"PNEUMATICS FOR COMMERCIALS."
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By "The Inspector.'
ANEW PUSH, under energetic direction, is about to be made with a view to persuading manufacturers particularly, and, of course, ultimately, the users, that the royal road at present open to those who would improve the general conditions of industrial motor haulage is by the adoption of the . so-called giant pneumatic tyre. And, as one might suspect, the new push comes from the West! We have all flirted with this idea in this .00untry for a good many years, and we have, heard of success achieved by virtue of its adoption in America. This is rather a negative, recommendation to us in this country, as we are regularly hearing of some remarkable motor-vehicle attainment in the U.S.A., which we are promised, with:that assurance which is,a not inconspicuous feature of American propaganda, will he adopted here once we have learned of the results secured by these;Western pioneers. True, we are always ready to learn, but we must admit that, to date, our interest in the employment of the pneumatic for the heavier type of commercial-motor vehicle in this country has been unenthusiastic.
I had the opportunity recently of °ha ig this matter over with a, man whe*isSback frori'Arnerica full of enthusiasm for this industrial pneumatic.idea. And, amongst the advantages that he cited, witheso little fluency, was that).their _adoption ,enables the user of an industrial'model to speed up his deliveries by something in excess of 25 per cent., aot•necessarily to obtain higher maximum, but higher average speeds. He claims that, with their vehicles pneumatic shod, there will be no need for drivers to slow down over bad road surface, but that they may forge ahead and maintain their average speed without risking the wreckage of the machines in their charge. He asserted that the use of pneumatics, even on the larger models, has, in America, resulted in remarkable savings in fuel and lubricating costs, though how the latter result is achieved I was not fortunate enough to discover. He admitted, when taxed, that a higher average speed is of but little advantage to those users. who.accomplish most of their mileage in and around docks and city warehouses, in teoreu0.fares crowded with other traffic, and in other circumstances automatically restricting miles per hour ; circumstances which, as a matter of fact, govern such a very large proportion of the mechanical haulage in the industrial areas of this country.
This enthnsiastic missionary, however, admits that his opportunity lies at the moment with the users of the smaller models—up,to two tons, shall we say land he also says, and perhaps he has a good deal of right tokthis opinion, that he expects to have )ittle difficulty in persuading owners of the more luxurious types of chars-k-banc,s,to add to the.comfort of their passengers by the provision of pneumatic'tyring on all wheels. Particularly is he hopeful that he will persuade manufacturers to mount their machines on pneumatics, so far as the front wheels are concerned, even if they are not inclined to run the risk of bath
e10 wheel disablement. He claims that the largest types of pneumatics, as used in America, are practically Impuneturable, and certainly the tyre of which he was speaking is known to the writer as of unusually good construction.
The price of these big tyres is, of course, very high, but, in my informant's opinion, this is no disadvantage, as the corresponding savings that are certain to be effected by reason of lower depreciation and fuel and other costs, offer a complete set off to the increased prime cost. He had no use for the twin pneumatic, and it must be admitted that there is very little' data available that enables a definite opinion to be expressed as to the success or relative failure of the idea, cribbed from that of the wellknown tw in solid. He plumps for the single large section pneumatic. It appears that considerable experiments are already being made with Daimler two tonners in this country, and that those who are, testing it are extremely hopeful of remarkable results accruing which will inevitably evoke the attention of manufacturers and users alike to this method of mounting the wheels.
A difficulty has cropped up, which is likely to hinder early experiment on a large scale, from the fact that these large pneumatics necessarily take a seuali smaller diameter road wheel centre, and almost all British manufacturers, at any rate, have now standardized steel-disc or east-steel wheels, and they are, naturally, not easy to persuade to put in nonstandard wheel centres, either cast or pressed, for the experiment. Castings and pressings are, nowadays, so hard to obtain, even when the orders are very large, so that there appears to be little chance of successful experiments while present conditions of production remain, unless sets of well-built artillerytype wheels are employed for the purpose of demonstrating, in order that data may be secured with as little delay as possible in this country.
It will be interesting, at any rate, to have this _tatter thrashed out with a little more certainty than has been possible hitherto. Anything that definitely promises to reduce costs of operation sheuld most certainly be tried out, but I am afraid that we shall not get very far in this country, if the only data that are available are those that are imported to us from America. That method of persuasion is not a very remunerative one in this country. The electric vehicle, for instance, is now winning its own way quietly and steadily here, not because we have been told, for so many yews, of the tens of thousands of electrics that operated in and around American cities, but because we, ourselves in the wartime period, had the opportunity pressed upon us of testing this alternative for certain classes of haulage, and we have persuaded ourselves of the possibility of this method from data collected by ourselves. It will be useful if we can do the same thing with the giant pneumatic.
THE LAW EXPOUNDED.
An Explanation of When a Vehicle is a Heavy Motorcar or Locomotive.
ACASE of great importance to owners of steam wagons was heard at the Newcastle-under-Lyme police court on
April 13th, when Mr. John Wort, a partner in the firm of Messrs. Wort and Way, of Salisbury, was summoned at the instance of the local police for leaving a locomotive, its fire being alight, on a roadway without a person in attendance, contrary to Section 5 of the Locomotives Act, 1898.
The vehicle in question was an Aveiing and Porter steam tractor, having an unladen weight of 4 tons 19 cwt, Ma Wort, being a member of the Commercial Motor Users Association (Incorporated), of 50, Pall Mall, London, S. W. 1, referred the matter to the Association's legal department. The solicitor advised that, as the vehicle was e heavy motorcar and not a locomotive, it was not subject to the provisions of the Act under which the summons had been issued, and he accordingly instructed Messas. Watson and Owen, Solicitors, of Stafford, to contest the case on behalf of the defendant. As a result, the magistrates came to the conclusion that the defendant could not be convicted, and the summons was accordingly dismissed.
As there appears to be considerable doubt AA to the legal difference between a heavy motorcar and a locomotive, the opportunity is taken of endeavouring to exolain the position.
Prior to 1896, every mechanicallypropelled vehicle was in law a locomotive, and was subject to the same regulations and restrictions as a traction engine or oth:er form of locomotive. For example, a motorcar might not be driven at. more than two miles per hour in a town and four miles per hoer in the country.
The law was altered by the Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896, section 1 of which provided that the enactments mentioned in the schedule to the Act, and any other enactment restricting the use of locomotives on highways should not apply to any vehicle propelled by mechanical power which was under three tons in weight unladen, and which was not used for drawing more than one vehicle (such vehicle with its locomoiive not to exceed in weight unladen four tons), and which was so constructed that no smoke or visible vapour was emitted therefrom except from temporary or accidental cause, and such vehicles so exempted, whether locomotives or drawn by locomotives, were in the Act referred to as " light locomotives."
The Heavy Motor Car Order, 1904, which was made under section 6 of the above Act provided, in article 3, that a heavy motorcar might be used if the unladen weight did not exceed five tons, or if the weight of the heavy motorcar unladen with the weight of an unladen trailer did not exceed 6 tone. The expression 'heavy matorcar " is defined in Article 2 of the Order as meaning "a motorcar exceeding two tons in weight unladen," and the expression " motorcar " is defined in section 20 of the Motor Car Order, 1903, as having the same meaning as the expression "light locomotive' has in the Act of 1896. It was held by the Divisional Court in Evans v. Nichol! [1909] 1 KB. 778, that the effect of Article 3 was that a vehicle propelled by mechanical power, if it is under five tons in weight unladen, is a ligheelocernotive within the meaning of section 1 of the Act of 1896, and that, consequently, the owner or driver of a heavy motorcar cannot be convicted of an offence under the Locomotives Act, 1898, inasmuch as, by section 17 of that Act, nothing hi the Act is to affect light locomotives within the meaning of the Act of 1896, In other words, Section 1 of the Act of 1896 must be read as if "5 tons" and "6±" tons were inserted in the piece of "3 tons" and "4 tons" respectively.
From the aiboYe it will be seen that a vehicle, whether driven by steam or petrol, is not subject to the provisions of the Locomotives Act if :— (1) It does not exceed in weight unladen 5 tons.
(2) 'The unladen weight of the vehicle and one trailer, dots not exceed 6 tone.
(3) It does not draw snore than one trailer.
(4) It is so constructed that no smoke or visible vapour is emitted therefrom except from any temporary or accidental cause.
• There is no reason why a motor vehicle should not be registered both as a heavy motorcar and also as a locomotive provided that in the latter case it complies with the regulations regarding the construction of a locomotive, and that in each case the ,vehicle carries the appropriate registration marks which will show whether it is being used as a heavy motorcar or as a locomotive.
The need for this dual registration is apparent when it is recognized that while
• a vehicle, the unladen weight of which does not exceed five tons, may be registered as a heavy motorcar, and may be used as such provided that itcomplies with the requirements set out above, it may also legally be used for other purposes which do not 80 comply. For example it may be used for drawing two or three trailers, or for drawing a trailer the unladen weight of which, added to the unladen weight of the vehicle, exceeds 6i tons. In either of these or similar cases, the vehicle is being used for a legitimate purpose, provided it is registered as a locomotive and is licensed as such in the county in which it is being used, and complies with the provisions of the .Locomotives Act as to speed, the number of men in attendance, etc.
OVERSEAS TRADE.
A Coed Chance for the British Motor Lorry in Norway.
THE British Vice-Consul at Haugeeund reports that the "Permanente
Konununikationskomite," Haugesuncl, has taken up the question of establishing regular motor vehicle routes on the principal roads of the Hangesund Peninsula, and that a number of such routes will probably be established. At present only two regular motor vehicle services are running, these being passenger and mail routes. No railways exist on the peninsula, and as there is very little snow during the winter months motor vehicle traffic is possible during practically the whole year. The opportunity appears, therefore, a good one for putting forward a strongly-built vehicle suitable for carrying passengers and goods. The British Vice-Consul suggests that British manufacturers should send proposals for him to submit personally to the Kommunikationskemite, which is an official committee, whose recommendation would favourably influence the sale of motor vehicles in: other parts of• Norway.
CANALS AND ROADWAYS.
An Idea for Converting a Waterway into an Arterial Road.
ANEW use for canals wads suggested at a nieeting of the Staveley Council one :day last week, and might, if generally adopted, possibly lead to the solution of many difficulties in districts
presenting abnormal difficulties. The idea emanated from Mr. C. P. Markham, chairman of the :StaveIey Coal and Iron Co., which possesses the largest interests in the neighbourhood, that the canal between :Chesterfield end Killsmarsh, embracing clue of t•he richest mineral areas in Derbyshire, might be converted into a main arterial roadwav.
pointed not that the present road between the two places is-,particularly hilly and dangerous and, by converting the canal into a. roadway,, they might obtain one of the most magnificent thoroughfares in the Midlands. It would reduce wear and tear, and the saving in horseflesh and petrol would be enornamis..
The project has already advanced beyond its incipient stages, the Minis, try of Transport having, at Mr. Meekham's suggestion, agreed to send down an inspector at an early date to investigate
LOADING DELAYS.
They Can be Minimized if Motors Receive Preference at the Docks.
DELAYS in the loading of steam and petrol wagons at the docks are of such frequent occurrence, that hauliers in many instances have become so accustomed to these conditions as to minimize the importance of what is a very serious problem. The suggestion has been made that these vehicles hauling goods outside town areas should be given a preference as to the loading or discharging, over horse-drawn traffic at the decks and warehouses, in regard to both inward and outward traffic.
At the present time petrol and steam lorries take their turn for loading or dis charging in the same way as ordinary carts, and it often happens that they have to wait for from half-an-hour to three or more hours before they get loaded at the docks, apart from another long wait at the wareheruse ea station before they get discharged. Cases are frequent, at Liverpool, for instance, where vehicles have to wait until 11 a.m. before being loaded, and it very often happens, especially where the slower-moving steam wagons are eonearned, that they are compelled to remain overnight at their destination (say, Manchester), on account of it being too late to start the return journey back to
Liverpool the same night, and if the journey were made the vehicle would probably rim hack light, and overtime expenses would be incurred. The expense of putting up the lorry amid men for the night is obvious. Carting from the docks to the stations at Liverpool is mostly performed by horse-drawn vehicles.
It 'has been stated that on the average there is one motor lorry to about five carts waiting for loads at the clocks. The motor vehicle has obviously a greater potentiality of service than the horsedrawn cart, and it is contended that if the former were given a preference the delay to the other vehicles the work r■f which is local would not he so serious as in the case of motor vehicles Operating from 'a distance.