1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
Saving time where it counts
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The road freight industry will lose around five million driving hours a week when the EEC daily limits take effect in Britain in less than three years' time. Talk of doubleor trebleshifting to meet this situation is largely academic: the drivers are just not there, and in the next few years the supply of men is more likely to deteriorate than improve.
This massive loss of potential driving time is yet another powerful argument for attacking delays in turning vehicles round at depots, at factories and at retail premises. Unlike time-saving on the road, turn-round speed is often out of a driver's hands, and sometimes outside an operator's direct control too. But with increasing pressure on the industry's working hours — through shrinking shop and factory reception periods in particular — it is going to pay transport men to devote a lot more attention to the problem in the next year or two.
They will find food for thought in this issue, in which several features -have been written to highlight the subject. Most obviously, an architectural consultant puts facts and figures to the complex business of designing depots and loading areas which can eliminate, or at least reduce, wasteful manoeuvring and obstruction. But there are turn-round lessons also in the articles on body design for distribution: in the recorded views of the transport manager of Ruberoid, who finds that without a fleet of his own he can devote more time to monitoring the collection and delivery of his company's goods: in the system developed by Dunlop to provide hauliers with a ready flow of return loads: and, of course, in the use of demountable bodies.
There is no single easy answer but there are many possible approaches and all are worth examining. At this time, too, when traffic is looking for vehicles, trade and industry should be more receptive to the application of demurrage charges a very fair system which has been waiting for the right economic climate for more widespread introduction.