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TRANSPORT PROBLEMS OF A GAS BOARD
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Page 49
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Maintenance: Petrol or Diesel: Changing Load Patterns: Vehicle Design
AFORECAST of future trends in the transport service provided in the gas industry was made by Mr. C, E. G. Newby, transport officer, Mersey Group, North Western Gas Board, in a paper presented to the Institution of Gas Engineers, Manchester and District Section last week, Although the industry was now in a sellers' market and and sales had begun to grow quickly, he said, transport had to gear itself to meet the challenge. He visualized the complete coverage of his area with fitters and other installation personnel all completely mobile, under radio control where necessary, with stocks of equipment readily at hand. Regarding smokeless solid fuel delivery, Mr. Newby considered that domestic calls of less than 11 cwt. should be handled by merchants and that the Board should operate in this field as a commercial proposition and avoid small domestic "drops", the administration and handling of which was unremunerative.
Briefly indicating the size of his transport problem, he said the Mersey Group area covered approximately 335 sq. miles and had 425,000 customers. To meet the associated transport needs, a fleet of 318 vehicles was operated, In the N.W.G.B. a group transport officer had two responsibilities—one to the Board's transport officer and the other to those officers of the group for which he could provide a service.
All general-purpose vehicles such as small vans, appliance delivery vans, bagged coke and tipping lorries, distribution vehicles and most vehicles with a carrying capacity from 5 cwt. to 8 tons were operated over a five-year life. This decision determined the type of vehicles used and the maintenance programme adopted. In this group the smaller vehicles were of either B.IVI.C. or Ford manufacture whilst in the 4to 8-ton range Bedford and Ford vehicles were operated. For large bulk carriers used mainly in inter-works transfer Foden eight-wheel tippers were employed, with 29-cu,-yd. bodies capable of carrying a 15-ton payload.
Economically Justified Regarding maintenance, they were at all times concerned to ensure that repairs were economically justified. Thus, on vehicles over four years old the minimum repairs were done to keep the vehicle serviceable until a replacement was obtained. All vehicles were completely repainted after two years, but this was not justified after four years so that only a touch-up and varnish was carried out.
Discussing the comparative merits of petroland diesel-engined vehicles, Mr. Newby said the average mileage on 20 random vehicles in their Thames 10/12cwt. van range was 13,140 per annum with an average m.p.g. of 23-9. A corresponding diesel-engined vehicle (costing £125 more) averaged 32.9 m.p.g., but at this mileage the diesel was not considered to be justified. , Associated with this problem, Mr. Newby stressed the advantages of bulk fuel storage facilities which provided a saving of approximately 10d. per gallon and simplified the checking of invoices as well as reducing the possibility of fraudulent misuse of fuel. Bulk storage of lubrication oil provided savings of over 3d. per gallon but to achieve this it might
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be necessary to settle for one .type of engine oil only, for both petrol and oil engines, both winter and summer. This, however, was not difficult and in his case this facility was employed throughout the Mersey Group.
Their maintenance scheme was arranged so as to cover the complete servicing of each vehicle and its equipment. It had to ensure that all points were adequately examined, repaired and lubricated as necessary, but also that there was no " over " servicing because of small mileage since the last complete examination had taken place.
Rota System A monthly rota, was, he said, made out covering all vehicles and approximately 15 vehicles per working day were brought into the central repair shop. On arrival the driver reported to the garage office with the vehicle logbook and the transport maintenance supervisor recorded the speedometer reading and noted what the mileage warranted as to the extent of the service to be provided. Engine oil was changed every 3,000 miles, engine nil filters .every 6,000 miles and gearbox and rear axle oils every 9,000 miles. Fuel injector changes depended upon performance but on average this approximated to every 12,000 miles. Fuel pumps were drained at every service and engine fuel oil filters were renewed every 9,000 miles. Each fitter was issued with written instructions as a guide to carrying out a routine 28-day service.
Describing the Production Division requirements, Mr. Newby said the demand for coal at five works in the Mersey Group was 725,000 tons, of which 479,000 went by road transport, whilst the 66,000 tons which last year went by canal, had ceased and was now handled by road.
The transport of coke for sale posed several cost problems, he remarked. Broadly speaking, the assumption was that the profit on loose deliveries offset the inevitable loss on bag loads, particularly for house-to-house delivery. The delivery cost per ton for loose loads over a distance of 10 city miles was 5s. 6d. against a delivery margin of 9s. I ld. Bulk bag deliveries cost 19s. per ton against a margin of 26s. lid, and house-to-house 44s. as against 46s. id., although on all three classes the cost of -handling at
works, which was so high on bags, had to be added so that the loss was substantial.
Two mobile transport charge hands operated on 175 c.c. motorcycles, with full power to stop any vehicle and carry out a spot check of running sheets, delivery sheets and balance of bagged load against previous deliveries made. Accordingly, the Board could claim that they were "taking every reasonable care" to ensure that correct loads and weights were being delivered.
For light work within the boundaries of their large works Mr. Newby disclosed that they used older tippers, untaxed and running on tax-free diesel oil Such vehicles carried suitable instructions painted on the side of the body and in the cab forbidding their use-on the highway. With no licence duty payable and fuel costing approximately is. 2d. per gallon there was, an operational saving of about 33-1 per cent on the overall running costs of the vehicle and the driver. Additionally, during the winter period when more works traffic was required, they hired unlicensed vehicles adapted from the normal 7/8-vu.-yd.capacity body to 12/14 cu. yd. by extending the sideboards. Here again, by using non-taxed fuel these vehicles were operated at approximately 75 per cent of the hire rate per hour for a conventionally licensed vehicle.
Mobile stores vehicles with a 5-ton capacity were used to supply gangs of men with equipment, including spare tools. For this work the Bedford 151-in. wheelbase chassis was used, with colourimpregnated glass fibre body having a translucent soof and suitable racks for material, and a boxed-in portion under the floor between the wheel arches for the conveyance of pipes. Canvas-covered vehicles were no longer used for this type of work as they invariably became shabby, provided no security and over a long term proved more costly to maintain than the glass fibre body.
Overcoming Damage Problems Governor maintenance men used 10-cwt. Thames vans and, as in the case of mobile stores and mobile compressors, they were under radio control from the distribution headquarters, said Mr. Newby. The 12 mobile showroom vehicles were extensively operated, although damage to appliances in these had originally created a problem. After several modifications the present method of securing appliances during transit was by means of a 21-in. elasticated rubber strip, suitably tensioned, which not only secured the appliance but avoided grills 'and pan plates from rattling and thereby causing enamel to chip.
As in other industries, the education of salesmen concerning the need for close attention to the many points relating to the care• of vehicles, their contents and
legal requirements wasitself a problem. A campaign was necessary at frequent intervals, with the full co-operation of the Group sales manager to explain the importance of log sheet regulations.
Outlining the type of vehicle used on appliance delivery work, Mr. Newby said that each driver had between58 and 45 delivery calls on customers' premises daily, in addition to some collections. To deal adequately with these a vehicle with approximately 130 sq. ft. of floor area was required with suitable internal height to enable men to truck inside the body. To meet these requirements a Bedford 3-ton 135-in.-wheelbase chassis was specified, with extensions giving an internal body length of 17 ft 7 in. These chassis were fitted with hydraulically operated tail lifts of 30 cwt. capacity, necessary to avoid damage when lifting awkward and heavy appliances. But the vehicles were not fitted with any side access as it was impossible in some congested city areas to unload except through the rear of the body.
The glass-fibre construction was suitablyreinforced and the internal runners were lined with a rubber latex material, said Mr. Newby. The floors were laid out with a thin but durable rubber sheeting, inside which was bonded two strips of latex rubber 4 in. wide and 19 in. apart upon which any type of appliance could be placed and be suitably cushioned from vibration when travelling on cobbled or badly maintained roads. Although several types of hand truck are available, Mr. Newby revealed that their drivers preferred the strap-and-board lifting rig when handling appliances inside customers' premises.