WHIS1 GALORE at TULLAMORE
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Diverse Activities of D. E. Williams, Ltd., Necessitate Mixed Fleet to Link Farms, Distilleries, Warehouses and Retail Branches.
By S. Buckley, Assoc.Inst.T.
TULLAMORE is a thriving market town in the centre of Ireland, surrounded by the large grain-growing county of Offaly. Well served by road and rail, it makes an ideal headquarters for D. E. Williams, Ltd., blenders and exporters of Irish whiskey. With a century of growth, however, their basic interests form only a part of the ever-increasing range of their activities. To many Irish their name has now become synonymous with that of Tullamore. More recently an expanding export business has been built up with most parts of the world.
The premises of D. .E. Williams, .Ltd., and their associated companies, B. Daly. and Co., Ltd., distillers, and the Irish. Mist Liqueur Co., Ltd., occupy more than 20 acres in Tullamore. Within a radius of 50 miles, four maltings, 25 retail and four wholesale branches are owned and operated, whilst the employment of a staff of more than .700 has a marked influence on the economic and social life of this agricultural area.
One of the most important activities of D. E. Williams, Ltd., is the sale and distribution of Tullamore Dew 10-yearold Irish Whiskey. This is distilled by Daly from locally grown grain brought straight from farm to corn store. Under separate management, Orange and Lemon Pak are manufactured from fresh fruit. Adjacent to the Pak department is the bottling plant. Many famous beers are bottled on machines capable of filling 600 dozen per hour. Mineral waters are also made and bottled here. .
Not content with this range of liquid refreshment, Williams blend Red Cup tea from leaf brought in from India, Ceylon, Africa and China. Collection of imported leaf from the docks, as well as subsequent retail distribution, is thus necessitated.
An agricultural advisory service is offered to all farmers within a wide area of Tullamore. In conjunction with other agricultural organizations, film shows, lectures and demonstrations are held with the objective of increased -Yields.
In support.of this advisory service, the seed and fertilizer department supplies farmers with a wide range of goods and services for their immediate needs at any season of the year. Thus, at sowing time a large variety of seed is held in stock for prompt delivery. During the growth of the plants spray materials can be supplied, and the actual spraying effected by Williams' own vehicles if the customer so requires. As agents for several trianufacturers and suppliers, they also deliver agricultural machinery and a wide range of household and other fuels.
In the autumn the reverse procedure operates and the seed and fertilizer department, acting as agents for Daly, as well as on their own behalf, provide one of the greatest outlets for the farmers' grain harvest, and vast quantities are then handled entirely on the company's own vehicles.
Indicative of Daly's transport requirements, their distillery covers 12 acres, whilst the granaries have a capacity of 40,000 barrels of grain.
Irish Mist have premises in the centre of Tullamore, from which Ireland's only liqueur is marketed to most parts of the world.
Understandably, a wide range of vehicles is required to carry these varied traffics. The present fleet operated by D. E. Williams, Ltd., totals 60, of which 26 are located at Tullamore and 34 at outside branches, all under the control of Mr. M. J. Farrell, transport manager. Analysed as between makes, 25 are Bedford, 12 Austin or Morris and 11 Ford. whilst the only oil-engined vehicles are three 7-ton T.S.3 Commers. The remaining makes include Ferguson (one), Hillman (one), Planet (one), Steyr (two), Volkswagen (two) and Wrigley (one). There are 17 5-ton petrol-engined lorries, nine 7-tonners and five tractors of various type. The other vehicles range from 5-cwt. vans to 10-ton lorries, and finally a Dodge hearse.
Tractors and trailers are used between the Tullamore railhead and head office, as well as for internal work in the maltings, or, with attachments, to spray crops in the spring and summer. They are also employed to deliver house coal in the autumn and winter. The Planet, with six bogies, is used mainly internally at the bottling department, and the Wrigley similarly at the maltings.
Regulations governing C-licence operation in Eire are similar to those applying in Great Britain, with one exception. Under the Carriage of Wheat Order, ancillary users are permitted to transport wheat, as agents for licensed millers, in addition to their own goods. There is no restriction on the number or size of vehicles which can be operated and the rate of licence duty is based on unladen weight.
Starting at an annual rate of £15 for a vehicle with an unladen weight not •exceeding 12 cwt., the duty rises to £70 at 3 tons and £335 at 74 tons unladen. Third-party insurance is compulsory and for a 5-ton lorry amounts to around £30 a year. As in Britain, maximum driving hours in any period of 24 hours are limited to 11, with half an hour's break -after 51 hours.
The State-owned railways provide a country
wide road freight service and are in competition with a limited number of licensed hauliers, some of whom operate in a restricted area, whilst others are licensed for the whole country.
Platform bodies suffice for grain and fertilizer traffic, with the addition of drop sides when vehicles are used for general purposes. Platform bodies, with drop sides and creels (tilts), are fitted to all vehicles engaged on mixed deliveries of groceries, cased beer, wines and spirits, so obviating the necessity of tying down loads.
All bodies are of wood and are constructed, painted and maintained in the company's own workshop. Hydraulic sack loaders are fitted to a proportion of the fleet and prove invaluable when loading malt and at harvest time when sacks of up to 24 stone have to be handled. Vans, however, are purchased complete with standard body in primer. Two of these have been modified to facilitate the delivery of bread and confectionery.
The transport department employs 55 drivers and four maintenance staff, and all vehicles of 5-ton capacity or over carry mates. The drivers' rate of pay is £6 8s. for a 461-hour week, with half-day working on Saturdays; the corresponcEng rate for mates is £5 16s. Overtime is paid at the rate of time-and-a-quarter, and drivers and mates employed on 7-ton vehicles receive an additional 155. weekly. Drivers engaged on mineral-water delivery are paid a commission on sales, as are all drivers and mates for the collection of empties.
Overtime payments are heavy throughout the year on journey work, and particularly so at harvest time and Christmas. Many of the operating staff have had 10-30 years' service and. as a policy-of one driver to one
vehicle applies, it is not unusual for a driver to keep the same Vehicle throughout its entire life.
In addition to the large stocks of seeds, fertilizer, grains, malt, wines, spirits, minerals, tea, groceries and engineers' stores held at Tullamore, large storage space is rented in Dublin, to which all goods supplied by manufacturers and agents in that city are delivered. Subsequently, when in Dublin on delivery work or with whiskey and liqueurs for export, vehicles hackload from these stores to Tullamore. A branch office in Dublin deals with shipments and Customs clearance, and bonded warehouses are maintained at Dublin, Tullamore, Banagher and Galway.
The bottling department and wholesale branches are equipped with a system of runners for loading and unloading cased goods direct from vehicles, whilst stout and ale brewers deliver to Tullamore in tankers.
Regular work includes journeys throughout the year front Tullamore and wholesale branches, delivering cased goods and groceries and returning with empties. Some vehicles based at Tullarnore are constantly engaged in replenishing stocks 'at wholesale branches at Birr, 23 miles away, Athlone (24 miles) or Portarlington (16 miles). There is a peak delivery period before Christmas and during a fine summer.
During harvesting in late August, September and October, Tullamore becomes a hive of activity. Every ' available man and vehicle is engaged in carting wheat, barley and oats from farm to drying plants and malt houses. In winter and spring, wheat is carried to the flour mills and vehicles return with loads of fertilizer. In the spring, fertilizer is delivered direct to the farm.
Beginning in mid-December and continuing until the following September, the three 7-ton Commers are occupied six days a week in delivering mall to A. Guinness Son and Co. (Dublin), Ltd., Dublin. They return with loads of fertilizer or other imported goods, such as wines, spirits, tea or oranges, or with miscellaneous loads from the Dublin depot. Increasing traffic is occasioned by an expanding export trade in whiskey through the 'port of Dublin, with loads through Cobh and Shannon airport.
The wholesale branches serve areas within a radius of approximately 50-60 miles of Tullamore. In addition. deliveries of Orange and Lemon Pak, wines, spirits and tea are made by van to all parts of Eire. There is also a regular service between Dublin and Tullamore.
Whilst contact with customers is made initially by salesmen, such relationships are greatly, assisted by the transport department's. policy of allocating long service operating staff regularly to the same routes.
Except at .peak periods, all vehicles are greased every 1,000 miles and, if Out-based, are withdrawn to Tullamore for a thorough check every 6,000 miles. This includes a road test and oil-filter-element change, whilst the engine, gearbox and rear axle are checked,-and any fault reported by the, drivers or observed during inspection is rectified. Manufacturers' recommended hub-greasing procedure is also carried out.
Decarbonizing is done when, the vehicle shows loss of power, and not according to a fixed mileage. Similarly, major repairs are effected only when necessary and, apart from oil-filter elements, all other assemblies are replaced or reconditioned only when worn out. Vehicles are touched up in the company's own body shop—usually every year—and completely repainted every two years.
A comprehensive maintenance history is kept of each vehicle. On this is shown the date, mileometer reading, cost and abbreviated details of each repair job, together with the engine and chassis numbers, unladen weight and total mileage. A fleet tyre register is kept which, Mr. Farrell considers, provides sufficient useful information without the extra clerical work involved in detailing individual tyre records. Tyre mileages of more than 80,000 have been obtained, whilst some covers have permitted a second remould. Oil is changed at 2,000 miles in petrol engines and at 4,000 miles in oil engines.
To control the Maintenance of vehicles based at branches, weekly returns are submitted to the transport office at Tullamore showing mileometer readings, daily fuel and oil issues to each vehicle, together with details ' and cost of running repairs contracted out locally.
Mileometers are checked daily, as are fuel and oil consumptions. Average weekly mileages vary between 200 and 1,200. Servis recorders are .fitted to all vehicles and wages and overtime are based on the charts.
A complete monthly. systern of costing based on "` The Comniercial Motor ' Tables. of Operating.. Costs" is maintained. This record includes the 10 items of running and standing costs and is designed to produce running cost per mile, total cost per, mile and total operating, cost. These records, together with maintenance eeturns,. have been installed in a Kardex book unit for easy reference.
The wide interests of D. E. Williams, Ltd., contributc• much to the economic life of central Eire, and their vehicles deliver throughout the 32 counties of Ireland. To the problems of distribution arising from their wide, variety of traffics are added the difficulties occasioned by seasonal peaks and continuing overall expansions. The solution, they consider, Can be obtained only by an efficient ancillary road transport organization providing a service of equal diversity and flexibility.