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THERE is ironical humour in the announcement, A last week, that Sir Brian H. Robertson, chairman of the British Transport Commission, is to open the Commercial Motor Show on September 24. It says much for his sense of sportsmanship that he has agreed to do so, when he is in the middle of the distasteful task of selling to competitors 32,500 of his undertaking's road vehicle's.
The sight of so many fine new models, to be used in keen competition with Sir Brian's railways and his truncated road haulage system, will hardly be comforting to him. Nevertheless, it may act as a spur to State Transport, and no one will deny that the railways need a prod.
Instructive Film on Unit Loads
A FINE film entitled " Time, Space and Effort" 1—A has been produced for Unilever, Ltd., on the subject of palletization. It emphasizes the importance of the fork-lift truck and the unit-load system of handling materials, following in some detail the movement of such loads on pallets by various forms of transport from factory to warehouse. The views of various forms of pallet and their use in works, stores and vehicles are convincing evidence of the savings of time, human effort and storage space that can be achieved.
A28 Collaborating with the company were Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd., and Vauxhall Motors, Ltd. This film, which runs for 25 minutes, may be borrowed in either 35 or 16 mm. sizes (sound), from the company's Information Division, Unilever House, Landon, E.C.4.
Pleasant Surprise
TUST before he retired from the general manager./ ship of Southampton Transport Department, last week, Mr. P. J. Baker discovered with pleasure that the tyres on the undertaking's six Guy-Park Royal crush-loaders were giving better results than he thought.. Those on the rear wheels are averaging 63,603 miles and on the front, 57,705 miles—a credit to the Pirelli concern, who supply them on contract.
These figures are close to the averages recorded by the tyres on the double-deckers, which, as stated in the article on Southampton's crush-loaders, published last week, regularly return over 60,000 miles.
R.S.A. Exams to Include Reporting
DEFERENCE was made on July 16 in The "Commercial Motor to the results of the R.S.A. examinations in road transport subjects. In 1951, the Society announced that, in view of the diminishing demand, there seemed to be no purpose in continuing with Scheme A of the examinations; this would be discontinued after 1954. The long notice
being necessary to allow candidates who had begun their studies to complete their three-year course. Naturally, few entries were received for this section in its last year of existence.
The National Committee on Road Transport Education who, jointly with the Society, exercise supervision over Scheme B of the transport examinations, have agreed that in 1955 and onwards this will be renamed " R.S.A. Examinations in Road Transport Subjects." The syllabuses have been revised and the scheme will, in future, include an examination in "Communication and Report Writing.r The examiners have, for years, complained of the inability of candidates to express their knowledge on paper and it is hoped that the introduction of this new subject will help to overcome this handicap.
Crab Parking to Clear Streets
NY move that will reduce the number of cars j\ NY
parked at the road-side will be welcomed by commercial-vehicle operators, especially carriers making deliveries to shops and restaurants. The provision of more attractive parking facilities may be the answer to the problem.
To make full use of available space in busy districts, a system of mechanical parking has been designed by Cap Cat; Parking Systems, Ltd., 10 Manchester Square, London, W.I. The system, which was demonstrated last week in London, makes possible capacity increases of up to 50 per cent. Each car is driven onto a hydraulically operated platform which moves sideways into line with other parked cars.
The Cap system has a limited use in existing garages, but has great possibilities in new underground and multi-storey garages which could be designed to embrace the system.
A Loss to B.S.A.T.A.
THE sand and ballast industry has suffered a grievous loss by the death of Sir Herbert Williams, Bart., M.P. He was president of the Ballast, Sand and Allied Trades Association, to which his great knowledge and balanced judgment were invaluable. He did much to stop the former doubtful practices in the industry, and to legalize the cubic yard as a standard measure, this being . a great help to the transport side. The industry's wages agreement of 1941 was partly due to him.