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• DS up LAUNDRY DELIVERIES
ELL, Banks," said one laundry proprietor to an
other, " I shall have to see about some new vans before long. The old ones have done good service and a coat of paint wouldn't do some of them any harm, but paint will not hide the fact that they are oldfashioned and I must have something smart and up to date,"
"But," said his companion, "do you think, Jenkins, that housewives and maids worry whether the laundry is delivered by a cycle or a .flying machine?"
" Some don't," admitted Jenkins, " but you have to consider those who do. notice. Also, a new van with streamlined effect is more likely to attract fresh custom and when you have a new vehicle there is the opportunity of introducing improvements which the old one lacks."
. " What is your idea of the best
• kind of driver's door for a van which makes a large number of calls within a short radius?" inquired Banks. 'Do you think that the usual fullheight hinged door is the best? " " I could answer. that question better," said Jenkins, "If I were one of the vanmen. Occasionally we hit a lamp.post, or a tree and sometimes doors are reported for repairs
to locks and hinges. v don't see what else you can have, unless you c36
do without the near-side door, as with some newspaper vans. I have also seen parcels-delivery and bakers' vans without this door."
" That is one solution, certainly," commented the other laundryman, " but the drivers may complain of the draught in bad weather. There are three ways of closing the entrance, without having a door which hinges outwards.
Methods of Enclosing the Driver's
"I First, if the cab be narrower than the body, you may have a door to slide outside the cab and to disappear into the loading portion. With a fairly wide entrance, the cab may have a folding jack-knife door. Another contrivance consists of a collapsable gate similar to that fitted to a lift, but only waist-high."
" Would this gate run on a floor track?" asked Jenkins.
" No," replied. Banks, "but you would require a vertical pillar below the windscreen, to which the gate would be securely attached. The gate would have sufficient support from this pillar and run clear of the floor. If there be any objection to the draught through the gate, it may be covered with a piece of strong leathercloth, which folds and extends. with the Movement of the gate. about the back of the van? Do you think the usual tailboard and curtains the best proposition? "
" The tailboard is very handy," replied Banks, " when dealing with hampers, or for an extra load. Of course, many vans run about with the tailboard open to save the trouble of continually raising and lowering it. You can't very well leave a back door open."
"My objection to the tailhoard," said Jenkins, " is that even with,) a moderately low chassis, it is not easy to get into the van from the back.
Of course, you can have a step. Then there is the -weightof the tailboard to consider; it needs more effort to manipulate than one or a pair of doors, or a spring-mounted roller shutter."
." I • agree," • said his companion, "but whether you have a tailboard or not, entrance at the -back of the van is much .easier and safer if you have a well floonor step, .such-as you find in ambulances and furniture vans. A well,extending for the :full width of the body may -require some alteration to the -chassis, but an inside step below the general floor level may usually be arranged on most chassis if the tank be not in the way. In any case, I believe in having the floor as low as the -chassis will allow ; think that -a -low floor is more important
'Yes, the squaredup wheel arch enclosure has come -to stay," observed Jenkins, ".and the :wellstep you mention is 'certainI3,worth • consideration. As for the weight of the tailboard, .I .am going to have mine spring-mounted. -I =have .never seen one so fitte:d, .but if 'heavy ramps of horseboxes can be balanced, why not the lighter tailboard? "
" What about the inside of the van?" inquired Banks. "'Do you prefer the interior to be quite plain, even without any. partition behind the driver': " When a Central Gangway 'Proves an Advantage.
"Well, I'm afraid," said Jenkins, ." that there is a considezable,differ ence of opinion• on :the subject, .bilt it is evident that some -:van proprietors study interior equipment very closely, whilst others are indifferent.
If your load -consists entirely of parcels -or bags, a central ,gangway with shelves and partitions on each side seems 'to me an admirable arrangement. On the Other :hand, with a mixed -load cif bundles of various sizes and a few :hampers, t h e interior shelving must be -restricted, or easily .folded or detached. For a mixed load in a :fairly large van. I would suggest side doors or shutters -close to the front bulkhead. These shutters give access to that part of the van where the hampers = are carried, either on the floor, or on an upper_shelf.
" There is also an entrance at the back, which leads to a central -gangway with Shelves on each side. If parcels, instead of "hampers, ,be carried in front, some of :them will be accessible from this central tangWay, -because :there is no second partition.
"'Now, for a smaller van, ' pointed :oat Jenkins, " run by tone man, :I 'would -have no partition .behind the .driver's compartment, except -behind the seat and reaChing only to the -top of it. 'Behind -the seat, and approximately level with
the top of is a tray extending as far -bacV as the wheel-arch.
" This tray has side and "end -hoards to keep the _parcels in pos;tion, Whilst on 'the floor there is similar enclosure."
" Quite a :good -idea," -agreed Banks, " arid the kind of thing.thdt would suit other tradesmen beSide ourselves:"