By Appointment Job and Postmasters
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A Fine Tradition Backs the Operations of Charles Rickards, Ltd., and This Pervades Every Department of their Undertaking : Particular Stress is Laid Upon Keeping Vehicles in First-class Condition
AFTER over 100 years of service to the general public and almost 60 years as Royal Appointment Holder s, Charles Rickards, Ltd., 12 Spring Street, London, W.2, may claim as long and varied an experience of road transport as any concern of their size. Moreover, they must be one of the few companies which have been con trolled by the same family' over so long a period.
Originally founded by Charles Rickards in about 1850, the company were at first horse-cab operators, engaged chiefly on station work. Today, a fleet of 113 commercial vehicles is operated on a wide range of activities and maintains the tradition of service and efficiency which undoubtedly led to the award of the original Royal Warrant.
Through Four Reigns
In 1894. Charles Rickards was appointed posting master to Queen Victoria, an honour which has been held with modifications of title through four subsequent reigns. After the founder's death in 1895, the business was carried on by his widow assisted by her five sons. Within 10 years, the operations of the company had changed greatly, and the station cab trade had developed into station bus work, contracts for which were held with nearly all the mainline railway companies.
Shortly before Mrs. Rickards died in 1905, the business was incorporated as a private company— Charles Rickards, Ltd., Jobmasters. A printed tariff card of the day reads "Tariff of Private and Railway Omnibuses. One-horse omnibus to any railway station within three
miles-5s. Within five miles-6s." Pair-horse omnibuses were twice as much, and the card adds "Top Boots, If Desired—is. Extra. White Gloves—is." By 1910, the company could announce that petrol and elec tric motor carriages were available for hire.
For some time contracts had been held with the Great Westerh Railway and, other concerns for the haulage of bullion, which was carried in open wagons drawn by teams of post horses. This arduous work' probably influenced the decision to purchase motor lorries which were gradually added to the fleet from 1912 onwards. After the war, the old horse-brake side was brought up to date with chars-à-bancs and contract carriage work was continued with the new motor vehicles. To this day, the company specialize in this type of operation, the vehicles used ranging from seven-seat buses for station work to underfloor-engined 36seaters which are the pride of the entire organization.
Contracts with the main-line railways and the larger tourist agencies led to the development of a foreign touring department which deals with the visitors from overseas who form the major part of the coach department's traffic in the summer. This has developed in recent years into a ull travel agency, dealing with ever y touring n eed from hotel bookings to road, rail, air and sea travel reservations.
Yet a further service for the visitor to this country, and to the capital in particular, is provided in the way of sight-seeing tours in London. These are operated by a subsidiary, G.B. Motor Tours (1933), Ltd., and an associated concern, Universal Sightseeing Tou r S. Ltd., operating on e and two vehicles respectively under road service licences.
Thus today, the one-time posting masters operate goods vehicles with payloads from 5 cwt. to 5 tons, and passenger vehicles carrying from 7-36 passengers. They, are used on local-delivery work, general haulage and furniture removals, local and long-distance sight-seeing trips and extended tours throughout Britain.
By virtue of the Royal Appointment, the standard of maintenance and appearance required in the vehicles not engaged on contract work is far higher than that normally attained even with an enterprising haulier, although, of course, this tradition reveals itself in the contract vehicles as well.
Out of 97 goods vehicles in the fleet, 66 are engaged on contract work. Many contracts have been held • for extensive periods—one, 'n fact, for almost 40 years, during which time conditions of operation have changed out of all recognition.
A large number of agreements is with leading West End drapers. Stores such as these once constituted a major part of the concern's business. Since the war, however, there has been a minor revolution in public demand and whilst one of the customers in pre-war years called for a fleet of 63 vehicles, they are now using about 20, mainly 25-30-cwt. types.
This change was brought about by the war-time embargo on deliveries which made it necessary for the public to collect their own purchases, a habit to which they have become accustomed and show little sign of
relinquishing. On the other hand, there has been much expansion in the delivery services operated by other businesses. Contracts are held with many of the leading retail and wholesale chemists, and chemical manufac turers and essentialoil distillers.
In each case the contraction of retail deliveries is matched by the expansion of wholesale deliveries. One wholesale chemist, for example, operates daily delivery services to retail chemists' shops as well as express deliveries for urgently required drugs. One of the manufacturing concerns, operating vehicles of a larger type than those of the other concerns mentioned, run regular deliveries of bulk goods from the docks to factories to ensure an even flow of raw materials.
Five vehicles are maintained for bullion haulage for a number of banks. These vehicles constitute but one type of special-purpose design in a highly diversified fleet. Each bank has its own requirements in relation to the position and layout of the tellers' counters, entrances and exits, windows, heating and safety precautions. The bodywork presents certain problems to both operator and bodybuilder, but long experience has taught Charles Rickards, Ltd., ways of meeting them all.
There is, for example, the special cross-boarded floor designed to carry B17 the concentrated weight of sacks of coin. After so many years of operating vehicles on specialized work of this kind, the company can claim to know the answer to all the difficulties which it produces, even to what to do with the small bundle of old banknotes which were once—and once only—found in a bullion van after it had been garaged.
Sixteen vehicles comprise the passenger-vehicle fleet. These, too, are employed mainly on contract work, and like some of the goods vehicles are available, when required, to carry personnel for the Royal Household, a duty which is frequent.
Big Luggage Capacity Agents in provincial centres, and in the United States, Canada and Mexico, are the sources through which the passengers carried by the fleet—which ktst year totalled 90,000—are put into contact with Rickards. Road service licences are held for services between all the main hotels in London and the main rail termini. Each of the coaches is designed to carry a large amount of luggage, an essential requirement when dealing with passengers from abroad, especially those from the United States. .
• The largest vehicles in the fleet, for example, are A.E.C. Regal Mark IV coaches, with seating for only 36 passengers, instead of the 41 which might be accommodated. The extra comfort of the seats and the extra luggage space are greatly appreciated. The bodywork of these vehicles, of which there are two, was built by Trans-United Coach-Craft, Ltd., Rochdale, who combined excellent finish with good lines and sturdy craftsmanship. Three Regal Mark III 32-seaters were also built by this concern, but Plaxtons (Scarborough). Ltd., built the bodywork of most of the other coaches.
Fleet Strength At the moment, the fleet consists of an Austin 26-seater, two Commer 7-seaters and two 20-seaters, five A.E.C.s, including the 36-seaters, and six Daimlers. On the goods side, the diversity is even greater. Efforts to achieve standardization have not been assisted by the uneasy conditions of recent years, nor by the variety of demands made by customers.
Thus there are at the moment a Morris 5-cwt van, 10 MorrisCommercial J-types, 28 MorrisCommercial PV 25-cwt. vans, eight 30-cwt. and seven 2-ton vans in the
fleet. There ace 13 Austin Three18
way vans, an A40 and six Austin 2-ton vans. Eight Thames 10-cwt. and three 5,cWt. vans and one Bedford 2-tonner complete the range, apart from 11 special-purpose vehicles, such as bullion vans, of Morris-Commercial, Austin and Leyland make. Bedford and MorrisCommercial 4-5-tonners included among the II special vehicles are used for furniture removals.
When "BEN "—the Motor and Cycle Trades Benevolent Fund—
moved recently from Great Portland Street to Fitzhardinge Street, Rickards removals and storage service were the contractors.
The control and organization of so mixed a fleet presents unending prob lems, the day-to-day co-ordination for replacement of vehicles off the road for various reasons being only one. The long-term needs of the fleet for new vehicles and bodybuilding are integrated with the many other activities of the company and involve administration on a departmental basis under an executive director, the buying of new vehicles being undertaken through the sales department.
The present managing director and secretary of the company, Mr. J. W.
Rickards, has carefully defined the functions of the various departments and set each under its own executive.
For example, Mr. A. L. Rickards is responsible for the operational management of the fleet, the repair and replacement policy, and the co-ordination of both chassis and bodywork repair and refinishing.
Close Liaison
The fleet is housed and maintained at Lancaster Road and the bodyworks at Spring Street. Both departments run under separate managements, the bodyworks also undertake retail customer work, and fleet requirements are co-ordinated by close liaison at management level.
Acquisition of new vehicles is organized through the collaboration of the above-mentioned directors and the sales department under the direction of Mr. R. G. Rickards, who takes care of long-term policy.
At Lancaster Road, Mr. D. F. Batson icombines the functions of maintenance engineer and traffic manager, a convenient arrangement where demands for vehicles fluctuate greatly and reach their peak at the time when most vehicles are due for workshop attention. As engineer, Mr. Batson is able to decide in his role of traffic manager which vehicle should be made available for any particular work.
Two principles guide his deliberations. First, that individual attention must be given to the customer's requirements, and secondly that the vehicles must always be smart. A daily wash down is given to all vehicles, two power-washing machines being available. Drivers are asked to fill up a daily defect report which is attended to immediately by the shop foreman.
Maintenance Procedure
Some of the vehicles are available during the day for attention, and whenever this is required as much work is carried out at the one time as conveniently can be arranged. For example, a Morris-Commercial PV van, one of the most popular types for local delivery work, may be ' in the garage for a valve grind. While that is being done, the clutcri carbon thrust bearing will be changed, experience having shown just which items will require attention on each particular chassis after some thousands of miles of West End work.
Every three-four weeks, the localdelivery vehicles are greased, and oil is changed at 2,000-mile intervals. Engine life statistics reveal that despite arduous operating conditions, the policy of immediate attention to all defects pays handsomely. Passenger vehicles are, of course. maintained on a different basis. During the winter, they are all given a complete and extremely thorough overhaul—far more thorough than the mileage covered probably would justify. This, however, ensures that they will cover the summer season without trouble, and will always give passengers a good impression in performance and appearance.
Driver Selection On both the goods and the passenger sides, the drivers play an important part, and great care is taken in selecting the right man for the right work. This selectivity naturally requires patience, but is rewarding. At least one of the drivers has been employed for over 40 years, and the man who adapts himself to the needs of the particular trade in which his vehicle is employed is a valued servant. Constant work in the congestion of the West End, however, can be nerverack ing and may in time make a normally good driver accident-prone.
On the coaches, guides are employed, and Rickards train their own staff in a school maintained for this purpose. Occasionally, the school tr'ains a guide for another operator.