CONFIDENTIAL tEPORT
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Independent and Expert Assessments of Drivers' Capabilities by the B.S.M. Help Transport Managers in Selecting Employees and Improving the Efficiency of their Labour Force
By a Special Correspondent
EVERY conscientious transport manager is at pains when buying new vehicles or equipment to select those which will give the most economic service. Whether the same degree of attention is always paid to the factor in road transport operation which probably has the greatest effect on costs—the driver—is open to question.
The problem of selecting good drivers can be eased by resorting to the expert services of the British School of Motoring, Ltd., an organization with over 60 branches throughout the country and a head office at 21 Harrington Road, London, S.W.3.
Broadly, these services are checktesting and training, and, under contract between a customer-operator and the school, the facilities can be arranged to suit individual needs. In fact, the school has many contracts with wellknown operators, including S.P.D., Ltd., Shell Petroleum Co., Ltd., T. Wall and Son, Ltd., C. C. Wakefield and Co., Ltd., Tyresoles, Ltd.. and the Car Collection Co., Ltd.
For Novices or Improvers Training may be from the complete novitiate stage or for graduation from one type of vehicle to another, as frol;n a light to a heavy vehicle—an aspect which is important, as there is now no heavy goods vehicle driving licence. Many companies whose field sales representatives are given vans or cars often find it necessary to teach a newly engaged man to drive. In this case, the B.S.M.'s popular nine-hour course is available. Sometimes, however, an employer may wish a man to be trained from scratch to drive a heavy goods vehicle. This can also be done by the school.
An ingenious machine built by the B.S.M. in its own workshops, to the design of the chief engineer, Mr. H. J. Griffiths, is sometimes used for the earliest part of the training. It is a static model more or less resembling a car and containing mock controls and instruments.
According to the type of vehicle o8 which the pupil will eventually drive, he is taught to use either the direct or steering-column gear lever, and a clever selection on the dash makes available an appropriate pattern of ratios, either threeor four-speed. For instance, a four-speed gearbox in which first and third ratios are engaged by pushing the lever upwards, and reverse, second and top by a downward movement or one with the opposite arrangement can be simulated.
This machine can also be used to measure a pupil's brake-reaction time, for it is early impressed on him that there is no such possibility as being able to stop " dead " in an emergency. Average reaction time is 0.7 sec.: a racing driver can record 0.3 sec. This period can be divided into the time required to apprehend the emergency and the time needed to transfer the foot from the accelerator to the brake.
My overall reaction time as tested on,, the machine was 0.5 sec., measured from the moment when a warning was given to when I applied the brake.
My mental reaction time, when my foot was resting on the brake ready for a sudden depression, was 0.3 sec. This shows that it takes longer for the brain to realize the need for an emergency stop than it does to move the foot.
The overall time of 0.5 sec. represents 22 ft. road distance at 30 mph, Actual braking distance is. of course. additional to this measureimnt.
One of the first models of this machine, known as the Prep-Driver, had three coloured lights on the dash, any one of which could be suddenly lit to indicate the need for quick depression of the brake. The latest version, however, is more ambitious, inasmuch as there is a large screen placed in front of the Prep-Driver, depicting a scene along a thoroughfare. With a little imagination, the pupil can believe himself driving along a busy street.
By the selection of an electrical relay and the depression of a push-button switch, any of seven road hazards can he suddenly illuminated on the screen. It may be a dog or a child directly in the path of the Prep-Driver, or an
oncoming car which has pulled out dangerously wide to overtake. The realism which this latest machine affords greatly helps to condition a pupil for actual road experience and impresses upon him the need for constant alertness.
All tuition vehicles of the B.S.M. have duplicated clutch arid brake pedals for the instructor and are mostly 8-12 h.p. saloons. A novice starts on such a vehicle and if he is to progress to heavier machines he will be taught double-declutching from the start, notwithstanding the provision of synchromesh on the training car. Elements of road courtesy and the provisions of the Highway Code are taught to the pupil throughout the course.
The next stage is to take the driving test. The School's record is an average of 85 per cent. first passes, which, I am told, compares with a national average of 60 per cent. The potential heavy-vehicle driver may then return to his employers to gain experience as a mate and come back after a while for a check test, or he may transfer to one of the B.S.M.'s own special heavy vehicles used for instructional purposes.
The unit based in London is a 17-year-old Bedford 3-tonner which must have had over 2,000 different persons in itA driving seat since it was first put on the road. This vehicle is ballasted and there is no direct rear vision. For this reason, emergency brake tests are never made. Side mirrors are, of course, fitted.
Some drivers are trained on their employers' vehicles, particularly if these are of a different type from the Bedford, such as a multi-wheeler. The Bedford, however, is greatly used for check tests.
These may be given to potential recruits or to existing staff when an employer requires an independent opinion of a man's capabilities. Confidential reports are made on a standard form. A clear pass enables the driver to be rated as "A "; "B" means that the driver is fairly satisfactory, but requires more experience, and "C" is a failure. Some employers would regard B" as a failure and a man would not be allowed to drive a heavy vehicle until he obtained ," A."
As an illustration of how the B.S.M. makes individual arrangements for different customers, the system devised for the Car Collection Co., Ltd., is of interest. Marks are allotted for each driving feature, as itemized on the form, total marks being 100. The highest marks stand to be gained in respect of use of gearbox, gear changing and road positioning.
The highest standard. set is that of the average marks of six of the company's best drivers. This is used as a yardstick by which to measure the competence of persons being examined.
A check test lasts about an hour and 09
can, if specified, be made on the customer's vehicle. If a driver is failed, he may be put through a refresher course' on a car to eradicate bad habits. The B.S.M.'s standard on a check test is high and may be even more stringent than that for the old heavy goods vehicle driving licence, for the examiner looks not only for care taken, but "sympathy with the vehicle." This is done because commercial operators want men who will drive in such a manner as not to cause undue mechanical wear. The check test I took on the Bedford afforded me my first opportunity of driving anything bigger than a car. This, however, was unknown to my examiner, Mr. W. G. Lythgow. After appraising the length, width and overhang of the vehicle, I entered the cab.
"Examination Nerves" Mr. Lythgow reassured me that if were suffering from "examination nerves," allowance would be made. He then asked mc what I would do if I were just taking over the vehicle, say. for a long delivery trip. I replied that I would check oil and water levels, horn, lights and windscreen wiper, and inspect the bodywork for any scratches and dents which might otherwise later be blamed on me. The spare wheel and small tools would be checked. On starting, an early application of the brakes and a fairly sharp side-to-side movement of the steering wheel would reveal any slackness. This seemed a satisfactory answer.
We started the test, which embraced various aspects of driving, as detailed
on the report. What made the test easier for me in one aspect was the good visibility from the cab, also many other drivers gave way on seeing the L-plates. At first I had some difficulty with the crash gearbox and became accustomed to it only towards the end of the test. 1 managed to start on a 1-in-6 gradient without slipping hack, but my reversing and turning in the road were badly misjudged. My worst error, however, was attempting to overtake a car driver who had courteously pulled up at the 'left in a narrow street to allow a van to come up from the other direction, there being insufficient width for two vehicles. My excuse was that I thought that the car driver was dawdling, but Mr. Lythgow said later that the fact that his engine was running and his front wheels were turned to the right should have told me that he was stopping to give way. 1 should have pulled up behind him. Other faults were my signalling and use of the mirror. On return to the B.S.M.'s Chelsea office, Mr. Lythgow asked me questions on the Highway Code. I satisfactorily answered those concerning traffic lights. but incorrectly gave the times between which the horn may not he used in a built-up area as 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. It should have been 11.30 p.m. and 7 a.m.
I omitted to mention
that one of the occasions when headlights should be dipped was when following a vehicle that one did not intend to overtake, and that the mirror should he used before opening the door to afight. Nevertheless, these are practices which I follow, possibly automatically, and I pointed this out, although a little lamely.
My overall performance in the test was, rated as "B."
Many careless or badly taught drivers of heavy vehicles, I was told, share a number of common faults. These are pulling too far over to the right when about to turn that way and cutting the corner too close; swinging out from near the kerb to the crown of the road with insufficient warning; and overrunning the kerb with the near-side rear wheels when turning to the left. Poor signalling was another prevalent fault. Errors such as these might never be detected or corrected if a transport manager took no thorough steps to check and improve the standard of driving of his staff. To do so might often entail giving up much of his time, but, in any event, testing is probably better done by specialilts. The services of the B.S.M. might well keep down the insurance premium for a fleet, for correct driving itself is the best preventive of claims.