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GOODS TRANSPOR STORIES IN BRIEF

LEYLANDS GIVE SAFE DELIVERY OF EXPLOSIVES.

BECAUSE the general public views most types of explosive with distrust, and is not as familiar as the manufacturer with their safety properties, the Miners' Safety Explosive Co., Ltd., of Penrhyndeudraeth. Merionethshire, delivers its products in plain vans. The company has two machines, and as both are 30 m.p.h.

Leyland Cubs—one a petrol-engined K.G. van and the other an oil-engined K.Z.1 with a container body—it is legally possible to make deliveries in North Staffordshire and return in a day.

According to a Home Office ruling, a vehicle must never carry more than 4,000 lb. net weight of explosives, so that the vans are never overloaded.

The company's products are packed in cartridges containing I oz. to 16 oz. of explosives and varying in diameter from in. to 2 ins. These are placed in 5-lb. cartons, which are finally packed in 50-lb. wooden cases. These figures refer to the net weight of explosives, exclusive of the packing; a 50-lb. box of the heaviest cartridges, sheathed in bicarbonate of soda, weighs 92 lb. The total pay-load of the machines, therefore, rarely exceeds three tons.

Mostly, deliveries are made to the magazines of the customers, who then usually employ local hauliers to deliver to the site of operations. Loading and off-loading are carried out by hand. It would, in any case, be forbidden to have unloading machinery at magazines, about which there are strict rules.

As the name of the company indi cates, it specializes in the manufacture of safety explosives, designed for use in dangerous mines. They are the "permitted explosives," which are the only ones allowed by British law to be used in gaseous or dusty coal mines and of which ammonite is one of the best examples. Some of the materials handled at Penrhyndeudraeth are not so tractable as those that go to make ammonite. Liquid nitro-glycerine and nitrogen iodide are examples.

Explosives like these, however, are the exception, and the common industrial explosives are safer to handle than many other loads carried every day by the haulage contractor. Safest of all are the high explosives, which will not explode in contact with fire, and require another intimate explosive, provided by a detonator, to set them off.

Special provision is made for the carriage of detonators, and up to 2,000 of them, packed in special cases, may be carried with other explosives, if

c44 they be placed so far as possible from them and in a position where they can be easily removed.

Duralumin was largely used in the construction of the special bodies of the Leyland Cubs. . They are completely covered with metal externally, and internally no metal surface shows, all screws being countersunk and covered. A fireproof screen separates the body from the engine and cab. Nowadays, the Home Office is recommending that oil-engined vehicles should be employed for the carriage of explosives, and the company bought its oiler for that reason.

Nowadays rail transport is employed little by the company, and then only for long journeys. Customer's storage space is limited by Government restrictions, so it is a " little and often " business, in which quick delivery is essential. In any case, explosives are almost the highest-rated commodity in the railway goods-classification tables. MIXED LOADS FOR A FLEET OF BEDFORDS..

Q ERVI CE is the watchword behind

the road-transport arrangements of Ralph Gee and Son, Ltd., which operates services from Rugeley and Stafford. The company is entrusted with the transport of a large portion of Birmingham's milk supply. The milk is collected from various neighbouring farms at 6.30 a.m. and taken to depots in the city, many thousands of gallons being dealt with every day.

The concern, however, tackles a variety of loads. Near its headquarters are the British Reinforced Concrete works, and a lot of the wire-netting used in concrete road and building construction is taken direct to the job by the company's Bedford lorries. Gravel, sand and road chippings are other quite common loads, as well as coal from the Breton Collieries. Corn, for which the company has spacious storehouses, is handled in large quantities. A man in

charge of the granaries has the sole task of looking after the corn and of seeing that it is kept in good condition until it is transported and sold.

Agricultural work also figures in the activities of the company, and two cattle trucks and two other lorries are used solely on this work. The concern air() handles large quantities of sugar beet during the rush season, carting hundreds of tons from local farms to the factory at Alscot.

Paper mills in the district also make use of the Bedfords run by the Gee concern for the transport of paper pulp into the milts and of the finished paper from them; the latter is usually taken to the docks at London or Liverpool.

Mr. J. H. Jordan, the transport manager, is kept extremely busy directing the activities of the vehicles. He has to keep every one on the move day and night, but he manages to do this and to see that each Bedford has its weekly inspection and maintenance check-up.

Mo.q of the company's transport jobs are done by contract, but it also has its own regular services running from Hull to London and Liverpool to Manchester. It has 27 Bedford vehicles, the majority being about a year old. Them are also two 1935 models, one with 7s,000 miles to its credit and the other with 100,000 miles behind it.

ALB IONS DELIVER SCOTTISH CONFECTIONERY.

TO the ancillary user, the operation of transport on an economic basis is of paramount importance, as heavy costs under this heading form an unwelcome overhead on the main business. McFarlane, Paton and Co., Ltd., of Baillieston, a big manufacturer of preset ves and confectionery, has kept this point prominently in mind in the selection of its fleet, which comprises 15 machines of capacities ranging from 30 cwt. to 5i tons. All the higher load-capacity vehicles, seven in all, are of Albion manufacture. Platform bodies, with high fixed tailboards and tarpaulin poles, are fitted throughout the fleet, and particularly striking use is made of the tailboards for display.

As practically all incoming material is delivered to the company's factory by outside contractors, the fleet is employed exclusively on delivery of the concern's products to its depots and direct to retailers. The preserves, which are, of course, contained in jars, are packed in open wood-sectioned cases holding either one or two dozen jars, the confectionery in glass bottles being similarly dealt with.

The delivery area is a wide one comprising the whole of the West of Scotland centred on Glasgow, a considerable district around Dundee, and the Scottish border area between llawick and Berwick-on-Tweed. In addition, there are frequent road deliveries to the company's depot in Newcastle, as well as to the Glasgow docks to serve the company's depot in Belfast. Deliveries in the West of Scotland, the Border district, and to the Glasgow docks are made every day, whilst vehicles proceed to the Newcastle depot three or four times per week.

With such a varied delivery schedule, individual vehicles naturally show wide differences in mileages, but a good average weekly figure for the fleet is 500-550 per vehicle. Some creditable performances have been put up by the Albion vehicles. One 41-tonner, chiefly engaged on the Newcastle run, has now done 98,000 miles, the petrol consumption throughout that period being steadily maintained at a rate equal to 141-15 m.p.g. Two Albion 3i-tonners have now been in service for five years, during which the brakes have never been refaced and have only twice been adjusted. Several machines nearing the 100,000 miles mark have a completely trouble-free record. Careful attention to tyre maintenance results in excellent mileages; for example, an India tyre, rebuilt at the factory at 40,000 miles, has now done 97,000 miles in all and is still serviceable.

Fleet maintenance is dealt with on a time basis. All normal work is carried out in the company's own garage, which is equipped with an efficient pit, a lathe, a valve-refacing machine, etc. When a vehicle is taken off the road for maintenance the driver assists the mechanic in his work.

BISCUIT.MAKER'S SUCCESS WITH A BIG FODEN OILER.

I IP to the middle of 1938, Peek Frean and Co., the well-known biscuit maker, with its principal factory in south-east London, had employed on inter-factory transport, between Read ing, London and Bedford, two 6-ton lorries fitted with an ingenious form of demountable container. This container ran on wheels along channels based on the main-frame members of the chassis, and was propelled on and off the vehicle on to wooden stands on wheels, enabling it to be pushed from point to point. By using such equipment, a quick turn around of the vehicle could be made at terminal points.

The disadvantage, however, was that the machines had to be licensed with the weight of the container included, because there was no form of body fitted permanently to the chassis, and thus a high Road Fund tax had to be met.

It was decided, in the autumn of 1938, to purchase a Foden DG5 Ti-ton chassis and fit it with a Duramin flatplatform body, incorporating runners on which the existing containers could be used. The vehicle was thus licensed in the under 4-tons unladen-weight category, and could carry, alternatively to the demountable containers, any load, such as flour, etc., suitable for a platform body.

By careful manipulation of the journey schedules, it was possible for this one vehicle to tackle the work previously performed by two lorries. On more than one occasion the vehicle has covered 220 miles in a day, in the course of which it has moved over 50 tons of goods. At busy periods, the vehicle tows a trailer, the outfit being loaded to its maximum capacity of 22 tons gross. When loads do not warrant this procedure, the lorry operates as a separate unit.

For five days of the week the vehicle is working for practically 24 hours a day, and on Saturdays the morning is devoted to maintenance work, according to a schedule evolved between Mr. H. M. Thompson, the company's technical adviser, and Fodens, Ltd.

As a sidelight on the operation of this schedule, no breakdowns in service have been experienced in the course of some 20,000 miles' running. It is likely that the vehicle will cover about 60,000 miles per year. During the heavy period, from November to January, the average m.p.g. return was 11-12: the vehicle is powered by a Gardner 5LW oil engine.

MORRIS-COMMERCIALS PLEASE QUARRY OWNER. niNNING one of the largest quarries 11/4-lin Great Britain, the Chile Hill Granite Co., Ltd., Markfield, Leicestershire, may well be termed a pioneer in the employment of mechanical road vehicles, its experience in this direction going back to the '90s.

The company's products include broken granite, tarmacadam, paving slabs, and concrete goods in general, and as these are often conveyed to the contractors' sites, the work is arduous. In the immediate post-war period, a fleet of steam wagons was operated, but this was ultimately replaced by heavy petrol lorries, and the first light lorry was added in 1927, this being a 30-cwt. Morris-Commercial, which ran for 74 years, and was largely engaged in job loads which did not warrant the . employment of one of the

It took some time for the company to place its confidence in light vehicles. The ;30-cwt. Morris-Commercial was replaced in 1934 by a used 2-tanner of the same make, the bulk of the work still being handled by larger vehicles. By 1936, the company was exploring the possibilities of lighter vehicles weighing under 24 .tons and able to carry loads of from 4 to 5 tons, and, after due consideration, it invested in a Morris-Commercial Leader 3-4-ton hydraulic tipper, which was purchased from ,H. A. Hamshaw, Ltd.

It is significant that after six months' gruelling work, the fleet was augmented, in March, 1937, to six Leader tippers and later in the year to eight machines. The total mileage covered by the company's first six Morris -Commercial Leaders exceeded 300,000 in the first 12 months, or about 1,000 miles per vehicle per week. Recently, the fleet was changed over to Morris-Commercial Equi-load 5-ton tippers, and now nine such machines and a 3-4-tonner of that make, are operated, the heavier work being undertaken by four oilers of other makes.

The Cliffe Hill Granite Co., Ltd., .admits that its experiment has been entirely successful, and the value of being able to deliver a rush order of 30 to 40 tons of material the same day, perhaps a distance of 100 or more miles, cannot be overestimated.

B .R.F . OILERS IN SCOTTISH • OPERATOR'S BIG FLEET.

IF one travels along the road between 1Edinburgh and the north of Scotland one will notice the impressive suite of offices and artistically laid out ,petrol station on the outskirts of the old town of Linlithgow. These appointments stand on a site in Falkirk road. On the north side are garages and ware houses in which an atmosphere of

activity prevails. Thirty years ago, the original premises, belonging to Mr. William Aitken, of Stockbridge, were a mere shadow of the present.buildings. He was a pioneer of big haulage in West Lothian and from a humble beginning has built up an extensive and prosperous road-transport business.

Driving force; 'diligence and. punctuality are the main reasons for Mr. Aitken's success. Forty years ago, he was selling coal from a horse-drawn lorry in the streets of Linlithgow—his native town—but, spurred on to bigger things, he gradually widened the scope of his activities: His is a romantic story of enterprise and achievement. To-day, he has under his control a fleet of 50 modern motor vehicles and the garage and storage accommodation has been -extended to meet the growing demands. In the accompanying picture, some of the firm's E.R.F. vehicles are shown hi the foreground.

The coachhuilding business long carried on by Messrs. James Porteous and Sons in St. Ninian'S Read, Linlithgow, has recently been acquired. At Stockbridge, a $0-ton weighbridge has been installed, and a petrol and repair station stocked and equipped with the everyday requirements of road users.

Assisted by his sons, Mr. William Aitken, Junr., and Mr. Tom Aitken, the founder continues to direct the firm's activities and takes a personal interest in their many ramifications. In 1931, Mr. Aitken was admitted to membership Of the Institute of the Motor Trade, and the name, Messrs. William Aitken and Sons, is now widely known in road-transport circles.

TRUNK SERVICE BY STUDSBAKER-PULLMORE OUTFITS.

THERE is a true and interesting story behind the recent delivery to Pioneer Transport, Ltd., of Bristol, of three Studebaker articulated 10-tanners fitted with the Brockhouse-Pullmore attachment, which is designed to give greater space and lower loading than is usual in a vehicle of this type.

It seems a far cry from these up-todate, efficient transport units to the horse-drawn Vehicles with which the same company commenced operations. Pioneer Transport, Ltd., is one of the oldest-established haulage cell) t rectors in the West of England. It was founded in 1880 by Mr, Charles Russett, and in those days a journey from Bristol to London meant three (lays each way. The first motor vehicle was put into operation in 1912, and in the following year a single-deck bus commenced the first independent set-

vice in Bristol—plying between Barton Hill and Old Market Street. This bus " did its bit," from the outbreak of war, in service between camps on Salisbury Plain. . Two further vehicles, purchased in 1916, were also used for the delivery of petrol between Bristol and various aerodromes.

, After the war. the passenger services were continued and enlarged and a long-distance service was inaugurated, in 1926, between Bristol and Weymouth. After further expansion the passenger services were acquired in 1928, by another concern.

In the meantime, haulage activities also expanded. In 1927, regular services were inaugurated between Bristol, Bournemouth, London, the South Coast and Birmingham. Large numbers of customers required the haulage of a great variety of sizes and weights of goods. To accommodate them a mixed fleet of vehicles was employed. Then, as now, the motto was "No job is turned down—however small." Many were the arduous tasks, in fact consignments of up to 100 tons were regularly moved without a hitch. Enterprise and efficiency are behind the continued success of this company which, early in 1938, came under the control of Bristol Industries, Ltd. This concern operates over 600 vehicles and offers facilities for transport over the whole of the West of England. The new Studebaker-Pullmore vehicles will be employed on its trunk services.

A.E.C.s ON A SPECIALIZED TANKER SERVICE.

BULK transport of liquid chemicals is a highly specialized business and is undertaken by only a few operators. Well known among them is Mr. Harold Wood, of Cleckheaton, Yorks, who entered this sphere of haulage when he began to carry benzole in 1923. His name came into prominence in January, 1938, when one of his A.E.C. tankers was used to load a sea-going vessel with 34,000 gallons of creosote, at Peterborough, and by so doing played an important role in raisirig that city to the status of a port.

This operatoracquired his first A.E.C. tanker, a Mammoth Major eight-wheeler, in 1935, and followed this, in 1937, by a Mammoth Major sixwheeler. In 1938 he purchased three more six-wheelers of the same make and, in April of this year, signed up for another eight-wheeler. With other vehicles he now has available a tanker capacity equivalent to 24,050 gallons.

To reduce the risk of fire, he employs oil engines wherever possible, and, similarly, to circumvent the corrosive tendency of steel, he specifies aluminium for his tanks whenever this can be employed.

By his specialization in one field of transport, Mr. Wood has built sip a highly successful business, particularly in the coal-tar distillation industry. Here he carries the products of manufacturing plants, mostly situated in the north, to merchants in the Midlands and the south. Among his loads are to be found xylole, toluol, meta oresol, alcohol, disinfectants, crude and semirefined spirits and tars. His drivers, who are often away from headquarters for six days at a time, are high-grade men paid on a piece rate basis which produces not infrequently wages of over £6 per week. So far as possible they are recruited from his own young employees who, after a period spent on maintenance work, are given charge of a light tanker as a preliminary to taking over one of the " heavies."

As an example of what Mr. Wood's tankers are sometimes called upon to do, it may be mentioned that two of his A.E.C. Mammoth Majors, engaged on a special contract and working continuously day and night, recently ran 2,989 miles within a period of seven days. That he obtains excellent, service from his vehicles is shown by the fact that his first Mammoth Major, purchased in 1935, had, at the beginning of thi; year, run over 120,000 miles without being brought into dock for a major overhaul.

Another Mammoth Major, purchased in 1937, has, in a period of little less than two years, run more than 97,000 miles, again without anything more than a secondary overhaul.

Between them, this operator's vehicles are now transporting chemical fluids to the measure of 10,000,000 gallons a year.

VULCAN OILERS ON SHORT. DISTANCE WORK.

"THE firm of A. Illenshall, Hope 1 Street, Present, Lancs., have been operating vehicles as haulage contractors for 25 years. Up to 1934 their vehicles were in the heavy class, comprising 7-8-ton four-wheelers and 12-ton six-wheelers. It was then decided that smaller vehicles would be more suitable for their business and bringa better return for their outlay, and they have since purchased seven Vulcan lorries, made up of four 5-tonners with Gardner 4LK oil engines, one ,3i-ton oiler and two 3i-ton petrol lorries. In addition, they operate three vehicles in the 7iton class, which are also oil-driven.

c48

Although the lorries are mainly engaged on short-journey work, usually within a radius of 25 mile S of the home base, it will be seen that Messrs. Henshall favour the oil-engined vehicle. An average of approximately 20 m.p.g. is obtained with the 4LK engines, which is very satisfactory considering that most of the loads, consisting of bricks, have to be transported over rough and unmade roads and soft ground on building sites. These exacting conditions call for reliable vehicles, and the fact that the average yearly mileage is 35,000 is proof that the firm's choice of Vulcans was not misplaced.

Messrs. Henshall have a new garage in course of construction, with covered

accommodation of 60 ft. by 100 ft.

The firm's Vulcan vehicles were purchased through the maker's distributors for the Liverpool area, Messrs. Leach and Seed, 178, Vauxhall Road, Liverpool.

GUY VEHICLES SPEED UP DYEING AND CLEANING.

COLLECTION and delivery of Sketchley dyeing and cleaning work take place at night when the Sketchley shops are closed. In this way, the time taken in the factory-is reduced to the minimum, it being possible for an order taken into a branch 100 miles away to be in process at the factory at 8 o'clock the following morning.

Messrs. Sketchley Dye Works operate a fleet of six Guy vehicles which have been acquired during the past three years. An average of 540 miles a week is put up by these vehicles, but one of them covers about 1.000 miles each week on a night run linking up the branches with the factory. The driver of this vehicle is supplied with the keys of about 50 Sketchley depots of which he works the round trip five times a week. He collects the work which has come in during the day and returns to the factory at Hinckley, so that the processing may commence as soon as the factory opens up at 7 a.m., whilst he also leaves the finished work.

The remaining vehicles are engaged on separate runs from various depots to the factory.

The Guy vehicle illustrated is the latest-type Vixen 3-4-tonner, with a body of 1,100 cubic ft. capacity, which the firm has lately acquired. This is the largest type operated by the firm, as the capacity of previous machines has been 600 cubic ft. The new vehicle replaces a Guy van which has recently been taken off the road after completing 200,000 miles. The latest vehicle, although having such a large body capacity, comes within the 50-cwt. class to operate at 30 m.p.h.; it is taxed at £30.

FORDSONS DO WELL FOR A CORN AND SEED MERCHANT.

" KTEXT to sand and ballast haulage,

1 11 delivering feeding stuffs and fertilizers to farmers is the most testing kind of transport work likely to come the way of the average commercial vehicle," says Mr. David Pratt, M.I.T.A., transport manager of James and Geo. H. Matthews, Ltd., Harold Wood, the well-known concern of EaSt Anglian corn and seed merchants. Rutted farm roads, usually negotiated with maximum loads, are well calcu lated to find the weak points of any chassis.

Variety is another characteristic of the company's transport problems. In addition to delivering tens of thousands of tons of cattle and poultry ,foods, seeds and fertilizers each year to farmers, the concern has over 7,000 smaller retail customers in towns and villages throughout Essex, and each of these is visited at least once each week by a van carrying flour, cereals, poultry and dog foods.

In addition to the provender mill, retail stores, stables and offices at Harold Wood, the company has a large modern mill and wharves at Battlesbridge, near Wickford; Wickham Flour Mills at Wickham Bishops; many other mills in various parts of Essex, including two at Colchester and one at Ongar ; and retail stores and warehouses in a large number of towns. Transport facilities have also to be provided for such complementary undertakings as a private seed-testing station and a poultry advisory department, and for coal deliveries.

Much of the transport necessary to handle this immense trade has, for many years, been provided by Fordson vans and lorries. Since the company bought its first Ford Mcidel T truck in 1019, it has never been without a Fordson vehicle, and at present its fleet includes 25, comprising five 3-tormers, 19 2-tanners, of which seven are vans, used mainly for retail deliveries, and a 5-cwt. van maintained for service work.

Lorries doing journey work are, in most cases, powered with the Ford eight-cylindered engine, whilst the fourcylindered unit of 24 h.p. is chosen for most of the vans for localized deliveries.

Mr Pratt, who has looked after the company's transport for over 15 years, standardizes the Fordson for a large part of the medium-weight work, because it has given little chassis trouble, despite the conditions, and because of the special advantages of Ford service.

The concern has well-equipped workshop.: at the Harold Wood head

quarters, where most maintenance work is carried out.

Many of the .drivers are long-service men with fine records, and the driver of the company's first mechanically propelled vehicle . (a steamer), which was put into service before the war, is

still in its employ. Several of the drivers hold National " Safety First " :ssocia lion awards in the form of gold or sil‘ er medals.

COMMER VANS ON COUNTRY LAUNDRY SERVICES. • •

ASMALL fleet of Commer laundry vans is called upon to perform a vital part in the success of the Bramley hygienic Laundry, Bramley, near Guildford, Surrey, . Established in 1024, this laundry firm collect and deliver in a 15-mile radius, bounded by Woking on the north, Hasleinere on the south, Dorking on the east, and Aldershot on the west. The routes include many formidable hills and conditions ot a trying character far vans engaged

an daily delivery work.

In addition to regular work for some 2,000 customers, the firm serve several public schools, institutions and military barracks in the area.

Their first Commer—a 15-cwt. van—

was purchased from Puttocks Garages, Ltd., Guildford, and so satisfactory was its performance that two 20-25-cwt. .vans of the same make soon followed. -These vehicles coyer an aggregate of about 1,000 miles per week, their work involving journeys over hilly routes, country lanes, and including, of course, the continual stops-and-restarts ,inseparable from house-to-house collec tion and delivery. In spite of these exacting conditions, the larger vans give a fuel return equal to 15-16 m.p.g., and the smaller a good 20 m.p.g.

• Designed specially%for laundry work, the bodies of the 25-cwt. vans are of the forward-control semi-streamlined type with two sliding doors to the driver's cabs and roller shutters at the rear, thus effecting great time-saving on the rounds.

All routes are planned for each van to carry equal loads over equal distances, and every journey is synchro nized to a definite time-table. The traffic schedule provides for the unloading of parcels at certain hours of the day, leaving ample time for sorting before the work goes into the laundry. This careful organization has a marked influence on running the vans -econmically, cutting out, waste mileage and preventing any customer being forgotten by the van drivers, each of whom is responsible for making a specified number of house-to-house calls each journey. • A point of interest is that the Bramley Hygienic Laundry have obtained extra business since the adoption of their artistic van colour scheme. Housewives are quick to notice the smart vehicles which convey an outward and visible sign of inward laundry organization.

With regard to mechanical maintenance, the vans have proved exceptionally free from trouble. The drivers are responsible for washing and keeping the vehicles up to standard appearance, apart from the normal round duties. Once a week each van is greased and inspected for possible minor adjustments. A system which promotes the utmost efficiency which in no small measure has contributed to the firm's reputation for punctual deliveries.