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EXPRESS DAIRY TRANSPORT
Page 116
Page 117
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the indispensable motor
A Discussion About the Remarkable Roadtransport System of the Express Dairy Co., Ltd. How Continuous Night and Day Deliveries are Maintained
WHEN we called to discuss your transport problems with you in L923 you had six heavy-weight nachines, of which four were steamers, tnd 17 lighter types, ranging from '-cwt. Fords to 2f-ton Lacres. Now, an you explain the great development vhich I can see has taken place in 'our business in the intervening eight rears?" That was how a recent talk legal' between our representative and dr. W. A, Nell, a director of the ilxpress Dairy Co., Ltd., at Tavistock :lace, London, W.C.
"Transport has enabled this expansion to take place," he replied. "We have the two• distinct businesses—the distribution of dairy produce through about 160 retail dairies, and the running of about 100 refreshment shops in
the London area. Both depend utterly on rapid and reliable transport by motor vehicles—and steam wagons, of which we now have 17—and on that basis our entire organization has developed. Our heavy-weights consist of 17 Sentinel steamers (two are DG6 10-ton six-wheelers), six Leyland Bull 8-tanners; two A.E.C..Mammoth 1,600gallon glass-lined tankers, 14 Leyland 6-tonners, 5-tonners and 4-tormers on solid tyres, four Packard 5-tonners, four Albions (4-tormers and 3-tonners on solids), and a Rushton pneumaticequipped tractor which works with two Dyson 5-ton trailers.
` The fleet of lighter machines also has grown tremendously. We have seven Gifford 2f-ton and 2-ton vehicles, three Leyland 2-tonners, a dozen Ford AA-type 30-cwt. vans, over 20 Ford Ttype 1-tanners (some with Supaphord auxiliary gearboxes), half-a-dozen Ford 7-cwt. vans for odd jobs, two MorrisCommercial 2-tonners (one with Hall refrigeration plant), eight Morris 10-cwt. vans,' an S.D. Freighter for 2ton loads, and half-a-dozen Austin 7 h.p.5-ewt. vans, not to mention nearly a score of staff cars. That gives you some idea of the development."
"How do your bottling depots at Herne Hill, Eltham, Cricklewood, Chiswick, Finchky and Harrow Road get their supplies?"
"Generally, by our vehicles collecting the churns, which go 11 to the ton, at rail depots, and in some instances farmers in thesouthern counties send their milk to our South London depots by motor-haulage contractors direct from their farms. Finchley depot collects from the farms on the outskirts of Middlesex by 2-ton and 5-ton vehicles, the farm roads being, in most cases, firm enough even for solidtyred machines. Our big vehicles do most of the collection work."
"How about the new regulations against noisy vehicles and loads?"
"The carrying of churns necessitates a certain amount of noise, but this is reduced to a minimum by the use of rubber covers on. all side chains. The drivers are instructed to report immediately arfy defects that maycause undue noise. In this manner such things are attended to as soon as they become necessary."
"And from the bottling depots to the retail dairies?"
"This is more of a: problem. There are 120 dairies; all over the greater. London area, and the milk is in half-pint, pint and quart bottles, packed in cases which average 40 to the ton when full. These cases are stackedsix high in van bodies which have sliding side doors, roll-up shutters at the back and insulating roofs. The cases are just right for handling and fit into each other by means of corner stacking pins. "The problem is one of freshness of the milk, and that resolves itself into a question of refrigeration plants at the retail dairies. We are rapidly equipping all the dairies with cold storage, for that permits us to deliver to them in the late afternoon and evening of the day preceding that of distribution. Otherwise we have to send supplies during the early hours each day, starting about midnight. It is speedy work and the GiIfords. four of which are six-cylinder types, perform it admirably, each covering about 100 miles in the night, in all weathers. Deliveries must be made."
"But with the many different grades of milk it must be tricky to load up satisfactorily? "
"There are over a dozen grades. Picked men are employed on the night work and they become quick in arranging their loading in the opposite order to that of delivery at the various -dairies."
"Is Cricklewood the biggest bottling depot?"
• "Yes. We think it is, in fact, the largest bottling dairy in Great Britain." "What about the special milk?" "College Farm, Finchley, does all that work, and Harrow Road depot handles all the cream, delivering it by Ford or Morris-Commercial. We have just put in service a Morris-Commercial 2-tonner with refrigerator plant (supplied by J. and E. Hall, Ltd., Dartford) to cater for the distant dairies." "Now, how do you cater for the refreshment depots?"
"Except for transport control and maintenance, it is a separate organization, served by a bakery at Drayton Park, and a department for eggs, butter, etc., at Tavistock Place."• "Small vans for the bread, etc.?" "Yes, mostly Fords, with tiers of trays for the cares and confectionery." "And Tavistock Place?"
"Larger machines ; Leyland and Morris-Commercial 2-tonners."
"Does Cricklewood repair depot look after all the fleets?"
"Yes. Chassis are completely stripped every 14 months and bodies are actually made on the premises. Spare units are the secret of our short ' offservice ' delays—if you can call it a secret. We have spare engines, gearboxes, etc., for nearly all types used." "How do you control the depot drivers from the Cricklewood centre?"
"Well, we think our relegation of responsibility is an almost ideal one. Each driver fills in a journey card for every 24 hours of duty, showing all his arrival and departure times and places, defects, breakdowns, fuel and oil issues. That is a check on delays. Drivers definitely do not effect day-to-day adjustments, but only attend to lubrication. A Cricklewood mechanic with a Ford 7-ewt. van makes a weekly circuit of the depots and spends a day at each, attending to vehicles. Records are kept of all work done to each component of every machine."
"Is the costing centralized?"
"Yes. The vehicles are actually hired out to each depot for a weekly charge, the depots paying for the drivers. The entire transport system is controlled from here—and that is the best way for the board to appreciate accurately its great benefits."