Glass Haulage For Over 25 By the Ton Years
Page 44
Page 45
Page 46
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by A Special Correspondent
THE road haulage of thousands of tons of plateand sheet-glass, extending over a period of more than 25 years, without personal injury to any member of the general public is the proud record of Pilkington Brothers, Ltd., St. Helens, Lancs.
At the present day the fleet of the company and its associates exceeds 300 lorries and 200 private cars. Of the haulage fleet more than 100 are based at St. Helens and include many specialized vehicles for the carriage of glass in its various forms.
The St. Helens fleet is made up of 35 eight-wheelers of
,., A.E.C., Atkinson and Leyland make; 10 specially • constructed low-loaders, which are mainly A.E.C., for the carriage of plate-glass up to 12 ft. high; some 502to 6-ton Morris and Guy local delivery vehicles and approximately the same number of miscellaneous vehicles, including Scammell Scarabs and tractors for works transport. Bedford tippers, Morris vans, personnel carriers, fire-engines and ambulances.
Other vehicles are based on the Group's works at Doncaster, Pontypool, and Queenborough (Kent), and at depots at Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Newcastle upon Tyne and Nottingham. Two subsidiary companies, Chance Brothers, Ltd., and Fibreglass, Ltd., have their own fleet, but overall planning for the Group is controlled from St. Helens. A weekly load of approximately 6,000 tons is handled by the St. Helens fleet, covering a distance of 45-50,000 miles, which is augmented by hired transport.
19th Century Glass
Pilkingtons have been manufacturing glass at St. Helens since the middle of the 19th century and the transport section graduated from horses to steam and petrol engines, finally turning over to diesel power units in 1945.
Until the end of the first world war, road transport was mainly local, the principal runs being to the docks at Manchester and Liverpool with export goods. At that time internal work was still carried out by horses and weekly hauls averaged about 200 tons.
The works at St. Helens produce sheet and rolled plate-glass, plateand float-glass, and television screens, each of .which requires a different type of carriage. For sheet and rolled plate, special stillages are used and the glass is loaded loose without protection other than felt pads to prevent rubbing against the stillage. A 15-16-ton eight-wheeler carries a long stillage holding 20,000 sq. ft. of sheet glass, loaded across the vehicle. When rolled plate exceeds the width of the vehicle, a different type of stillage is used and the glass is loaded longitudinally. The largest proportion of glass for the home market is loose-loaded: crating, except in special circumstances, would be an impossible task because of the quantities handled. A shortage of the right type of straw is another difficulty. All glass for export, however, has to be packed according to the specifications required by the country concerned.
Low-loaders and frame vehicles are used for plate-glass. The frames are specially built by Pilkingtons in their extensive workshops and built on to new vehicles, which have been modified for this purpose. Plate-glass for shop windows is normally delivered direct to site where glaziers await its arrival.
For the carriage of television screens, long-platform articulated outfits are used with specially designed metal pallets, loaded two-high. They are protected at the side by wooden screens and the top deck has wooden platform covers enabling the driver to have freedom of movement on top of the load for roping and sheeting and preventing friction on the top layer of screens. Eight pallets can be accommodated on each of these vehicles.
Modified Bus Chassis
Because of difficulties with the height of some of the plate-glass loads, it has been necessary to modify some of the four-wheelers to allow the platforms to be lowered. To achieve this, A.E.C. Regent bus chassis have been purchased and, after boxing the wheels, platforms built on as low as possible, enabling plate-glass up to 130 in. high and 230 in. long to be carried on a stillage which is securely bolted to the chassis. Fifteen A.EC. Regents have been modified in this way and also two Guys.
Customers generally are demanding bigger sizes of glass and this has proved particularly difficult for " frame " vehicles on direct glazing work. To
dope with this, 2-3-ton chassis are purchased and extended to take frames up to 18 ft., extending. to . 21 ft. long.' Because of maximum width difficulties, onlY one frame can be built on "a particular vehicle-and 'ballast 'i's Ified to Compensate the frame load. " . Raw. material com.ei in mainly by rail and . consists of sand, soda ash, limestone and 'dolomite. . The main customers in this country for glass are' the. building trade 'and the motorcar industry. A large proportion of the
export trade is shipped through the nearby port of Liverpool.
Approximately 40 per cent. of the total output which goes by road is sub-contracted, two of the major haulage companies doing this work being British Road Services (Liverpool District) and Sutton and Sons (St Helens), Ltd., both of whom are regarded as the equal in experience for this specialized work to the company's own transport. Most of the specially difficult loads are handled by Pilkington vehicles as they are specially fitted out to carry the tall stillages in the satisfactory rigidity which is necessary if damage is to be avoided.
Driver Training Scheme
Pilkingtons have their own training scheme for drivers, and youths are employed from the age of 15 onwards to learn the trade, becoming drivers on internal vehicles at 18 and progressing upwards to the heavies on long-distance work. Pay is on a trip-rate basis and drivers are provided with overalls, duffel coats and berets. Every now and again they are given a careful medical examination. There is also a pension scheme in operation.
The company, with the agreement of the Union, have established an incentive scheme for the tradesmen engaged on vehicle maintenance. The work study department observed the work over a lengthy period and from these observations prepared a library of time standards for basic work elements. A detailed elemental job specification is prepared the first time a job occurs and the appropriate times are applied. .
These specifications are filed separately, according to the type of vehicle, for use when the work is repeated and also as a basis for the composite data for jobs or parts of jobs, which may occur in the future. Times now exist for all the regularly occurring work and over the past five years a complete library of standards for each make of vehicle has been compiled. The scheme operates economically with advantage to the men and the company, The men earn a bonus of about 20 per cent. of base rate and the fleet now spends much less time in the Maintenance Department.
The staff consists of eight fitters, one electrician, one sheet-metal worker, five coach-builders and four painters, apprentices and chargehands. this number being found sufficient to look after the fleet.
Inspection and Dock Maintenance
The actual maintenance is on an inspection and dock basis with 5,000 miles inspection on engines, fuel and cooling systems, steering, suspension, transmission, wheels and tyres, chassis frames and electrical equipment. " A " docks take place at 50,000-mile intervals and include complete brake inspection and renewal, body and cab checks. The "B "dock at 150,000 miles entails a complete overhaul of the vehicle concerned.
An instance of the thorough way in which the system is kept up to date is the recent reorganization of the stores department, due to an excess of paper work in checking out items. It was decided to dispense with the customary stores requisition for items costing below 2s. 6d., with the result that card indexes were reduced from 1,200 to 300. Another feature is that no tyres are kept in stock, it has been found more economical to send all this work out to local tyre factors. All pump maintenance, painting, coach-building and major repairs are done in the workshops, except reconditioning of engines.
Most of the fleet return to St. Helens at week-ends and are accommodated at a new lorry park with a large opentype roofed garage, without doors or walls, for loaded vehicles, which also has washing points for empty vehicles. There is also ample open concrete parking ground for the whole fleet.
High Standard of Organization
The organization of the Group's fleet and its relations with sub-contractors are of a very high standard. Their record of carrying glass to all parts of the British Isles for many years without a serious accident, is indicative of first-class management and a proper awareness of the important part transport plays in the work of getting their products to the customer.