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Opinions from Others.

30th January 1913
Page 23
Page 23, 30th January 1913 — Opinions from Others.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Can a Profit Be Made ?

The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.

[1165] Sir,—I take it that you are greatly interested in the taxicab strike, and it has occurred to me that there is one aspect of this trouble which seems to have been generally overlooked by the Press. Some few weeks ago, I believe that owner-drivers, at a meeting which they held, decided that it was possible for them to pay the increased charge for petrol, and still to make a profit on the running of the cabs.

This point has not been, in my opinion, sufficiently emphasized, and I think that, if your responsible journal took it up, the public would become disgusted with the drivers, and the strike would be quickly brought to an end.—Yours faithfully,

"A TAXI SHARE-HOLDER."

[We have already devoted space to this matter on several oncasions in previous issues of Oils journal, As the men, however, cannot fail to be beaten, we think that the best method of ending the strike, and also of preventing mueh further trouble, is to watch it drag out to its inevitable eoncIusion.—En, 1 Mud-splashing and Compensation.

The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.

[1.166.1 Sir,—I noticed in a daily paper last. week that a man in Paris had sued the Paris General Omnibus Co. for damages sustained to his clothing. During the bad weather of this month, it has been necessary for me to send three suits to the cleaner's.

It is of importance that, if any particular appoint

ment is to be kept, a business man should not put in an appearance wearing a mud-stained collar, yet this has frequently to be done. I am thinking of sending the cleaner's bill for my suits to the "Claims" department of the L.G.O.C. If every other person inconvenienced in a similar manner were to do the same I am sure that the company would quickly find it worth their while to adopt some device to prevent the spurting of mud.—Yours faithfully, .-Perhaps our correspondent will favour us with particulars of the device which he is anxious the company should adopt. We presume that he lies some such annliance somewhere in the haekgroond..—En.] Is a Second. Man Necessary?

The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.

D.167] Sir,—You raised the question in your last issue a,s, to whether it is rightly considered that a second man is not necessary in regard to motorvandelivery. The point you particularly make is that the services of this additional servant are not requisite, solely on account of the mechanical means of delivery.

Not only do I agree with you that the modern high-class petrol vehicle in no way requires the attention of a second man while on the road, but I would even go further, from my own experience, and say that, in the majority of eases, a steam wagon can quite well be looked after by a single man, and that, where such cases do not exist, the design is not all it should be.

Of the thousands of miles I myself have done on steam wagons, I have frequently noticed that the services of the second titan are limited to occasional shovellings of coke or coal at regular intervals. Meanwhile, this burly assistant is comfortably seated, in all probability smoking a-nd enjoying the ride at his ease, with perhaps no more responsibility than to keep a checking eye on the water gauge. The injector, as a rule, is under the control of the drives : no good man likes to leave this to anybody else.

I think a steam wagon should be constructed in such a way that it can be controlled by one man. Successful instances of developments in this direction are the Sheppee and the Clarkson, the latter of which you instance. Many of the three-tonners go out the same way, and do so safely. With a trailer, of ceurse, there are other considerations to he

reckoned.—Yours faithfully, " USED. OF BOTH." No Hard and Fast Rule is Established

re the "One Man Lorry."

[1168] Sir,—The 'interesting discussion that is taking place in your paper under this heading is a subpsct sv.riich recalls to mind the various advertisements of machines one has seen, from time to thee, which, f.tccording to the makers, only require one man to drive them. I have in mind a specific case, where steam wagons ran for a considerable period, with only a driver, a journey into Manchester of 20 miles in and out, which demonstrated the possibility, at any rate, of dispensing with. a second man_ The same possibilities, of course, would apply to the petrol machine doing the same work, but the question of the advisability of dispensing with a second man is another matter altogether, and it depends largely .upon the nature of the work upon which the machine is engaged, and the distance it has to travel.

I do not place much importance upon your correspondent's suggestion, in your issue of 23rd January, that an assistant is required to keep the driver awake, or at any rate to act as an interrupter to his mental reflections. It is only when a driver has been grossly overworked, or when he has had too much to drink, that he gets into a state of coma, such as that suggested by your correspondent. Both these cases are becoming more and more rare, I am glad to say, and under anything like normal circumstances the driver is quite capable of handling the machine without any external assistance whatever.

The necessity for an assistant arises, rather, from contingent responsibilities which devolve upon all drivers of motor vehicles upon the road, and, in the case of vehicles engaged upon commercial work, are considerably increased over those of the pleasure car. In the first place, when driving through traffic, two pairs of eyes on the look-out are much better than one pair of eyes, to act as a safeguard against street accidents. In turning corners with big commercial vehicles, the assistant can be of use to his driver in ascertaining the nature of the traffic following behind on his side of the vehicle, and in marmerivring backwards in a confined space the assistant becomes very nearly a necessity. He can earn his wages, any and every day of the week.

In cases of road accidents, whether they arise from collision or sinkage, the assistant again can play a most-important part in assisting the driver to rescue his machine from its difficulties, and, from the owner's point of view, he almost becomes a practical legal necessity, as the driver, by law, niay not, in effect, leave his machine unattended in the road.

Respecting the question of loading and unloading, it is not fair to expect a driver who has a considerable distance to cover in a day to perform this duty unassisted at the terminals. The mental strain when driving a motor lorry is considerable, although the driver may not be conscious of the fact, and it is almost necessary for the safety of the public that there should be intervals of rest in the course of the man's work. He otherwise gets " stale."

I have seen the practice of using one man on petrol lorries attempted in several instances, but in most eases it has been dropped in favour of using two, the general feeling being that, not only is the work involved too much for one man, but that the responsibility is too great to place on one pair of shoulders without having another man to call in to his assistance in case of difficulty. At the same time, it would not be wise, in my opinion, to consider that the matter is settled for all time. Motor traffic is only in its infancy, and it is impossible to see to what lengths it !nay become organized. but, under present conditions, T must subscribe myself to this discussion as—Yours

faithfully, " A Mamas:a OF TRE OPPOSITION."

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Locations: Manchester, Paris

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