Sad Signs of the Times
Page 50
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IF only to prove how closely I study "The Commercial / Motor," may I comment on some of the material appearing in your issue dated October 14?
First, there is the editorial, which speaks of change and decay. To this there can be but one reply—" How right you are ! " How many hauliers who have, lost their independence in the great call-over will be satisfied with the quid pro quo? Naturally, those who crossed the line of their own volition may think otherwise, but that is a view for their stockholders to share.
Then comes a small item of news telling us of acquired vehicles being stripped of time recorders lest they irritate the drivers. Is there in history a mention of any honest-to-goodness driver objecting to this unbiased check, or is this just one more excuse to cover the move towards reversing the order of things?
I turn to a report of what a Mr. Bond has had to say at the annual conference of the Industrial Transport Association. Mr. Bond's amazing complacency regarding the security of the C licensee prompts me to ask on which side he is batting—and why?
There is an article on the .filching (the italics are mine) of excluded traffic. The writer has said a mouthful, and to those who are disposed to ignore the danger signals all along the line, I would suggest that there is something here for them to chew.
Then there is the news that to many hauliers who have applied for original permits, the forms have been returned with yet another for supplementary information. Much of the time of the postal authorities might have been saved had these second forms been enclosed with the first or embodied in them. The unfortunate impression given by these supplementary forms is that the Road Haulage Executive and the British Railways are anxious to obtain as complete a dossier as possible of those who may continue to remain their competitors.
The question is, are all these little annoyances just a softening up preliminary to the final assault on this class of personal enterprise ?
As I have said many times before, those who seek haulage as a means for livelihood are not those who shun hard work. They are the type on whose initiative and ability we shall escape from the slough of despond. To replace them with a hide-bound organization which' has failed to recruit the cream of industry is an indulgence which this country cannot afford and which may be a direct contribution to its bankruptcy.
London, S.W11. E. H. B. PALMER.
CARELESS PARKING HINDERS BUS OPERATION
VOUR correspondent, Mr. A. H. Price, takes exception 1 to the fact that buses do not always draw in sufficiently close to the pavement, thereby reducing the effective road width.
Whilst his letter dealt mainly with conditions in London, I would say, from experience, that similar ones exist in Birmingham. The reason is the same in both cases, that is, the indiscriminate parking of vehicles at, or near to, bus stops.
In Birmingham it seems that anyone is allowed to park anywhere and at any time. In fact, the usual practice is that if a driver finds a vehicle already parked in the place that he wants and there is no room at either end, he just puts his vehicle alongside the other. Can you imagine a bus driver attempting to draw in his vehicle under such conditions? A double-decker, 26 ft. long, requires about 40 ft. clear to permit proper steering. Then, along comes a private car, the driver of which sees the inviting 40-ft. space, and parks there, ignoring the stop sign.
Furthermore, a sensible driver will not draw in closer than about 18 ins., in order to avoid the possibility of the upper-deck panels touching a lamp or overhanging sign. Otherwise this can easily happen on a road with a steep camber, and when the upper deck is fully loaded.
Referring to the original article which prompted the letter from Mr. Price, and which appeared in your issue dated September 9, the author refers several times to the high-capacity single-decker as an answer to peak hour loading problems. Little, however, was said concerning the most serious drawback to the employment of such a vehicle in dense city traffic.
There is an extremely slow rate of loading and unloading with most single-deckers, whereas in the doubledecker passengers get On and off in two streams and can move to their seats after the bus has started away. Additionally, they have only one step from the road to the platform and one to the lower saloon. Compare this with the conditions that apply to most single-deck vehicles. The floor is usually higher, with three steps.
Some people might ask why there should not be a separate entrance and exit, but there are many complications to this arrangement. I noticed that Newcastle, for example, used this system before the war on its trolleybuses, but it has now reverted to the conventional rear entrance in connection with new stock.
Wednesbury. R. A. MILLS.
TWO-SPEED AXLES ON OUR LEADING VEHICLES
WE read with astonishment a statement made by " Mr. A. J. 011iver, who is the Rootes Group Benelux
representative, and reported in your issue dated October 14, to the effect that orders were being lost by British manufacturers because their chassis are not fitted with two-speed axles or auxiliary gearboxes. Can it be that Mr. 011iver has not been informed that vehicles manufactured by Commer Cars, Ltd., Luton, a member of the Rootes Group, are already being fitted with the Eaton two-speed axle, which is now being manufactured 100 per cent. in Britain, also that the same two-speed axle is being offered as alternative equipment by every leading vehicle maker in this country?
The fact that British manufacturers have been steadily losing ground in the export market is well known, and we can now state with confidence that this handicap will be rapidly overtaken with our increased production.
We contend .that British vehicles are the best in the world and, with a two-speed axle, need not fear competition from any quarter.
We are sure Mr. 011iver will derive considerable comfort from a visit to the forthcoming Brussels Show, where anumber of Our leading manufacturers will show products fitted with two-speed axles.
London, S.W.1. G. P. SPROULE, Sales Manager.
(For Eaton Axles, Ltd.)