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Page 39
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Cutting up a chassis cab
CUTT'ING chassis has become more popular since weights went up because it offers a cheap way to get to 38-tonne operation, But what about further down the scale?
Hauliers have been known to add on an extra axle to move from 16 to 24 tonnes, but the performance is unlikely to set the world alight.
Another option could be to convert a chassis cab designed for drawbar operation. A converted Iveco 165.24, for example, would give a lightweight 24 tanner with 240hp, which would burn off most six wheelers. The cost penalty should not be much more than £1,500 against lorries starting life as 6X2s.
But would any operator want to go down this road? It is a question which, at times of more lateral thinking, has been floated at lveco. (Nothing whatever to do, of course, with the fact that it does not offer a standard 6X2 rigid in Britain.) I don't know anyone who has cut a drawbar rigid in this way but it's a nice idea!
Post offices sell bus tickets
"Off-bustickets are not, as you might suppose, a kind of ransom without which passengers are held hostage. Known as Clippercards and Saver Tickets, they were formerly issued by Greater Manchester Transport at railway and selected bus stations. They are now obtainable from 700 post offices throughout the Greater Manchester area, and their sale is being heavily promwed by television and radio commercials for nine months.
If the campaign is as successful as Greater Manchester Transport hopes, queues in post offices will stretch over the Pennines. The next logical development is the issue through post offices of saving stamps for bus tickets.
ONE OF the latest exploits by BRS Truck Rental went with a bang as well as a Wispa. More than 130 BRS vans and drivers delivered millions of the new Cadbury chocolate bar to wholesale's and retailers nationwide in a succession of regional launches.
Suppliers, I learn, were "saturated" with the stuff in five days and BRS inhaled the sweet smell of success in a sticky situation.
The way to make a Chinese cracker
I HAD been led to believe that selling to the Chinese was a protracted, delicate process in which neither party said what he or she meant and procrastination was the essence of courtesy. Now I know better, Ian Hobson, of Polar Trucks, York, met the president of the Chinese National Automotive Industry Import/Export Corporation when a trade delegation visited York, In the morning they discussed the specification of a lorry principally to haul road stone. In the afternoon Ian submitted a quotation for the supply of a Ford Cargo 10/13 truck, which was accepted, and in the evening the customer flew back to Peking. This may be the foundation of a big contract.
Ian is now being urged to try his hand at selling Polar bears to Eskimos.
Travel broadens a welder's mind
A THIRTY-one-year-old Hestair Eagle welder fitter, Mark Pearl, is no ordinary manual worker. He is the first Shop Floor Exporter of the Year and won the title, trophy, a certificate and £250 in a competition sponsored by Williams and Glyn's Bank and supported by the British Overseas Trade Board.
Awards worth up to £1,000 each enable shop-floor representatives to travel abroad to see how their companies' goods and services are used. Mark was one of the winners and his visit last year to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong resulted in immediate improvements to the design of Hestair Eagle refuse collectors and to the export depertment's organisation. A repeat order from the UAE worth almost £250,000 followed.
This performance earned Mark the additional distinction of being the shop-floor worker who derived most benefit from last year's travel abroad, BARRY Manilow is one of the performers for whom Edwin Shirley Trucking, which specailises in the transport of rock concert equipment, has undertaken tours. The new Space Cab on the company's latest DAF3300DKX tractor can accommodate his nose with the windows closed.
To Brighton by 1886 traction engine
ALTHOUGH it will be the oldest vehicle in the Wincanton Historic Commercial Vehicle run from London to Brighton on May 5, Peter Fagg's 1886 Marshall traction engine may be encouraged by the call of home Shoreham by Sea, Nevertheless, he expects the journey to take 12 hours.
A 1947 Bedford from Edinburgh that is still in daily use will also deserve a cheer as it belies its 38 years.
The Wincanton group, which celebrates its diamond jubilee this year, will again be playing host to about 100 children from the Variety Club, following a tradition of generosity by hauliers and other transport operators to children's charities.