AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

OPERATI( WHOLESALE

2nd July 1954, Page 68
2nd July 1954
Page 68
Page 69
Page 70
Page 71
Page 68, 2nd July 1954 — OPERATI( WHOLESALE
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Vehicles of a Big Midland Agricultural Concern Cover 900,000 Miles a Year : Acreage Under Cultivation Totals 2,000 and Creates a Need for a Variety of Vehicles and Mechanical Appliances

by P. A. C. Brockington,

THERE can be few concerns with a greater variety of activities than A. J. Mackaness, Ltd., of Billing. Northampton, who operate and maintain 43 road vehicles and 10 trailer units engaged in the collection and wholesale distribution of fruit and vegetables.

Organization of vehicle maintenance and repairs is under the direction of Mr. J. H. Moiling, the transport manager. The workshop staff also maintain many other types of equipment, including 13 farm tractors and the machines used for sand and gravel work in the pits. The latter include five Ruston Bucyrus excavators, two washing, grading and crushing plants, vibratory screens, dumpers, loading shovels, oil-engined locomotives and quarry rolling stock.

The Mackaness farms, with a combined acreage of 2,000, produce diverse mechanical problems for quick solution, as well as good food for early digestion. In the bodybuilding shop, complete farm trailers are made and bodies are fabricated for all the transport fleet.

In addition to repairs and maintenance, the equipping of vehicles with the concern's Sholderhi loader attachment is performed in the workshops. The loader is fitted to the lorries in the fleet and a large number has been supplied to other operators throughout the country.

Co-ordinated Planning

Work at the produce distribution depots in Middleton Cheyney, near Banbury (seven vehicles), Elrnley Castle, near Evesham (three vehicles), and The Quay, Gloucester (three vehicles), is planned in conjunction with the fleet organization at Billing, where all major repairs are undertaken. Although most of the produce of the Mackaness farms is carried by the fleet, this does not amount to more than 5 per cent. of the total.

Last year the combined mileage of the vehicles was over 900,000, some of the heavier oil-engined outfits engaged on long-distance runs covering upwards of 60,000 miles.

A high standard of skill and road sense is required of the drivers, but of first importance is a knowledge of the produce they carry, packing methods and distribution problems. Such a combination of abilities is exceptional in a "new" driver and must be gained by experience. Whilst potatoes form the bulk of the loads, many varieties of fruit and vegetable are carried throughout the year, and careless handling is inevitably wasteful and costly.

Bananas, oranges and other imported fruits, all marketgarden produce, cereals and homegrown fruit are often additional to potatoes in a load for a long-distance vehicle. Thus a 6ton load may be made up of 4 tons of potatoes, and 11 tons of brussels sprouts, tomatoes, oranges and bananas, which present a difficult problem of loading and packing.

Part of the fleet is employed for the collection of produce from farms in the surrounding counties and from areas in the west and south, including Cornwall, and part for distribution from Billing and other depots to the East and West Midlands and some centres to the south. Traffic to Covent Garden is sometimes two-way, in that the vehicles deliver to the market and may collect back loads for redistribution.

oekr Reliability has Priority

Self-sufficiency with regard to the traffic carried and the maintenance of the fleet is the principle upon which the transport organization is based, the favourable operational factor being the comparatively small fluctuations in the tonnage carried. There is normally a short " off-season " in July, but maintenance must be based on continuity of availability throughout the year, and reliability is a high priority. A delay of a few hours may cause deterioration of the load, and being late for market also "spoils the price."

The sand and gravel from pits on the farms is excavated by five Ruston Bucyrus machines and three tippers are employed for the transport of the material, mainly on deliveries to Northampton, a distance of three miles. At one time the fleet numbered 12 vehicles, much of the traffic having been lost to vehicles operated by the builders.

With a total of 30, vehicles of Austin manufacture are in the majority, the remaining tractive units comprising nine Bedfords and four Fodens. Included in the Austin fleet are 17 long-wheelbase 5-tonners, three tractors with Carrimore semi-trailers, two shortwheelbase 5-cu.-yd. tippers, seven A40 vans and pick-ups and a 25-cwt. staff van. The only oil-engined Austin is a recently converted short-wheelbase tractor, fitted with a Meadows derated four-cylindered engine developing 73 b.h.p., the test of which was described in the February 26 issue of The Commercial Motor. This yields an average consumption rate of 15-16 m.p.g., compared with 9 m.p.g. returned by the vehicle when it was powered by a petrol engine.

Of the Bedfords, four are long-wheelbase 5-tonners and three are ex-W.D. 15-cwt. trucks. The remaining vehicles of this make are a 5-cu.-yd. tipper and a 5-ton lorry, the latter being fitted with refuelling tanks for use on the farms and equipped with the appropriate jacks and tools for visits to the scene of a breakdown when heavy lifting gear is not required. The Fodens comprise three tractors, which are used in conjunction with Carrimore semi-trailers, with capacities up to 14 tons, and a six-wheeler of 10-ton capacity. The tractors are powered by Gardner 5LW engines and provided with modified gearboxes with super-low ratios. The rigid lorry has a Gardner 6LW unit. An Austin and two Foden tractors, with four of the Carrimore semi-trailers, are stationed at Gloucester Quay and are regularly employed to maintain a shuttle service with potatoes between the Quay and Gloucester market. The Banbury fleet includes a Foden-Carrimore articulated unit and six Austin 5-tonners, produce being collected from Billing or direct from the farms for distribution to the Birmingham and Oxford areas. The three Austin 5-tonners in Evesham collect from the farms in the district and deliver as far afield as Worcester, Redditch and Birmingham. Most of the Covent Garden and southcountry traffic is handled by Billing-based vehicles, and the west is served by lorries from Gloucester.

Many of the vehicles are of recent manufacture, but mainly because of the purchase tax on new vehicles, chassis are sometimes reconditioned in preference to replacement after they have completed the normal mileage life. The Foden rigid lorry was rebuilt three years ago and a number of vehicles in the Austin and Bedford fleets has also been reconditioned. One of the Fodens has covered over 180,000 miles without a major overhaul and this good record will probably encourage a policy of increasing the number of oilengined long-distance vehicles in the fleet.

• Speed Restricted

An outstanding improvement in the useful life of all petrol engines has been achieved in the past four years by the use of Handy governors, which restrict the maximum speed of the vehicles to around the legal limit. Fuel consumption has not been reduced, possibly because the lower ratios are more frequently employed, but the overall gain in life is one of the most important factors in achieving operational economy.

Petrol-engined vehicles now cover an average of 70,000 miles before the power unit is changed, and trouble from burned-out exhaust valves has been practically eliminated. There has also been an improvement in tyre mileages and a reduction in spring breakages, and all these advantages have been obtained without increasing the running times. Although comparatively high speeds are still possible when coasting, the governors generally represent a guarantee of moderate speed.

It may also be significant that for many years none of the vehicles has been involved in an accident of such a serious nature that a crane was required for lifting or towing. In every instance it has been possible to complete the repairs necessary for self-propulsion or to tow with the light breakdown vehicle.

Including the garage foreman, five mechanics are responsible for road-vehicle servicing and maintenance, two fitters work exclusively on the farm tractors and equipment, and a pit-maintenance mechanic is responsible for all greasing and so on. Completing the total of seven garage staff is a tyre fitter who checks pressures daily, inspects the covers and performs all the .epair work. Tyre mileage varies greatly according to he driver, with an average of about 60,000. Old tyres Lre not retreaded, but are fitted to farm trailers converted o run on standard lorry sizes.

Apart from washing down the body on Sunday mornags and occasional polishing of the cabs, the drivers do ot assist in maintenance, 6ut report faults or suspected suits on the log sheet. The log is presented every Tek-end to the foreman, and the faults are rectified nmediately or during the monthly service. This zcupies a day, and comprises a thorough examination I the engine and all chassis parts, a top overhaul of the 3wer unit being included if required.

Withdrawal from service is extended for a maximum ! two days when a reconditioned engine is fitted or her major overhauls are necessary. Maintenance is .ganized on the basis that only two vehicles will be icked for repairs at a time, and that two mechanics 11 work on each vehicle.

A spare engine, gearbox and back axle, several halfafts and a number of cylinder heads are kept in stock r both the Austin and Bedford vehicles, and the two day limit for an overhaul is never exceeded. Engines are reconditioned by the makers, and are stored ready for installation complete with auxiliaries. A replacement carburetter is invariably fitted, a practice which has aided fuel economy. Tyres are changed round to promote even wear, and the brakes are refaced if required.

The necessity of an overhaul is determined by oil consumption. When consumption becomes excessive, the pistons of petrol engines are withdrawn and fitted with Wellworthy Simplex rings, and the bearing shells are renewed. This is normally performed after the vehicle has covered about 60,000 miles, and a further distance of 10.000 miles is generally completed before a replacement engine is needed. The mileage varies with the driver, the record of one driver being 120,000 miles before the engine showed serious signs of wear.

Fully Equipped Garage

Engines of the Austin and Bedford vehicles are replaced by reconditioned units, in preference to overhauling in the shop, as an economy measure rather than as a necessity. The garage is fully equipped for every type of engine overhaul, and routine work includes rebuilding the power units of Caterpillar tractors and combine harvesters of McCormick Deering and Minneapolis-Moline manufacture, as well as repairing crawler tracks and so on.

Workshop equipment includes three tiled pits, 4-ton and 1-ton gantry cranes and special stands for the engines and major components. Oxy-acetylene and electric-arc welding sets are used, and injectors are tested on a Hartridge unit.

Bodies of the transport fleet are of the drop-sided or platform type, and do not include the insulated van or container bodies required for maintaining the condition of bananas in frosty weather. The fruit is delivered by rail to Northampton, or in the supplier's insulated vans. Collections from the railhead are made by British Road Services when protection against the weather is necessary.

Narrower But Longer

The diverse facilities available for reducing transport costs are exemplified by the use made of the bodybuilding shop and of the Sholderhi tailboard loader. All the vehicle bodies are constructed in the shop, and although this does not materially reduce the overall cost of the vehicle, it enables special features to be incorporated which aid loading and save damage. The latest type of body is reduced in width to 6 ft. 9 in. and the rear is extended to give the same platform area. The produce is loaded directly on to the platform from the loading bay, so that damage to the tailboard is thereby avoided.

The Sholderhi hydraulic loader is fitted to all the vehicles collecting produce from farms. Developed "for the user by a user" to operate reliably for long periods without attention, it is also designed to reduce loading time to a minimum. For example, 12 tons of 1-cwt. potato sacks can be loaded in half an hour by three men, whereas nine men are required for manual loading in the same time. When handling 2i-cwt. sacks of wheat, the man-hour saving is even greater, particularly if a two-sack attachment is fitted and loading is performed by four men.

A full description of this loader was given in The Commercial Motor on August 22, 1952. in about four hours it can be installed on any lorry which has a means for driving the hydraulic pump.


comments powered by Disqus