TOMORROW'S FLEETS AND OPERATIONS

20th September 1974, Page 214

20th September 1974

Page 214

Page 214, 20th September 1974 — TOMORROW'S FLEETS AND OPERATIONS

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NO MAJOR technical breakthrough in sight, but a great deal of development of the 32/38-ton vehicle and a further general improvement in cab comfort -that was one of the principal messages which senior fleet executives delivered to delegates at CM's Fleet Management Conference on Tuesday.

Three own-account and haulage managers had visited the British truck makers, and their report formed the opening session of a conference attended by 450 delegates from all sections of the road freight industry.

For this session, CM arranged for a small group of senior fleet executives to visit the seven main truck manufacturers in Britain; the fleet managers were asked to report on outstanding impressions of the visits and also to look at planning tomorrow's fleet in relation to their own responsibilities. In order of visits, the companies covered in the tour were British Leyland, Seddon-Atkinson, Fodens, ERF, Ford, Vauxhall (Bedford) and Chrysler. At each place, the group was able to discuss future developments with design and service engineers, parts specialists and marketing and product planning executives.

Balancing the technical session was a paper, "Tomorrow's operations", taking a look at some of the traffic, personnel, financial and legal prospects and problems in large-scale operation. Other papers provided an insight into the American trucking scene and the relationship between driver characteristics and road accidents.

Published here are the conference papers (slightly shortened in one or two instances); an illustrated report of the discussions will appear in next week's CM.