EFFECTING ECONOMY IN MILK DELIVERY.
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How Motor Vehicles Have Assisted the Surrey Sterilised Milk Company in Their Task of Distributing Milk in Bottles.
WE WERE recently privileged to inspect the works and the delivery fleet of the Surrey Sterilized Milk Ca., and were much impressed by the enthusiasm for motor vehicles shown by Messrs. T. R, and E. Beacom, the proprietors. These gentlemen stated that the rapid success and great increase of their business during the past two years has been mainly due to the use of motor delivery vans. The vans considerably extended their delivery area, as compared with what was possible with horse, transport, and the costs of de livery have been substantially reduced.
The milk is brought to the Clapham works front country farms, and is subjected td a special "homogenizing" and heating pincers before being bottled, Patent vacuum-sealed bottles are used, and in these the milk will keep in perfect condition for so-long as six months, if necessary. Twelve onepint bottles are carried in a wooden case, and 60 such Cases go to the ton. Most of the firm's customers are supplied with one case per week, and the distribution and collecting of cases forms the chief work of the motor vehicles.
At present, the fleetconsists of four 2-ton Dearborn trucks 1-nci three 1-ton Fords. This will shortly be increased when the firm secures new and larger premises. The clean and well-kept appearance of the. vans was particularly striking, and,' as additional evidence of the care bestowed upon themby. the drivers, we were informed that the tot-al bill for repairs and replacements during the past 18 months amounted to only 15s.
The drivers are all ex-Servie.e Men with lengthy experience, and a healthy competitive spirit prevails with regard to petrol consumption figures, in conse B20
quence of which some remarkable results have been obtained. A day's round represents a distance of 20 to 30 miles, and includes over one hundred stops, so that the. consumption of 15 m.p.g.which is averaged by the Fords is a. very satisfactory figure. This is at
tained using the standard Holley darlm-, . . retter •and without resorting to "extra
air " , or. other special devices. . It has been found that the best restilts are oh'joined by fitting magneto conversion sets in place of the usual coil ignition system. Solid tyres are employed On the Dearhorn trucks, and the Fords are equipped with N.A.P: tyres at the back and Goodyear pneumatics at the front. We were shown a pair of N.A.P. tyres which had covered approximately 15,000 miles, and they looked good enough for a further 10,000.
All the vehicles are equipped with sturdy and well-designed bodies, which Mi. Beacom wishes us to state have given him very great satisfaction. These, were supplied by the Warwick Motor Body' Works, of West Croydon.