ROAD TRANSPORT OF A CATERING BUSINESS,
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The Use to which Joseph Lyons and Co., Ltd., put their 500 Steam and Motor Vehicles in the Conduct of a Vast Business.
AS an instance of the valuable information which is conveyed to graduates and students of the Institute of Transport in the course of a Series oi monthly lectures, Mr. W. H.. Gaunt's contribution last week was full of important matter.
Mr. Gaunt is concerned with -the transport organization of Joseph Lyons and Co., Ltd. the catering • business of which is well known, although it only, constitute a portion of the ramifications of a' vast undertaking, for not only 'does it 1m11 about -200 catering and other establishments in London and
its n Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, , Nottingham, Bristol, the South Coasttowns and railway stations, and caters at exhibitions, 'private arid public functions from small to large, but it also conducts house-to-house bread and grocery delivery in London and other towns, it sells and delivers to about 170,000 grocers and dairy shops ever the United Kingdom a weekly or fortnightly order for tea, coffee, chocolate, and other grocer's‘commodifies, and it eonducts an export and import trade with India, Ceylon, the West Coast of Africa, and other trading centres. 'ar Cadby Ball, in Kensington, was the original centre of all the production and organization, but it is not connected with any railway, river, or canal service, and the factory equipment is now largely centred on Greenford, Middlesex, Cadby Hail being now almost completely occupied by the organization offices and by the headquarters for bakery, 'stores, and the food used and sold in the London establishments.
Much of the raw materials are obtained under contracts which cover delivery by the vendors, but there is a fairly large tonnage in ship and warehouse eon ' SLignmente purchased on special terms which involve direct collection, mainly by heavy motor and horse vehicle from the docks and railways and from barges brought to Hammersmith wharf.
Deliveries in Standard Containers.
The outwards traffic is easily divisible into different classes. That to the teashops and restaurants in London is of considerable volume and comprehensive in its nature. It includes bread. pastry, and cakes up to a rather high stage of delicate handling, and also includes meat—cooked and uncooked—puddings and other supplies which are the subject of definite daily, if not hourly, requisition from their establishments, and varies in proportions by reason of weather or the social habits of the consuming population.
This despatch work, practically continuous, commences very early in the -morning aecording, to requisitions received a few hours before, and recurring during the day. The goods are assembled, so ' far as possible, to occupy the standard unit, known as a service tray—a wooden tray about 50 ins. long of whole or half-size respeetively, which fits into racks in the despatch, and in the floor trolley, and in the vehicles and in the shops throughout the business.
These are loaded into horse or motor vehicles according to the radius of the journey, and on the way back empty trays and receptacles am collected, being deposited at a department for washing and cleansing. There are four deliveries daily throughout London and it suburbs, thus ensuring the offering of the goods freeh to the public, and permitting of a -volume of business impossible if one bulk daily distribution had been adhered to.
The predominant vehielee are the standard twohorse van and 20-cwt. motorvan, larger and smaller vehicles ha-ving their place. Interesting conversions of old horse-van bodies into motor bodies have already
been described in The Commercial Motor. Horse vans do about nine rounds per week, and motor vehioles.about 16, in long and short alternating days. An. astonishing fact concerns the output of the bakery at Cadby Hall. This amounts to 10,000 loaves . per hour to -be distributed by 150 house-to-house bread vans. Some portion ,can he economically distributed first hand by horse vans, but early in the morning 4-ton electric and petrol vehicles containing bread and -bakery products leave for the four main distributive centres in Greater London, from which horse vans regularly work on the surrounding districts. The-se local horseevans are driven by men who are driver-salesmen, and they account for the goods. The angle-iron frame which carries the trays in these big vans is now made so as ;to be slid in collapsable form to the side of the vehicle, thus making the vehicles suitable for carrying furniture, stores, -or other bulky artides used in the business.
i There s a very large collection and delivery from the plant repository at Pentonville. The goods are supplied en requisition, arid the range or variety is extraordinary.
The Motor Vehicle in Outdoor Catering.
The outdoor catering department has to purvey goods sometimes very far afield, and here the motor vehicle is invaluable because of its speed, whilst preparatory -to a function there is the conveyance for staff aud equipment of large quantities of furniture and plant.
The outwards ice cream and block local distribution is a growing feature, and involves the use of heavy motor vehicles with a gangway amidships.
The Greenford factory, covering. 20 acres, with railway sidings and access by water, is a hive of-production for packet tea, cocoa, coffee, confectionery, chocolate, and also for some cattle food products manufactured from the clean bones which are the byproducts at Cadby Hall It has been found that the comprehensive arrangements at .Greenford and the use of up-to-date transport facilities have justified the removal of the factory centre so far away from the docks and the London traffic termini.
Scheduled Deliveries to Shops.
The products of he factory are delivered in every town andvillage in the country (except for very remote areas) by sales delivery.vans, of which there are several hundreds, some drawn by horses and some motor-driven. The journeys are worked to a timetable, so that the shopkeeper knows exactly when to expect deliveries (and when to be at his shop and to have money ready for payment—two important factors fromthe point of view of the suppliers l). But a third of the expenditure on bulk transport goes into the coffers of rail or steamer concerns, and most of that proportion is for long-distance traffic, so that the relative proportian of the tonnage theyhandle is even less. Road distribution is employed within a radius of 50 miles. The vehicles vary from 1-ton motors to 6-ton Sentinels with trailers or Leyland 4-tonners with trailers, and they all work to a
• pre-arranged time-table over a fortnight's rotation, the factor being not so much the travelling of the vehicles, as the loading in proper sequence of the journey for unloading at several points. The important thing is early loading, so that the vehicles can get their return load and be back for unloading before the factory closes. There are 500 motor vehicles engaged in the system, in addition to 800 horses and horse vehicles and 11 barges, besides other transport dealt with through contractors.