The Maker's Part in Post-war Maintenance
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How the Small Haulier Suffers in Respect of the Availability of His Vehicles as Compared with the Big • Under taking
THE article by Mr. E. B. Howes in your issue dated November 3, entitled Poor Service and Potr Chassis," whilst containing much that is logical, is hardly fair to the manufacttfrers or to the Government in this, the sixth year of war. It would be a waste of space to recount " what might have been " in the road-haulage industry in the past five years. One is apt to forget that, in normal times, more than half the vehicles at present onthe road, and those in workshops waiting on spares, would have been discarded'. Moreover, no vehicle, to-day, other than the war-time models which form a minute proportion of the whole, is less than five years old.
Maintenance, however much of a nightmare it has been, will continue to be a problem unless new production and particularly new servicing methods be envisaged. The latter represents one of the snags in which the scales weigh heavily against the small operator. The man with a few vehicles must be content with a mechanic and a set of spanners which, no matter ..how good his work, gives a twist to the meaning of the word availability.
The large operator, on the other -hand, is in a position to lay down economically a repair organization which is often so completely equipped that it outshines that of many of the local agents and, in some cases, rivals that of the factories themselves.
Percentage Loss with Few Vehicles The operator of five vehicles with two under repair has a possible loss of 40 per cent, of his earning capacity, whilst the combine, with 500 machines and, say, 20 tinder repair, has a possible loss of 4 per cent. It is true that, in normal times, many hauliers, as well as ancillary users,. had " hunger and burst" periods when major overhauls were timed to be carried out during the quiet spells, hut the cycles were not always normal, and an unexpected " burst" often caught the small man unawares, with half his number of vehicles under repair and in the position of having to turn away work.
It was inevitable that the availability of the small man's vehicles would be much less than that of the big operator. No. matter how much the small man . neglected maintenance, thereby increasing the breakdown possibility, he must at some period of the vehicle's life, face an overhaul. Whether done by his own . mechanic with the machine work contractedout, or handed over to the manufacturer or his agent, a fort-night to three weeks was a reasonable time for the job to take.
On the other hand, the combine, by the use of replacement units held and serviced by itself, could complete the job, at the outside, in three days.
In the matter of minor faults, which may escape the inspection of even the most up-to-date maintenance staffs, the scales are still weighted against the small man. For example, a road spring may break at 6 p.m., the driver getting home with his vehicle and load. With agents closing at, say, 5.30 p.m., a car has to be sent the following Morning—eperhaps 20 miles—to obtain a replacement, with the result that the vehicle is not available for half a day, at least, and delivery of the load is held up. On the other hand, the combine, with its night shift, would have the machine ready for the following morning.
Spare-parts Problem a Difficult One So that such an incident shall not occur again, the small man buys a replacement spring only to find that the next spring to break is one on an improved heavier model, and thus a vicious circle has started. Before he realizes it he has sunk, perhaps, £100 or more in spares, and still his preventable non-availability is not wiped out. As a model becomes obsolete, and this it must do if design is to progress, these spares, which may have deteriorated by bad storage arrangements, represent a dead loss, less their scrap value—a serious matter for him. The combine, on the other hand, can plan ahead, lightening its spares stocks as models approach obsolescence and still keeping up its percentag4 of fleet availability.
That non-availability is a serious factor was recognized by the M.O.W.T. in its most recent adjustment of the rates payable to hired-vehicle operators, which class is chiefly composed of the small man. The full year's rates were made payable in 46 weeks, thus reckoning with the fact that, under preskit conditions, a maximum of six weeks in a year is not unreasonableefor a vehicle
to be off 'the road. S.T.R.' in his Tables of Operating Costs, puts it at. two weeks in normal times.
Post-war, this latter figure will have to be extended unless a great change in production and servicing methods takes place: the root of maintenance lies in the factories.
Out of the unpredictable future one thing stands out clearly, and it is that the standard of roadworthiness will have to be higher than ever before. Vehicles will have to be subjected to more frequent and more rigorous'
inspection by the maintenance staffs. and the " safety features " be replaced at much lower mileages. Thatethis will be enforced there is little doubt, and the only alternative for the small man, if he cannot live up to the standard, will be to go out of business.
It is very much in the interests of the manufacturer that the small man he kept alive. Pre-war, some 70 per cent. of A licences were owned by operators of not more than two vehicles, whilst the percentage of ancillary users of the same class must have been equally high.
As was pointed out recently in " The -Commercial Motor," we had On offer, pre-war, models ranging from S cwt. to some 15 tons Carrying capacity. This was not a case of demand creating the supply, but competitidn amongst the
manufacture s themselves. Even S.T.R. would have to split hairs to find a difference in the operating costs of, say 10-cwt. and 12-cwt. models of different makes. Where there are about a dozen models in a range, each having a different wheelbase and often being offered with other optional variations. the complete spares catalogue is colossal, and even the factory is sometimes hard put to it to keep comprehensiare stocks of spares at all strategical points where its vehicles operate.
This has been proved, under pre-war conditions, in countless cases where a local depot or main agent' had to call on the main factor); for some component which came outside the main range of " renewable " spares. This unnecessary delay, slight though it was, must have been multiplied many times in the case of overseas demands.
HoW Fewer. Models Would Assist
Cutting the number of models produced by at least half Would be no hardship to the user, no loss to the factories, and bring specialized maintenance, via the use of plentiful replacement units within the realm of practitability. Replacement, units, particularly engines, were, in pre-war days, beginning to cut down the time a vehicle was off the road, and even if some operators 'returned engines with scrap cylinder blocks, and crankshafts, the idea was only in its infancy and is capable of much greater development.
Design could be cleaned up with a view to easy detachment of not only the main units, such as the engine, gearbox, and rear axle, but of the subdivided units which call for more fre quent attention. These include the water pump, dynamo, clutch, etc. Why, for instance, provide only replacement brake shoes when the refacing of brakes falls due? Why not provide, as a complete replacenient unit, the brake shoes, brake drum, wheel cylinder, and base plate, all of which items would be at factory standard, instead of being cf low efficiency and short life, as the result of letting this or that item do another turn.
The renewal of steel axle-pins and bushes could invariably coincide with a brake-refacing period and be solved by a replacement unit, consisting of a complete front axle, thereby doing two jobs at one time. There is not a wearing part in the make-up of the commercial vehicle which could not be covered by the use of replacement units, the change-over of one or all being measured in hours, not days cr weeks.
Although this would entail a vast number of floating replacement units, all in the process of circulating back to the factory or its distributors for reconditioning, it does not follow that a much greater volume of spares would be required. All the detail items of spares would be held at the reconditioning points, and the flow from the factory would be. better regulated.
At least one of the factories had, in happier days, what was, to .1/intents
• and purposes, a flying sad—a service wagon staffed night and day by skilled engineers. Primarily intended for roadside breakdowns, it was completely equipped to tackle all repairs, and did good work in -cutting out lost time within its area. This method could be developed. As things stand at prdsent, few places are more than 50 miles from a factory distributor, who should have the facilities for a speedy change-over of units. It would be. reasonable for an operator to have a vehicle finish its day's work and for him 'to ask for a service wagon to be sent to his premises to have a specific unit replaced ._luring the night, thus preventing any loss of the vehicle's earning capacity. The foregoing would appear, on the surface, to be a costly method of maintenance, but it does not follow that that is so.' Under the replacement . scheme, component parts may be returned which have not run their useful life, but, nevertheless, are scrapped because they are outside the factory limits. However, the war has brought netv methods of reclamation, such as the building up of valves, which will come into every-day use and wipe out the necessity of wholesale discarding.. „ Certainly something along these lines will have to be attempted if the small Man is to have a. fair chance with vehicle availability, and that can dome only frorii the inanufactitrer, who, it should be remembered, has his own rules i id regulations. to overcome.
ARTHUR R. WiLsol.