A SERVICE DEPOT FOR ALBION USERS.
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Reducing Repair Delays. The Provision of Spare Vehicles, Engines or Gearboxes. Dealing with Breakdowns. Inspection of Users' Vehicles.
THEAlbin Co. are nothing if not thorough, and their new service depot, which they have recently opened in Brentfteld Road, Willeedee, hears still further testimony to this fact. To those who are not acquainted with the ramifications of Albion service, and with the large numbers of Albion vehicles which are in use, the size of the depot would certainly prove a surprise, particularly as it, is intended to serve only users in the London districts, and in the southern counties where the company have no official eepairere or agents.
The factory is built on the latest and most up-to-date lines, the shops being well laid out. The repair shop itself is formed in two bays, each 225 ft. long and 45 ft. wide. At the entrance from the wide concrete roadway, which has been specially constructed by the company, a length of the building has been partitioned off by an expanded metal screen, and the portion thug formed nearest, the large doors its need, as a running repair shop, where small jobs occupying an hour or so are -dealt with. It
is only vehicles requiring larger repairs which are taken into the repair shop proper. The total actual floor area of the depot, including the offices, stores, etc., is 33,000 sq. ft.
Along the whole length of each bay run two overhead travelling cranes, each of 2 tons capacity.
Vehicles which require complete overhaul are taken to the cleaning sheds, where the chassis are dismantled and the parts thcroughly washed hi boiling water and caustic soda. These cleaned parts are then handed over to the fitters, who can Oats start immediately on the work of repairing them, and the men are not dissatisfied with the condition in which the parts are received.
When the chassis is stripped completely down to the frame, the latter is cleaned by a high-pressure steam jet, and after this process is. finished the frame is returned to the machine-shop.
As a general rule, six hours are eufficient in which to strip a 32 h.p. chassis,' wash it thoroughly all over, and have itin the repair shop ready for the fitters.
A complete overhaul can be put through in from 10-14 days.
Time and, labour-saving devices are used wherever possible, the motive being to give clients the best possible service. It is appreciated by the Albion Co. that to have a vehicle off the road at all is a serious matter for any user, and it is their object to get the vehicle, back in harness as qffirekly as possible.
At the moment there is a large reconditioning contract in hand for the War Office, and although the lorries have been 'standing out in the open for at /east 18 months, the overhaul charges are coming out surprisingly and satisfactorily low. It is, of course, well known that the company re-conditioned a very large number of their own lorries parchased from the Disposals Board, and one particularly interesting fact recorded is that amongst all the lorries which have passed " through the London depot since the Arrnistiee, in no case has a crankshaft been replaced. It is also nota.b/e that no frame members have been required. this bears out theaegeneral opinion in France that rolled steel side members stood up to their work even better than those of the pressed steel -.type.
During our visit we examined a 1917 W.D. vehicle which was being stripped. Considering the time that this vehicle had been in service, it was In a wonderful eonditiOn, particularly as regards the gearbox, in which the pinions were almost as good as new.
In order to keep users' vehicles on the road the company keep in stock a number of spare engines and gearboxes for their various types of lorries. If a lorry is brought in for an engine overhaul, the engine can be taken out and a spare engine fitted in four hours. A, small charge is made by the company for the use of this spare engine and to cover depreciation and repairs to it. Theengine left with them is -then overhauled and the vehiclie -recalled in due course to have its -own engine fitte'd. The same procedure is, of course, followed out as regards gearbox repairs, and this use of spare units can be carried out with remarkable frequency, since work is often required on the engineor other unit when the rest of the chassis is fit for the road. The company also keep a number of complete vehicles for hiring to users Whilst the vehicles of the latter are undergoing complete overhaul.
In the case of an engine or gearbox replacement, there Is no need to test the vehicle on the road, as the`units are all thoroughly tested before leaving the shops.
The stores are large and well arranged, and thereis room for extensions, as the number 0 vehicles on the road increases.
Very complete stocks of spares are carried, especially considering that this is a depot and not headquarters. Large orders from the provinces are, of course, handled by headquarters, and
it may be taken as a general rule that an order of this kind is being packed in Glasgow the morning after it has been received at the London depot.
It is interesting to note that there is still a demand for all kinds of spare parts for chassis supplied in 1906, and even earlier.
Sodie time ago, in a previous article, we dealt at some length with the inspection scheme inaugurated by the company. One branch of this scheme is the senaing out of inspectors to clients who consider their lorries require to have some work carried out on them.
Breakdowns are swiftly and efficiently attended to by service vehicles comprising heavy lorries, light vans, and motorcycles with sidecars, according to the nature Of the breakdown, and in many cases repairs have been effected so rapidly that a loaded vehicle has been able to deliver the major portion of its load the same day.