From 15-cwt. Lorry to a Fleet of Multi-wheelers
Page 24
Page 25
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
How a Vehicle, Purchased with a Service Gratuity, Led to the Buildingup of a Business Now Operating 37
Machines
THERE are few stories concerning operators of road motor vehicles where the title " Froth Small Beginnings" would be inappropriate, and yet another splendid .example of progress and development following a most modest start is to be found in the activities of the concern of W. H. Bowker, Ltd., Stansfeld Street Garage, Blackburn. Its origin dates from just after the 1914-1918 war, when Mr. W. H. Bowker, following demobilization, invested part of his gratuity in
a used 15-cwt. lorry. • With this be commenced general haulage work and, as he says, set out to carry absolutely anything that could be transported by road. It was not until 1926 that his business began to show signs of real expansion, and it was in that year that he acquired six Leyland buses from Todinorden COrporation. These he converted and he obtained satisfattory service from them.
Quite early on Mr. Bowker became
interested in oilers, a feature which be particularly noticed in connection with their use being the great saving in running costs. This decided him to build up a modern fleet of oil-engined machines, so that . the petrol-driven vehicles were gradually replaced as new oilers were acquired.
Prior to the present war eightwheeled oilers were being purchased regularly every three months. The present fleet comprises 37 vehicles made up as follow:---.24 Leylands (Lynx, Beaver, Hippo and Octopus types); eight Atkinsons, six-wheelers and eight-wheelers; a Fodert eight-wheeler; an A.E.C. eight-wheeler; a Dodge 8-former, and two vans for service purposes, one a Morris and the other an Austin.
In 1930 it was realized that there was an urgent need for an overnight delivery service of fruit from the docks at Liverpool and Manchester to Covent Garden and Spitalfields Markets. That year, therefore, saw the start of a trunk service on these routes, in connection with which Mr. Bowker claims to be a pioneer. More than 20 vehicles were engaged regularly on this work a year before the war.
Some idea of how road, transport can shift perishable goods is shown by the figures supplied by this operator. Using six Leyland vehicles, some 3,000
cases containing 750,000 oranges were picked up at Liverpool and delivered at Covent Garden in time for the 6 a.m. market. This is thought to be a record for a single consignment to one buyer, and it is quite certain that road transport provides the only answer in such , a case_
A few weeks later an even larger consignment, comprising 9,000 cases, was transported from Canning Dock, Liverpool, but this, however, was not a single consignment.
Following requests, Mr. Bowker Atarted a London-Yorkshire trunk service for the transport of fruit, and it is now 19 years since the London and Liverpool offices were established.
During the war years the fruit .haulage business has, of course, ceased, and at the present time this operator is carrying loads of all shapes and dimensions. To show that there has been no diminution in traffic, it may be mentioned that a number of Atkinson vehicles has been added since the present war started, and these machines, we are told, are giving excellent service.
As with so many other .successful haulage businesses, first-class maintenance is attribolited as being the main
factor in the prosperity and develop!Dent of the present undertaking. A large part of the spacious garage premises is devoted to flit maintenance section, where there is a comprehensive range of spares, greasing pits, battery charging department and a special Morn set aside for the testing of fuel pumps.
Greasing is carried out at least mice a week, tyre pressures are checked each time a vehicle returns to the garage. brakes are tested at regular intervals, and the sump oil is changed every four
eeks.
Drivers who are interested in their work contribute largely to the bhilding up of a successful business, for, once on the road, they carry with them the goodwill of the concern for which they work. The many years of service to which some of the drivers of W. 1-1. llowker, Ltd„ can lay claim is testimony, in itself, to satisfaction on both sides.
The success and present highstanding of this concern have been made possible only by concentrated hard work, and this Mr. Bowker has expended in full measure. Now the organization Which he has built up is making a valuable contribution to the war effort.