110-vehicle Fleet Keep
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Provision Shops Supplied
IN the provision trade the proper integration of ancillary transport for trouble free collection and delivery is vital in these days of intense competition. Galbraith's Stores, Ltd., Paisley, are among those C-licensed operators who place transport questions in their proper perspective to ensure economic operation.
With more than 200 shops in a 40-mile radius of Glasgow, their transport manager, Mr. I. R. Ruxton, controls a mixed fleet of more than 100 vehicles. He also looks after warehouse operations and all the associated activities necessary for the efficient working of the business.
Starting with the company after the last war, Mr. Ruxton found himself with a fleet that . had been run to the limit and required completely renewing. It included Albion, Dodge and Bedford vehicles of various models, about half of them vans and the remainder lorries. The company had been Albion users since 1920 when they operated the chaindrive A10, and it was decided to standardize with modern vehicles of this make. But because of delivery difficulties 18 5-6-ton Dennis lorries were acquired initially.
It was then found that deliveries were held up because of bodybuilding delays, so the company decided to expand their bodybuilding, painting and workshop activities. By 1955 experiments had started in glass-fibre panelling to overcome constantly 'recurring damage to the bakery vans caused by the use of bogies in the bakery yard.
The use of properly seasoned timber and a high standard of workmanship were giving the company's own bodies up to 15 years' life, but bakery van )122 panels were having to be renewed every three years. It was found that although a 12-ft. by 4-ft. glass-fibre panel cost £8 compared with the previous £5, the damage over a period was negligible, so the extra outlay was more than justified. Plastics wings for the bakery van fleet have also been an outstanding success.
In an effort to offset, the higher initial costs, experiments with pigmentation were successfully tried. At first the company were able to dispense with only priming and undercoat, but by 1958 a satisfactory finishing colour was produced and the only paint now used is for lettering. Other plastics uses have been for front and rear roof domes and corner panels, the cost of shops and from market to warehouse is organized on scheduled routes, and everything possible is done to cut down the time-lag between order and delivery.
Much vehicle time was originally lost because the company's warehouses were dotted about Glasgow, and loading and unloading facilities were inadequate. It was decided to centralize the handling of perishable goods at Paisley and new premises were acquired.
There are also jam, pickle and ham and bacon curing factories at Paisley, together with. a tea-blending plant. Butchers' meat is delivered from an abattoir leased by the company, and there is a bakery at Govan. capacity were installed, together with tubular steel post pallets and doublefaced, four-way-entry, wing-type wooden pallets and wooden skids.
In the grocery warehouse, with its two-dock unloading bays and fourvehicle loading dock, flow is maintained from start to finish. Incoming foodstuffs are unitized by brand on the wing pallets and moved by truck to the receiving area. Straddle trucks move palletized loads into storage and, by working in narrow aisles and stacking loads 14 ft. high, warehouse capacity has been increased by 15 per cent.
The stacking system is on a speed sequence plan which places the fastest moving items in the main part of the store. Nine hundred different dry groceries are numbered and stacked in numerical sequence, eliminating back tracking by order pickers. Shop requirements are made up on wooden skids and remain.palletized on the loading bench to await collection and delivery. • Many suppliers now deliver goods palletized, drastically reducing vehicle holding time. In the eight-dock provision warehouse, tubular pallets are used for sacks, egg containers, fruit boxes and barrels. The result has been an average of two or three hours' • earlier delivery to branches and an increase in hundredweights handled per man-hour.
Dienst automatic ramps have been installed for level floor loading and
discharging. An instance of timesaving is the intake of sugar, now palletized before dispatch from Green
ock, which used to take four men 11 hours to unload and stow. The job can now be done in 15 minutes by one man with a fork-lift truck. Twelve-ton deliveries of Heinz products, which took four men 3 hours to clear, can now be cleared by two men in 20 minutes.
Palletization has also improved potato storage, which under the old system allowed the holding of only three days' supply. By allowing air to circulate freely pallets keep them in good condition for up to five or six weeks.
Distribution from warehouses to shops is along scheduled routes, each route having a number of shops which can be by-passed if the traffic is beyond the vehicles' capacity. These are so selected that the missed shops from a number of routes are grouped together enabling them to be supplied by the first vehicle available.
For non-perishable grocery goods a punch card issue and control system is used, and in warehouse ordering shop managers use only the code numbers for the particular variety of goods.
Travelling shops were put into operation five years ago and Mr. Ruxton went to Switzerland to study the methods of a company operating 150 vehicles of this type. At first a limited number of single-deck buses was purchased and' converted as an experiment, but these have gradually been replaced by eight specially designed vans.
Practically the whole fleet is engaged on morning shop delivery, and vehicles report back by telephone from bases in the control area of Glasgow to get orders for collections from docks and markets, returning in time to reload
for next morning. All vehicles are kept on day work as it has been found more economical to use public hauliers for long-distance traffic, and at peak periods it is necessary to hire to help out with collections.
Vehicle costs are kept down by paying a no-accident bonus and keeping one driver to one vehicle as far as possible. Strict checks on tyre pressure are also carried out. Maintenance is mainly on a mileage basis.
By placing warehouses and staff under the traffic manager's control, vehicle schedules can be filled to the traffic requirements, and Galbraith's Stores, in giving transport its proper perspective, are reaping the benefit of substantial savings in costs.