Child-proof" Control
Page 57
Page 58
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
N important feature about the control of the new Morrison-Electricar ED 25-cwt. battery-electric ride (The Commercial Motor, May 28), is that even be forward and reverse switch is set in, say, the ward position, normal depression of the foot switch I not cause the vehicle to move.
'irst speed can be engaged only if the foot switch is t pushed to the right by side pressure and then Tessed. The foot switch has a raised lip on the right the pedal for this purpose.
)ne of the objects of this control is that it would be ctically impossible for a child accidentally to start vehicle.
.ondon, W.11. E. G. RUT1 F,R,
Sales Department, .ustin Crompton-Parkinson Electric Vehicles, Ltd.
British Entry Not " Utilitarian "
AS surprised to read in your report of the Montreux oach Rally (The Commercial Motor, June 11), that correspondent considered our new A.E,C.-Windover it to be "rather utilitarian" compared with other des taking part.
us new coach, together with two other identical :les recently delivered, is fitted with 26 fully adjustseats with armrests, in its 30-ft. by 8 ft. body. .e are Perspex roof quarter panels, sliding and :A Perspex roof panels and public-address equip. with four speakers. Also specified are a Clayton andre C,H.U. heater and air reconditioning unit. her with the Continental-type entrance mentioned )ur correspondent.
rely a vehicle containing such equipment does not Lilt the description "utilitarian," even when cornI with other entries?
e inclusion of such items as cocktail cabinets and compartments may be necessary for certain types uring work—and those operators who specify such ment are to be commended on their ingenuity. wer, where the type of operation permits a leisurely journey and regular stops en route, such equipment would be superfluous.
No doubt your readers will reach their own conclusions from the foregoing brief description.
London, W.C.1. F. A. J. WOODWORTH.
Manager, Red Line Continental Motorways, Ltd.
Was Differential Wrong ?
WISH to comment upon your leader of June 25 " Increase the Differential.'" Surely, the comparison between the wages of a driver and of a transport manager should be upon a basic week? A driver works from, say, 7.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a break of half an hour =nine hours per day or 45 per week, for which, if his vehicle has an A licence, he receives, in a Grade I area, £6 16s., for a 12-tonner. A transport manager working from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. with a break of an hour=7# hours per day, plus, say, 4 on Saturday=41i hours per week, Taking the figure of £840 per year from your article, the average earned weekly by him would be about £16 3s.
The differential now shows itself in favour of the manager at the rate of £9 7s. per week or £486 4s. per year. This, I consider, is the only fair method to use in making a comparison between the two.
Bolton. R. G. LINKMAN.
Early Training for Drivers
WHILST, as a general rule, it is not advisable for
commercial drivers to give lifts to people, there are certain circumstances where those could be advantageous; particularly where the members of a driver's family are concerned.
Most boys like to go for a ride with their fathers, and when they do they learn a great deal about the general work—and the theory of driving—which they may eventually want to do when they are old enough.
Sometimes one may observe a driver with his wife on board his wagon. It is nice to see that. Apart from the stimulation of giving "the Old Dutch" a day out on a pleasant journey—it affords her a glimpse of our lives which may well help her better to understand our temperaments and difficulties and so strengthen the matrimonial ties.
Some operating companies seem to understand this sort of thing better than do others, and one may find on a fine summer day or a school holiday, a driver going about his work the happier because he has the company of his wife, or is able to teach his son something of his job. The Armed Forces have their" family days" for much the same reasons, I believe. Some drivers well remember the many happy hours spent as boys, riding with dads or uncles on their older-type wagons—no doubt they learned considerably more than can be written about the job we are now doing. "The call of the road" for transport work is something that is in the blood of many of our boys and it is often passed on from generation to generation. Transport is work of the utmost importance and the control of a fine vehicle with a valuable load might well be regarded as an occupation as sound and dignified as those in engineering or administrative spheres.
Many of us train our lads with the aid of model vehicles and roadways—and that invaluable textbook The Commercial Motor, but however good these are, the occasional day with dad on the wagon is needed by our "drivers of tomorrow."
Bletchley, Bucks. ALBERT J. PARRIS.
Activities of United Carriers
I WAS rn.uch interested in the article by Matador, in I your issue dated July 2„ as to the future of United Carriers, Ltd., as it affects the transport of meat. To my mind, however, the most important features are the undoubted interest in, and the activities in which this concern will, no doubt, be engaged in the general haulage field. They will almost certainly endeavour to employ their idle vehicles and their return-load capacity, and will probably canvass manufacturers and traders with this in view. This would be to the detriment of (a) those functional groups and their staffs of British Road Services who are already providing such facilities,
and (b) the private-enterprise hauliers who are operating on .expensive special A licences, as well as those who hope to extend their radii of operation on ordinary A and B licences as from January 1, 1955. Possibly the Road Haulage Association will be able to enlarge upon their prospects in this direction. The ex-Meat Transport Organisation's Pickford vehicles chartered to this clearing house are unlikely to be disposed of in the ordinary way under the Transport Act, 1953, except possibly under company structure, which would enable them to enter by the back door and thus engage in the general haulage field. In fact, the erstwhile M.T.O.L. could become a sponsored clearing house with vehicles and traffic laid on.
With a " free for all " in the world of meat transport, it is unlikely that this company can exist profitably on the transport of meat alone, and they may become competitors against others engaged in haulage. Southall, Middlesex. TOREADOR,
Why Not Solid Tyres?
WHEN will it be possible for designers of suspension systems to make such an advance that the pneumatic tyre can be abandoned? After approximately 100 years of automobile construction, the leaf spring is still supreme; indeed it might be argued that the pneumatic tyre has been the excuse for designers' failure to evolve means for suspension that are radical improvements. Why is there not a suspension system with such characteristics that a light, solid tyre can replace the heavy, unmanageable and, in my opinion, unreliable pneumatic? London, S.W.1. DOUGLAS JAMES.