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LWAYS ON CALL
Page 88
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By P. A. C. Brockington A M I Mech E
Gloucestershire CC highways department vehicles are radio controlled and in wintry weather drivers are in constant readiness for emergency operations
66IN an emergency it is frequently difficult to stop drivers .II. working. Many drivers have been with us for a working lifetime-40 years and more is common. They come along and say what they like to me. I'm always accessible. We trust them."
These comments by Mr. E. L. Cole, chief mechanical engineer of Gloucestershire County Council central repair department, were an assurance that the day would go well when I visited his office to collect material for this article. No doubt the plea of some vehicle operators that it is impossible to get good drivers is valid, particularly in industrial areas where inflated factory wages provide an easy-money alternative, but in my experience warm praise of drivers inevitably betokens good relations all round and efficient working.
Of the 2,500 items of equipment and vehicles maintained by the department, about 500 are road vehicles ranging from 6 cwt. vans to three-way tippers of 14-ton payload capacity operated by the highways department. the remaining vehicles mainly comprising those operated by other departments such as civil defence, education and so on.
The council standardizes on Foden, Leyland and BMC tippers according to category, the heaviest vehicles in the fleet being Foden eight-wheeled, 24-ton-gross machines. There are six of these vehicles, whilst the medium-sized tippers consist of 61 Leyland Comet 14-tonor 16-ton-gross vehicles, and the largest section of the fleet numerically—that is vehicles of up to 3-ton capacity—are entirely of BMC manufacture. These comprise 21 30 cwt. vehicles and include a number of three-way tippers.
Each of the eight divisions of the county are provided with transmitters which are strategically located at Edge Hill, Alveston, Cleeve Hill, Cirencester, Old Sodbury, Wick Beacon. Dursley and Stroud. The transmitters give complete coverage of the county, sets in the central repair depot being linked to two of the systems. About 95 per cent of the county is within a 20-mile radius of the repair department, which is situated about three.miles to the south west of Gloucester in Shepherd Road, off Cole Avenue.
Evehy morning the transport requirements for the following day are obtained from each division, and starting at about 3.30 p.m. instructions are sent out by radio regarding operations for the following day. Estimated times of arrival are also relayed by radio, and overall the increase in vehicle utilization achieved is an outstanding contribution to routine profitability. Moreover, radio control is of particular value in snow-clearing and gritting in wintry weather and in reducing delay in the event of a breakdown, A large proportion of the vehicles are in the charge of drivers who are on call for emergency work such as snow clearance, and of necessity the vehicles are garaged at or near the drivers' homes.