so that goods can be dispatched on ea morning or afternoon calls, or to coincide with half-day closing, and to avoid market days.

Each day's journeys are planned so that half the I is engaged on long-distance Work to Bournemo Wallingford, Evesham, Newbury, Taunton Crewkerne, and the remainder operate within a rai closer to the brewery, The allocation of vehicle. reversed the following day.

Each customer has a set delivery day. Journeys made up .on the basis of weight, number of calls time required, rather than in accordance with a ,fi routine. At peakg, the practice in collating journey to begin with the most distant delivery point, so 1 should extra transport be required from outside sour it travels the shortest distance. The number of dr per round varies according to the area, but avert seven to eight, and the distance covered is at 60 miles.

Depot transport is operated by each branch mane to suit his own requirements.

Transport management is in the hands of Mr_ L Dodd, joint managing director, Mr. D. Pratt, transl manager, and Mr. E. Preston, M.I.R.T.E., M.I.PIant transport engineer. Mr. Pratt is in charge of dispt arrangements, the order office, the route-ing of vehi and transport staff. Mr. Preston is responsible for maintenance and efficiency of vehicles at the brem and depots. Mr. Pratt and Mr. Preston exercise pan but separate functions, although close co-operai between them is necessary in arranging for the w clrawal of vehicles for maintenance. he transport engineer is assisted by a working man, three fitters, two garage hands, two painters signwriters who are lent as required by the building trtment, a bodybuilder, and a clerk who is shared the brewery engineer's department.

formal running maintenance is carried out by age, and oil is changed every 5,000 miles. A fully ;rgent S.A.E. 30 oil is used in the compressiontion engines and a straight mineral oil of S.A.E. 30 osity for cars and petrol-engined goods vehicles. A rd in the transport engineer's office details each icle, with its fleet number and depot, and shows the age at which oil was last changed.

lreasing, minor adjustments, tyre changes and small ywork repairs are dealt with on a time basis. Every icle is brought into the workshops about once in ;e weeks, except at peak periods, when the -driver • second man are responsible for cleaning and ising and fitters are employed to do only -mechanical .k.

'op overhauls, repaints and body repairs to goods iicles are done largely during off-peak periods. Oil;Med vehicles are decarbonized about every 24 years I receive a major overhaul every five years. At the -year interval, blocks are resleeved, new pistons, --ends and main bearings are fitted, and the engine is npletely rebuilt. Petrol-engined lorries and light is are normally decarbonized every two years and are ly overhauled every four years, according to their tdition.

Reboring, sle.eving, crankshaft and surface grinding, jor repairs to electrical systems and fuel pumps are t out to specialists, but all other work is done in the Dwbridge workshops. Maintenance in progress can ascertained at a glance by reference to the board in ; transport engineer's office, which, by means of loured-headed pins, inilicates whether any particular 'lick is undergoing mechanical, bodywork, electrical other repairs.

The large vehicles have a normal life of about years and the petrol vehicles of eight to 10 years, .;ording to their make. .

At the • moment, petrol vehicles are employed at the pots, because local garages are more easily able to dertake repairs to them than to oilers, and depot hicks do not cover great a mileage as those erating from the brewery at Trowbridge. Oilers ty, however, in the future be employed also at the pots. With a limited staff, Mr. Preston has to cut paper work to a minimum, but the essential records are available for immediate inspection, and the annual analysis of transport costs is particularly thorough and Tyre performances are recorded on the Avon card system. Conditions of operation are favourable to good tyre mileages and an average of 30,000 per set is obtained. Avon tyres on an E.R.F. eight-wheeler have, however, run for as much as 65,000 miles.

Mechanical work is recorded on a card, one for each vehicle, under the headings, " Engine," "Electrical," " Chassis" and "Bodywork," with a note of the fitter's name. Materials used are listed and priced on the back of the card. Vehicle oil-change reports are also filed. Stores, which are checked-every six months, 'are recorded in ledgers. Vehicle log sheets are inspected monthly and checked against records. Each driver carries a defect report card on which, in addition to detailing the fault,' he says whether the work should be done immediately, in the near future or at the next dock.

A particularly useful little document was prepared by Mr. Preston and given to each transport employee. It consists of simple, illustrated notes showing the mate where he should stand to help a driver to reverse under various conditions and to assist him through heavy ,traffic in narroW streets. A system of stan dard signals to be used between mates and drivers is advocated. I understand that this information has been accepted by the men in the right spirit and has helped to reduce those irritating minor accidents to vehicles that spoil many a no-claim bonus.

The annual analysis of transport costs is not prepared on expensive, elaborate stationery, but is one of the most thorough that I have examined. It shows the make of each vehicle, the district in which it operates, the fleet number, payload capacity, staff salaries, depreciation, rent, insurance and licence duty, drivers' and mates' wages, total standing charges, cost of tyres, fuel, oil, workshop materials, vehicle equipment, workshop labour, miscellaneous overtime and spare men, total running cost, total cost including all charges, aggregate tonnage carried (outwards with " full " Toads and returning with empties), mileage, gallons of fuel used, gallons of oil consumed, number df days' running, number of days not running, number of days in workshop, cost per mile for the current and previous years, the mileage per gallon of fuel and the mileage per gallon of oil.

With this information in tabular form it is possible to see at a glance Which vehicle is nearing the end of its useful life and to • track down causes of waste. The vehicles are immaculately kept, but there is no extravagance. Ushers' is a practical transport system run by practical men.


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