bird's eye view by the Hawk I Irish Bill
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's just not true—the other man's grass is A always greener, nor does the sun always Line brighter on the other side, not even in ire, where this week their Transport Bill ;came an Act.
To protect the interests of State transport aployees the Irish Minister for Transport id Power is supplying the Transport and eneral Workers' Union with a list of names id addresses of all licensed hauliers. Mind at, there are only 106 who have the right operate in all 26 counties of Eire and in )position to the CIE, so it shouldn't be too fficult to spot the pirates. Other operators ust confine their activities to the county here they are based.
Whereas in Britain authorized vehicle argins are left to the discretion of the ks, as a bonus Irish operators have just all • ,en granted authority to add one vehicle those already authorized. Big deal!
I Dump tricks
a recent case heard at Salford Juvenile ourt is anything to go by, they certainly gin to take an early interest in the North learning to drive heavy vehicles. It seems at a 2-ton mechanical dumper which went it of control on a local playing field and ided up demolishing a set of goal posts, set of rugby posts and two changing huts fore being brought to a successful halt, Ld a 15-year-old boy at the wheel.
The boy and four others who were invold in the incident each admitted taking the imper without permission, but said they re trying to move it out of the way to a arby corporation compound when the mage was caused. Stipendiary magistrate r L. Walsh, who judged the case, was ry understanding: he `accepted the young iver's plea that the damage was not .entional and fined the would-be dumper erators £3 each in view of the obvious nptation to have a go on finding the hide.
I Night spots hoever, on the staff of The Guardian, Dught of getting that paper's "Miscellany" lumn to review the RHA's new Night rking Facilities booklet did a good job as did the columnist.
While serious-minded journalists elseiere were penning serious paragraphs, liscellany's" man opened up, bang on the tton, with "Egon Ronay beware", and :nt on to call the guide a "well-researched of enticing overnight stops". Among an, having done some researching of his rn, he came up with Flo's Cafe (Glassughton), the Roundabout (Stokenchurch) d the Kozi Cafe (Stafford) as enticing amples. He might have added Bridle's ife (Stratford upon Avon), the "Pig and histle" (Postcombe) and Judy's Transport (Weston super Mare).
Levity apart, the Association's highways and traffic committee has produced a most useful vade mecum to nearly 1000 sites where overnight drivers may stay and, at 5p a copy, it is obviously going to be a best seller. How future editions might be improved is discussed by "Janus" this week.
• Remote reading
Robin Knox-Johnson, round-the-world sailor, when planning his staggering feat, decided that he would need to give his mind something to concentrate on in his nonworking moments. "I had no idea how 10 months on my own would affect me mentally, so I decided to provide something that would help discipline my mind." he says in his book, A World of My Own.
And what was this masterpiece which a man could contemplate to save his sanity? None other than a correspondence course for the Institute of Transport examinations!
• Joining and splitting
My spy on the international front tells me that there have recently been talks between TDG's Transcontainer Express and NFC's Containerway and Roadferry. Despite the present political climate, one should not read too much into this—but perhaps some measure of interworking may be in mind?
I also hear that Bullens (Midlands) Ltd has left CETI—the European removals consortium; remember that striking livery on the first of its CETI vans pictured in CM? The company is also a member of Allied Van Lines (Europe) Ltd, and presumably the dual membership was not regarded with favour.
• Advanced disposal
On the beat with Beatwaste—that's the new slogan appropriate to the West Yorkshire police. The divisional accident prevention officer, PC Ted Marsden, together with Sgt Neville Newton of Barnsley division's road traffic department, are giving lectures on advanced driving techniques to employees of PD Waste Services Ltd. It's a Powell Duffryn company which operates the Beatwaste industrial disposal service, and whose Barnsley branch runs 28 vehicles in the West Riding.
As well as films, diagrams and other visual aids, the police use examples of local accident blackspots and local sections of motorway to put over the themes of the police driving manual.
Says Tony Pollard, Beatwaste area manager in the West Riding: "The response to the course has been very encouraging". For a recent evening lecture, he said, the majority of the company's drivers, mechanics and staff turned out—including some of the girls in the office who owned cars!
• Crinkles and wrinkles
Hearsay has it that the person who thought of putting crinkles in hairpins patented the idea and made a fortune.
Paul Brockington tells me that he brought up the case of the hairpins, with a misgiving that it was irrelevant, when discussing engine design with Ron Whiteside, engineering director of Rolls-Royce Oil Engine Division. And Ron agreed:—"That's it; that is the way of progress—getting the details right."
Thinking big about big things is relatively easy. To think big about little things is often far more, rewarding. And this particularly applies to a type of mechanism such as a diesel for heavy vehicles that is expected to operate for a very long time between major overhauls. A weak link can ruin a project.
The weak link could be the wrong fillet radii on a crankshaft, a timing gear that was inadequately hardened, a tappet geometry that produced too-high stresses, a piston ring pack that increased friction unnecessarily, an oil way that was too big or too small or a thousand-and-one other things. Why go on? But it's routine for the engine maker and it's a routine that has to be inspired by dediCation if the engine is to be a success.