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472,000 PARCELS PER ANNUM BY MOTOR.

5th January 1926, Page 21
5th January 1926
Page 21
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Page 21, 5th January 1926 — 472,000 PARCELS PER ANNUM BY MOTOR.
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Keywords : Transport, Delivery, Van, Business

The Activities of the Motor Vehicle Fleet of an Important Manchester Company Whose Transport System is Very Efficiently Organized.

CLOSE on half a million parcels are delivered every year by the fleet of rnotorvans and lorries in the service of Messrs. Kendal, Milne and Co. .(Harrods Ltd.), of Manchester. Their fleet, always spick and span, is worked on most efficient lines, and notwithstanding seasonal rushes of traffic, which taxe.; carrying and mileage capacities of the vehicles to their utmost, it is worked to a system which is remarkable for its elasticity. The establishment of Messrs. Kendal, Milne and Co. is one of those important provincial emporiums • the sphere of influence of which, thanks to the potentialities of the express, deslivery van, has outgrown local boundaiies and now extends to places 100 miles or more away. No matter how trifling a purchase might be the customer can depend upon it being delivered with exPerlition and safety to her or his address.

When Messrs. Kendal, Milne and Co. maintained a stable of about 60 horses, free delivery was restricted to a 10-mile radius, whereas to-day, with 14 light motors, not only have the deliveries within the areas adjacent to their headquarters been multiplied, but the mileage, mainly within an area of roughly 40 miles of Manchester, has increased proportionately.

The first motor vehicle—a 30-cwt. Albion—was acquired in 1909, and today the fleet consists of seven 30-cwt. Albious, five 20-ewt. Guys and two 30cwt. Plats, practically all the vehicles having van bodies.

Some transport authorities have, from time to time, suggested that where journeys are short and frequent stoppages have to be made, the horse makes a good claim as the most oconomtcal unit. Questioned on this point, Mr. J. Smith, transport manager of Messrs. Kendal, Milne and Co., declared very emphatically in favour of the better allround efficiency of motor deliveries.

"When you deal with an enormous number of parcels," he said, "and have horses delivering in the areas close to

• headquarters, and the motors in the distant areas, you have not that mobility of transport resources that would be possible if deliveries were performed entirely by motors. A modern delivery System must be sufficiently adaptable and elastic to meet any contingency that may arise. Whatever may be said in favour of deliveries by horse vehicles, it has to be recognized that their distance capacity is exceedingly limited. More, over, at times when big blocks of parcels have to be cleared rapidly—and that means delivered rapidly—the horse van is a hindrance, and especially at the loading depot, where congestion of traffic would be particularly wasteful. The motor takes out a full load, delivers the parcels quickly, and is back again in the middle of the day ready for another load. We look to each of our motors to cover at least 300 miles per week."'

"How do you deal with exceptionally heavy traffic, such as occurs at the Christmas season, or at sale times, etc.?" we queried. "Do you hire auxiliary • units?"

"No, that is hardly necessary," replied Mr. Smith, "despite the fact that traffic during the month of December, for example, is roughly SO per cent. more than during September. At such periods as Christmas there is a general speeding up. Long rounds are divided and subdivided. Wehicles are loaded to capacity, and in order to facilitate their quick return from a delivery journey an additional van boy is carried. Thus, in a street in which many deliveries have to be made, one lad works the right-hand side and the ether the left-hand side. Goods for despatch accumulate very quickly, and obviously a chance is provided to sort the parcels into compact loads for delivery in a conveniently sized area."

At the Christmas season the despatch department of the company keeps the various store departments closely informed as to the movements of vans intended to undertake deliveries at places situated a long way from Manchester. Thus a special vanload of goods might be sent to Leeds, or to Blackpool, or Colwyn Bay, and so on. On such occasions night work is occasionally necessary, and great as may be the pressure on the resources of the motor fleet, which, by the way, is fully employed every day, it has never yet

failed to meet any emergency call that arose.

Every department in Messrs. Kendal, Milne and Co.'s store is furnished with a plan of the arrangements to which the motor vehicles work. Assistants, therefore, can promise with certainty when deliveries will actually take place. Some districts within close proximity to the centre of Manchester are served twice daily. As a rule the motors start to load up at 8 o'clock each morning and the first delivery is timed to commence between 8.45 a.m. and 9 a.m. The day's work of despatch finishes about teatime.

The places at which the vehicles call and the days on which the journeys are made are as follow :—On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays: Alderley Edge, Alderley Park, Blackley, Bramhall, Castleton, Chadderton, Cheadle, Cheadle Heath, Cheadle Hulrae, Clayton Bridge, Davenport, Dean Row, Failsworth, Gatley, Handforth, Harpurhey, Heywood, Higher Crompton, bun. wood, Middleton, Middleton Junction, Miles Platting, Moorside (Oldham), Moston, Mottram, St. Andrews, Newton Heath, Northenden, Oldham (Central), Oldham, Oldham Road, Rhodes, Rochdale, Royton, Shaw, Styal, Sudden, Werneth, Wilmslow. On Wednesdays and Fridays : Ashley Bridge, Audenshaw, Ashley, Besses-o'-th'-Barn, Beswick, Bradford (WC.). Brightmet, Bolton, Bury, Clayton, Clifton, Deane, Denton, Dunham Massey, Droylesden, Dukinfield, Elton, Fairfield, Earnworth, Gee Cross, Gorton, Guide Bridge, Hyde, Haughton Green, Heaton (Bolton). Bentley and Warburton, High Leigh, Hooky Hill, Kearsley, Knutsford, Lyrom, Marple, Marple Bridge, Mobbarley, Moses Gate, Offerton, Openshaw, Park Bridge, Peover, Radcliffe, Reddish, Romiley, Stalybridge, Tottington, Walkden, Whitefield, Woolfold, Woodley.

On Thursdays: Bamford (Rochdale). Chelford. Deliveries are effected in Blackpool and Southport every alternate Tuesday.

During the twelve months ended July last the 14 motor vehicles belonging to Messrs. Kendal, Milne and Co. delivered 472,000 parcels, the average per van per annum being 33,728 or 108 per van per day. It is difficult to arrive at a figure giving the average number of parcels carried by each van per journey, so great is the disparity between the extremes. For instance, one van may take out a heavy piece of furniture which would make up a full load, whilst another might take out as many as 250 parcela on a single journey.

The system worked to, for the direction and delivery of goods purchased in the store, is arranged on the following lines :—The shop assistant, having effected a sale, fills up, in triplicate, a form on which is stated the essential particulars. The customer is given one copy of this document. The first carbon copy goes to the office and the second to the despatch department with the parcel. The parcels are transported from the shop to the despatch department by Means of a belt conveyor, and the packer who receives them immediately stamps on the accompanying form the time of receipt.

The goods are then packed and labelled, and having been made into a compact parcel are put into one of about 20 or 30 bins, according to the area in which delivery has to be made. The clerk makes an entry on the goods delivery sheet, which constitutes the driver's waybill. This form is made out in triplicate, one copy being for the use of the driver, whilst two are retained in the office.

There is a separate waybill, of comic, for each van, and the information this form gives is as follows :—Names of

vanman and vanboy ; time out, time in; name and address of the consignee; number of parcels; assistants' numbers; cash received; parcels returned on account of "not known," "not in," etc. " P.O..D.," "not paid for," or " not left," are marked against each entry, and any cash received is duly accounted for. The driver, on returning to the depot, immediately hands to the entry desk this completed ferm, which is checked off with the office records.

When drivers call at addresses and are unable to get a response a printed slip, stating that fact, and where the parcel has been left, is deposited in the letter box.

Special care is taken with glass ware, and over and over again the despatch and transport department has been congratulated on the efficiency of its arrangements. Breakages are of very rare occurrence. As a ;ale small packing cases are left with customers, it being considered that the expense of collecting hardly justifies making encroachments on the resources of vans already busily employed. Parcels are also sent out to customers on approval terms. Thus, if no business results, the motor conveys an outward and inward parcel at no cost whatever to the client.

Each evening the transport manager draws up a programme of delivery arrangements for the following day, and on this document is detailed the district intended to be covered by each vehicle. Other details enumerated are personnel, approximate mileages of each journey, and the time each motor starts out.

A motorvan chart in respect of each vehicle is compiled each week, and that which we reproduce is a particularly interesting example, showing, as it does, a fine performance by a Fiat van, which, in the course of an ordinary ' welling week, covered a mileage of 705. When goods have to be collected after having been sent out on approval, the particulars are entered. up on a form separate from the driver's waybill.

Of the actual deliveries from Messrs. Kendal, Milne and Co.'s store, Manchester, approximately 80 per cent. go forward by motorvan. Within a radius of 10 to 15 miles of their Deansgate address the vans make two deliveries per day—each morning and afternoon. Deliveries within a 15 to 30-mile belt are effected once daily, whilst Buxton is visited twice a week ; Southport and

Blackpool once a week, other long-distance deliveries being made as often as occasion demands.

Every van load of goods is packed with parcels carefully arranged in the order in which delivery is to be made, and, to save \i time, the earlier deliveries are made from the front of the van, so that whilst the motor is on its journey the vanboy can be locating The next parcel.

In the different mouths of the year there are great fluctuations in the number of parcels which have to be delivered. For instance, in September, 1924, 21,000 parcels were delivered by motor, whilst in December the number was

no fewer than 37,900 packages. Whilst drivers are expected to take all reasonable care with the vehicles entrusted to them and to report any suspected defects, they carry no responsibility for the cleaning of their vans. This work is done by a specially appointed staff at the garage. Every Monday morning each vehicle in the fleet is carefully examined by a member of the maintenance staff and repairs are executed by the company's own employees. Vehicles are laid up in rotation periodically for overhaul. At the present time the workshops are being equipped with an electric inflator.

Messrs. Kendal, Milne and Co. estimate that the all-in cost of delivery, including all overhead and operating expenses, is (id. to Td. per call.


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