Opinions from Others.
Page 19
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" Karrier " Cars in Yorkshire.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
1,284] Sir,—We notice in your issue of 22nd December, pege 325, that you give a photograph of a motor vehicle whieli belongs to us, and you describe it as " a hardworked Thornycroft van in the West Riding of Yorkshire." This is incorrect, as the vehicle was made by :tlesers. Clayton and Co., Huddersfield, Ltd., Huddersfield, and is a " Karrier " van—not a " Thornycroft." We think it only right to point this out to you, and perhaps you will be good enough in your next issue to rectify the error, as, so far, the van has given us 01.'0[1satisfaction, and we think Messrs. Clayton are entitled to the credit of it.—Yours faithfully,
Timerrroix, HANNAM AND MARSHALL, LTD. Brighouse.
We greatly regret the slip—En.]
Heavy Motorcar Axle-weights.
Tic Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,28.)1 Sir,—I have read this correspondence, appearing in the eolemns of your paper, with great interest, and T. mite with the liveliest satisfaction that the C.111.1E.A. is actually going to consider the subject of a deputation to Mr. Burns--more strength to their arm! I hope they nill find an opportunity of impressing upon the Local “overnment Board in general and Mr. Burns in par'Eh:tiler, that as a rule motor-wagon drivers are nor drawn front the wealthy classes, but are ordinary working men,
(eluting from 35s. to per week, and that to subject such men to fines of. from £10 (and costs) and upwards, for slight miscalculations on their part, either as to weight or speed, is " coming it a bit thick on his old pals." I would like to add a, word on behalf of owners ,.010 are carriers, but, as an " interested party," my word would have little weight.
" An Owner from Bolton " has indeed dune well to refer to the manner in which makers sell machines " to eerry fire tons," but which machines ere so constructed, that the user cannot safely instruct his driver to put on more than 3* tons for fear of exceeding the legal weight limit! How such machines ever pass the registration authorities, in the first instance, is a problem. Just consider %%hat it means, presuming that the useful load is carried entirely on the back axle: the distribution of weighe on the axles of the machine, when ready, is approximately two tons on the front axle, and four tens ort the rear axle, and that is on the assumption that she weight of all the water and fuel is carried on the front axle. The fact is, too much liberty has been allowed to makers, by purchasers, respecting the registration of their machines, and, in consequence, the weights of the machines, when they are delivered to the customers, do not correspond with the weights when they .napeared before the registration authorities. Users are, no doubt, to blame in the matter, for their simplemindedness in taking too much for granted.
You refer, Sir, to a covering letter by thee L.G.B. to the heal authorities. I have had the opportunity of :seeing the communication, and, as regards the definition imladen weight, it is most unsatisfactory. It, leaves the matter to the registration authorities, to decide what thee shall include or exclude as extra lexly-work, and these worthies as a rule include everything, for fear of
making a mistake and getting into trouble. As "Perspective " points out, if the unladen weight were defined as the chassis weight, there would be no further trouble. The fact of the matter is, that the gentlemen at the L.G.B. do not know, or rather did not know in 1904, much about heavy motorcars, and the conditions under which they were to perform their work; the information was not available then, as it is now, and I suggest that the L.C.B. should 'try again."—Yours faithfully,
"MOTOR-WAGON CARRIER."
I Tile L.G.B. officials were fully informed, in 1904, by owners and makers. They were also subjected to pressure by local authorities, and a vowpromiee—nnsatisfaotory in some respects—was adopted by them. —En.f The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. E1,286] Sir,—Such an important subject, as this is naturally one in which there is room for a considerable diversity of view, but it is surprising what exceedinglyvaried opinions can be entertained on such a subject. The contributor to the issue of 21st December, whose article under this heading was printed on page 301, is mostly disturbed by the aifficulty of arriving at a satise factory method of ascertaining with mathematical accuracy the proportion of the load carried by each of the two axles, and he thinks that the method of gefting each axle on to the centre of the weighbridge independently ie not good enough. Now, most practical men will agree with the writer of that article when lie states: " The Mull of these two axle-weights may approximate the total weight of the heavy motorcar." They will go further, and say that the approximation is sufficiently eiose, for all practical purposes. It certainly has been good enough to obtain convictions in some of the Lancashire boroughs.
The situation, at the present moment, is that some of the Lancashire boroughs, where mechanical transport is of enormous importance to the ratepayers, have shown an unyielding hostility to mechanical transport of all kinds. Primarily, their energies were devoted to traction engines, but, when the heavy motorcar came into use, they directed their energies to attacking these forms of transport also. Though we may think their efforts unnecessary and frequently vindictive, it must be admitted that some owners have deliberately neglected the law in their method of working. In one case, an owner was found to be carrying on a steam wagon a log of timber greatly exceeding the carrying capacity of the wagon. It is nothing to other parties, if he did materially injure his steam wagon by thus overloading it, but, as he would Probably blame the maker instead of blaming his own thoughtlessness, the trade naturally look on such actions as an injury to the industry as a whole, whilst owners who take only strictly-legal loads are prejudiced.
Recently, a firm of contractors and furniture removers had a standard petrol wagon burnt up at Handeress, and it is alleged that they had loaded a three-ton wagon with
tone of furniture, in addition to a very-heavy pantechnicon body. As a result, the brake on the front end of the gearbox fired coming down Handeross Hill, and the heat caused the petrol tank under the driver's seat to burst, with the result that both furniture and lorry were almost entirely consumed. Little sympathy can be extended to a firm who would, as is alleged to have been the case, thus deliberately overload a vehicle, and the effoets of everyone interested in the future of the industry should be directed towards the prevention of such cases of overloading.—Yours faithfully, " No Ameicurry."