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TRANSPORT FOR TAR TER MANUFACTURERS.

2nd May 1922, Page 16
2nd May 1922
Page 16
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Page 16, 2nd May 1922 — TRANSPORT FOR TAR TER MANUFACTURERS.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Petrol, Steam and Electric Fleets, Systt Co., Ltd. ; Perrier, Ltd. ; Schweppes, Ltd

eriences of the Direct Supply Aerated Water and Sons, Ltd., and H. D. Rawlings, Ltd. WITH the advent of wanner weather the attention of the public will be turned to means for alleviating thirst, and if this summer proves anything like so hot as that experienced last year, vast quantities of table waters will, no doubt, be consumed.

The transport of these waters is to a great extent what might be called seasonal, and thus it demands an elastic form of delivery. Horses are still em. ployed by some mineral water manufacturers, but usually in conjunction with power-propelled vehicles, as, in classes of work where there are big fluctuations in the quantity of goods carried, the _motor vehicle proves infinitely superior. The horse has its limitations as to the distance it can travel in a day, but these limitations do not apply to the motor vehicle; it can be worked day and night if necessary. To many the employment of motor vehicles for. delivering to large numbers of customers situated so close together that the average weekly mileage often amounts to less than 50 would appear economically unsound, but the experienee of at least one manufacturer proves that this is not the case, for, in spite.of these conditions, a motor vehicle presents outstanding advantages over the horse, even if the cost of the former be slightly higher. In some cases the employment of electric vehicles would appear to offer many advantages, and this type of vehicle is used by one of the makers with whose transport system we deal.

What is probably the 'largest fleet employed for delivering table waters is that inn by the Direct Supply Aerated Water Co., Ltd., of 135, Fulham Palace Road, London, W.f3. This company have 34 Republic 2-ton trucks 7 Wallace trucks' 6 211-3-ton Leylands, 3 212-3-ton trucks, Cars, 10 Ford ton trucks, and 4 Crossleys similar to the R.A.F. tender: This fleet of 64 vehicles is distributed amongst the six factories owned by the company, situated at Fulham Palace Road and Finehley in London, and Kingston, Beckenham, Brighton and Bournemouth.

A most interesting fact about this fleet is that it has comparatively recently replaced the 200 horses which were previously employed: In this connection We cannot do better than quote from a speech made_ last year by Mr. Egbert Goddard, the managing director of the company, who said . "This year we have made a great and startling alteration in our system of deliyery-.by the total elimination of horse-drawn vehicles and the substitution of motorvans. This has all been done by training our own van salesmen who were our horse drivers. Every branch is now uniform in this respect, all running a similar type of motor, which is interchangeable if necessary. We have a larger type of motor for long-distance journeys. " In reply to the argument that motors are more expensive than horses, we at once admit that this is so, but in our business, with the use of motorvans, we were actually able to cut out at our Fulham branch alone five distinct, rounds, which means a saving of 15 horses and five drivers and other incidental expenses; but the great point about motors is their delivery elasticity, especially during the times when we are so busy that we can hardly get our table waters out quickly enough. A motor always has a reserve, which the horse-drawn vehicle has not. The managing director is able to put two men on a van when necessary, so that the delivery may be got through much quicker, allowing the van time to return to the branch to obtain a reload or to be fed by another fleet of motors, a large number of. horse rounds have been entirely eliminated by the process of consolidation at every branch, and we are still in a. position to do far more delivery than formerly with horses, which, in the height of the season, means that we are able to effect more. sales than we could ever have managed with horses." Long-distance work, such as that from Brighton to Eastbotirne, is done by the Leyland and Commer Car vehicles, whilst the smaller types are used for local deliveries to customers.

Mr. Goddard asked us to mention particularly how pleased he is with the behaviour of the Republic lorries on this latter work they meet all requirements, and, being standardized, no trouble is experienced in obtaining spare parts, whilst a spare engine is kept at the Kingston depot (where there is a repair works) for emergency use.

Each branch is self-contained, having its own factory, garage, and mechanics, the manager being held responsible for the proper running order of the vehicles under him. Running repairs are done at the depots, and in the unlikely event of a real breakdown or when an overhaul becomes necessary, the vans will be-sent to the Kingston works.

Mr. Goddard said that the great secret of successfully running a fleet of motors is to have one really expert engineer in charge. In their case, this engineer visits the various branches, and reports on the condition of the vehicles, and any useful points which are noted at one branch are disseminated from thehead office for the benefit of the others. Meetings cif the branch managers are also held periodically at the headquarters, and matters relating to the economical running of the vehicles are discussed. .The company consider the vans the best advertisement they have. They do all their own painting and signwriting, and build the bodies in their own shops; they also train the men to pay the greatest attention to lubrication, cleanliness, etc., any man who neglects his. vehicle being dismissed.

For inspection work each depot is provided with a small trolley with a headrest. The men prefer these to ordinary pits.

Records are kept on .separate cards of every van. Each line on the card represents one week's running, and the particulars noted include the mileage, petrol, oil, and grease consumed, and the, value of stock sold. At the end of every six months the columns are totalled up and summarized on another card, so that the costs and earnings for each vehicle or for the entire fleet can be ascertained at once. To enable this work to be done, each branch sends in a special weekly report.

Each vehicle is the equivalent of a travelling shop with its driver as the sales manager. The stops for deliveries are so numerous—they average about 200 per day per vehicle—that the mileage for each is rarely more than 50 per week, which gives an average of something like 25 stops per mile. Most of the long-distance work is done from King

ston, from which the vehicles run out to Woking, Gerrard's Cross, Camberley, Beaconsfield, Cuckham, and Bray. The radius of operation varies with the branch. From Kingston it is as far as 50 miles in one direction, whilst it is only four in others. From Fulham deliveries are made to Hampstead, Kennington, Clapham, Brixton, etc., and Streatham is attended to by the Beckenham branch.

The whole of the trade consists of supplying private consumers, and the delivery of two tons of table waters usually means a full day's work. At one time the company ran goods by rail from Brighton to Eastbourne, keeping a van at. the latter place, but they cut this out owing to the appalling cost of sending mineral waters in this manner, and they now use motors throughout.

For some time they experimented with pneumatic tyres on one of the vehicles, the cost of a set at the time being, approximately, £150. These proved satisfactory up to 7,000 miles' running, then began to give trouble, so they were dispensed with and solid tyres fitted at a cost of 125 the set.

n18 The garages are kept scrupulously clean and at .Fulharn, a 1,000-gallon Bowser underground petrel tank is being installed. Three Bowser 100-gallon oil tanks, one fitted for the handling of specially heavy oil, are already in use.

R. White and Sons, Ltd., Neate Street, Camberwell, London, SE., do an entirely different class of business, delivering only to retailers. They run 14 5-ton Fodens, which are used in conjunction with 3-ton trailers. These wagons are run between factory and depot, the factories being situated at Waltham Cross, Kingston, Barking, Croydon, Guildford, Windsor, and Gillingham. Eight of the wagons are kept at the headquarters in London, whilst the others are distributed amongst the branches, the Windsor branch delivering so far as Reading and that at Barking to Brentwood, Grays, etc. Two wagons are also kept at another factory at Birmingham. The local transport between depot and retailer is at present done by horse transport.

The entire fleet of wagons has been in use just over 12 mouths, and the wagons are kept in excellent condition, being washed out weekly and• inspected periodically. All repairs are done by the company except those to boilers. An 8-ton load is carried by each wagon and trailer. This load approximates 600 dozen half-pint bottles in cases. During the quiet months the wagons do, roughly, 150 miles . per week, but they are exceptionally busy throughout the summer. One wagon is capable of carrying about 14 tons of table water per week, and, in addition to this work, the vehicles collect corn, sugar, etc., from the docks and bottles from the railhead.

Tests have shown that with an 8-ton load on giveand-take roads the fuel consumption is 10.5 lb. per mile.

The name of Perrier is associated with one of the best-known table waters in the country. This water comes from a natural source in France, and is imported and distributed by Perrier. Ltd., 27, Bankside, London, &EA.

During a recent interview with Major S. B. Skevington, the general manager, and Mr W. S. Hopkin, the transport manager, we obtained some interesting particulars regarding their method of distribution by electric vehicles.

They employ2-ton Edison -accumulator electrics, the first of which was purchased in October, 1917. Each of these vehicles can carry 2,000-2,500 bottles of water on the outwaed journey and the same quantity of empties home. The average deliveries per car are 14 to 15 per day, with a mileage of, approximately, 20. The longest journey has been to Ascot and back, a distance of 70 miles on one charge, but the normal radius of operation is 10 miles. The majority of the deliveries are made to big hotels in the West End, and the vehicles prove ideal for work in congested thoroughfares.

The company consider the publicity value so great that they make a special allotment towards the running costs of the vehicles from the money set aside for advertising. They consider that the silence of the electric also attracts attention, and it has certain special advantages, particularly as regard's the reduction of fire risk and the consequent decrease in fire insurance premiums.

During 1921 each car made 2,975 deliveries totalling 490 tons of full bottles, arid return journeys with 206 tons of empties, the mileage being 6000. The inclusive running cost averages, approximately, 8d. per mile.

Just over a year ago we described in detail the system of road motor transportutilized by Schweppes, Ltd., for dealing with their well-known table waters. At that time the fleet consisted of eight steam wagons arid 24 petrel lorries, and these have,now been augmented by a 6-ton Sentinel, running between Bridge-of-Earn and Editaburgh,a, 5-ton. Karrier at Leeds, an X type Thornycroft, at Swansea, a 4-ton Thornycroft at the company's new depot at Southampton, and 4-ton Halleys at Bristol and Plymouth.

The fleet in Landon now consists of three 5-ton Swiss-Bernas, one 2i-ton X type Thornycroft, three 5-ton Halleys, and seven 4-ton ThornYci-ofts. AS regards the steamers, three. are 5-ton Aveling and Porters and three are 3-ton Foclens. At Liverpool the company have three 3-ton Halleys, one 5-tonner of the sanae make, and one 5-ton Foden ; at Leeds, in addition to the'Karrier already Mentioned, there are two 3-ton Halleys; at Plymouth there are a 2-ton Lacre and the aforententioned Halley ; at Bristol there is one 2k-ton Thornycroft and the new 4-ton Halley; at the Bridge-of-Earn factory there are now a 5=ton Sentinel and a 6-tonner of the same make, also a 3-ton Halley ; whilst at Cardiff is another

As an idea of the work done during one year, the vehicles in London alone ran 123,729 miles, and carried a total of 20,000 tons in and out.

• Captain J. R. Maidens, the transport manager, has organized the whole system most carefully. H. D. Rawlings, Ltd., Neate Street, Camberwell, London, SE., do most of the mineral-water trade for the grandstand at Epsom and the Oval and Essex cricket grounds. In their delivery work they utilize two A.E.C. 4-tonners and deliver by road to customers within 15 to 20 miles of London.

They consider that their motor vehicles are the best advertisement they have, as their name is brought conspicuously before the public.


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