-Road Transport Once Again Demonstrates the Value of Flexibility.
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REPORTS reach us from everywhere in the country which virtually 'gc; to show how thoroughly and completely the situation was saved during the partial railway strike by road transport. Our difficulty does not lie in finding material to prove our case ; it lies in choosing from the great mass that reaches us just sufficient, and no more, to support our contention.
There are many concerns to-day who have learned a valuable lesson in the need for preparedness for similar happenings in the future. Those who learned them from the' railway strike of 1919 have profited during the 10 days which covered the recent trouble. They had prepared emergency schemes, put them into careful shape, had pruned and perfected them, tested them in certain details, revised them as circumstances changed, and had never allowed them to get out of date during the period when no trouble threatened and whilst there seemed no immediate likelihood of the schemes being put into practice.
When the trouble arose, the schemes were ready and it was merely necessary for the heads of the concerns to press the button that sets the emergency machinery in motion. In contrast, we have come across dozens of instances, that must have been representative of thousands, where no provision had been exercised and no precautionary alternative measures had been adopted. When trouble did arise the concerns simply had to chance everything, and we believe that not a few were disillusioned concerning the ability of a Government Department to help them.
To create and to keep in an absolutely workable condition an emergency transport scheme for one business concern is a bigger job than one would imagine : how utterly impossible, theiefore, for a Government Department to be equally prepared to help all and sundry in a time of stress!
Merchants, traders and distributors would do well to overhaul their views on transport methods, to see whether road transport, which served them so well in a time of difficulty, cannot find a.bigger place in their schemes, and to consider whether the ieslependent transport unit is not a much more reliable factor than the transport system, such as the railway and tramway, which is rail bound and liable to instant Esorganization by the failure of a single component of the system.
Educating the Pubite
T. HE RAILWAY strike, now happily settled, was of short duration compared withithe prolonged dislocation of 1919, but, nevertheless, it served to impress the public in general and traders in particular with the extreme importance and utility of road transport. Unfortunately, memories are short, and in a few months the commercial vehicle may once again be "out of sight and out of mind." It seems to us that a little sustained propaganda might well be undertaken by one or more of the associations actively interested in the well-being and development of the commercial vehicle. As an instance of the success of propaganda and publicity work of this kind, we cannot do better than quote the achievements -of the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd. By means of attractive posters and leaflets, the inhabitants of London are kept continually au fait with the services rendered by the buses to the community, the size and efficiency of the whole undertaking, and the improvements effected in the design of the vehicles themselves so far as these affect the passenger. One cannot doubt that, as a result of this publicity, the number of bus users is much greater than would otherwise be the case. Surely, if a similar public interest could be aroused regarding the general services to the community rendered by road transport, the position of • the industry would be greatly strengthened and improved thereby.
Extending the Scope of the Subsidy • Scheme.
WHEN THE War Office first promulgated its regulations regarding the 30-cwt. light lorry, which had been selected as the standard vehicle for iubsidy purposes, no option was given to the makers in regard to the tyre equipment, which had to be pneumatic, large single tyres being preferred, although, it was stated, twin tyres on the rear wheels might be accepted. A very important amendment in this ruling has now been made in connection with at least one well-known make of subsidy chassis, which will be accepted as qualifying for the subsidy when equipped with solid tyres. This is a concession the importance of which should not be missed, for it widens to a very considerable extent the sphere of usefulness which can be fulfilled by the subsidy type machine, and at the same time offers a much greater inducement in the monetary sense to the potential purchaser. Many users of commercial vehicles are not yet convinced that the pneumatic tyre presents advantages over the solid sufficient tp balance the increase in running costs, and for certain classes of work, the life of the pneumatic is not all that could be desired. We have for long advocated the use of the more resilient tyre, in order to save both road and vehicle from the effect of hammer shocks, but we fully realize that there are economic limits, and that, in somecases, the goods carried cannot bear any increaae in freight charges. It is interesting to compare the benefits accruing to the purchaser of subsidy type chassis of the particular make to which we refer when the vehicles are supplied with different forms of tyre equipment and to review the relative inducements to buy such chassis rather than the standard model. In the first place the price of the standard chassis on solid tyres is 1515, whilst that of the subsidy model on giant pneumatics 36 ins. by 6 ins, front and 38 ins. by 7 ins, rear, is 2594.. The value of the subsidy being .240 for the for two years, with the possibility of 240 for the third year, on the first year the purchaser loses £35—the difference between the prices of the chassis less the first year's subsidy, on the second year he is £5 in pocket, and may increase this to £45 in all if his vehicle is in such good condition that he receives the full amount of the third payment.
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In the case of the subsidy chassis on 895 mm. by 133 mm. pneumatics, single at front and twin at rear, the cost is £575,. the loss on the first year 220, which is turned into a gain of 220 in the second year, and a possible total of £60 in the three years. Both these compare unfavourably with the gain in the case of the solid-tyred chassis, the price of which is £540, which would give a profit of 215 on the first year and totals of 25.5 and 295, according to whether the subsidy covered two or three years respectively.' It It must be understood that in these figures no account is taken of the extra cost of maintaining the pneumatic tyre equipment, the benefit to the user being actually greater by the difference between the cost of maintaining solid tyres and pneumatic tyres. It will thus be seen that the new arrangement provides a real inducement to the potential buyer to make the subsidy model his choice.
Runaways That Should Be Prevented,
0 NE READS the ever-recurring reports of heavy motor vehicles, often with trailers, getting out of hand on hills and running forwards or backwards just as happens to be the -ease, meeting with mishaps, causing trouble atid creating awful risks, and feels that, surely, it should not be possible in this ackanced period of the development of the motor vehicle for this to happen! It is all very well to blame the user and to shrug a complacent shoulder, whilst blandly saying "bad maintenance : garage neglect!" From what we have seen of the methods of the owner of the single vehicle or of the very small fleet, maintenance seems to be the very last matter to which consideration is paid. Attention to any portion of the mechanism is not given so long as the vehicle will run, brakes, for example, being utterly neglected until the moment occurs when they fail to act. We have seen it so often that we are almost tired of repeating the lesson and would, possibly, welcome rather than Movement to give the
resist a Move police power to, stop a vehicle and to impose a brake test.
Circumstances being as they are, the human facto:being -what it is, the onus, so it seems to us, rest: upon the manufacturer to make his vehicles safe, am to introduce brake systems and automatic spram which shall definitely check a runaway and Ea impervious (if this be at all possible) to wear an tear. It should not be forgotten that the quantit3 of real engineering talent in the country is limited and that road transport staffs are diluted, and will become more and more diluted, with the class of employee who is merely a steersman and who knows nothing" of mechanism and perhaps cares less.
The Sudden Development of the Light Van.
MANY PEOPLE are trying to find the reason for the sudden rush on the part of certain makers with regard to the production of light vans. Is it that the Ford is losing its popularity with the user arid that our makers consider that by producing a thoroughly reliable vehicle which will have a long life, they can meet the Ford on equal, or better, terms, in spite of the fact that their prices must necessarily be higher than those of the rival machine'? Whatever be the cause, it is curious that there were many converts to the ranks of the makers of light vans shortly before the Olympia Show, and certainly tome of them appear to have done well. , We have no doubt that a big field exists for suitable vehicles, and it remains to be seen whether those produced will meet the somewhat exacting requirements of the business user who does not always consider the question of life as compared with first cost. With the advantage of acquired experience, the user of vans learns (as is done in all other walks of life) that the best is the cheapest in the long run.