News of the Week
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• GOVERNMENT SPARE-PARTS . SCHEME MODIFIED THE future of the Spares Shortage Certificates Scheme has been discussed between the Ministries of War Transport and Supply, the S.M.M.T., and the manufacturers. A number of the makers is now in a position to handle orders without the scheme's aid. The scheme has, therefore, been discontinued except for parts and units stated by the following maker-a as being in short supply:—Vehicles: Albion, Austin, Leyland, Morris Motors, Standard and i,Volseley. • Engines: Norris, Ilenty and Gardner. Com ponents: Hardy Spicer. Certificates will continue to be issued for these, provided the parts or units be required for vehicles engaged on essential work.
As regards cars, only those for which " E " coupons are issued are classed as essential.
Certificates issued to manufacturers no longer in the scheme, but not cleared, will be dealt with in rotation as supplies become available.
MORE TYRES SHORTLY TO BE AVAILABLE
EKPECTATION of an immediate and substantial increase throughout the country in the quantity of tyres available for operators of commercial vehicles is indicated by the Ministry of Supply, in reply to further representations on this subject by the National Road Transport Federation.
A helpful factor is the cancellation of the priority which the War Office, in conjunction with United States authorities, had on all supplies of large tyres., This priority ceased at the beginning of October, In addition to dealing with the supplies position generally, the Ministry is making particular inquiries concerning the situation in Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Yorkshire.
FUNCTIONAL GROUPS IN THE
CONSIDERABLE progress with ‘..-.Functional Groups is being made by the R.H.A., and the membershipapplication forms now contain a section in which applicants can indicate any of such Groups to which they wish to be attached. At present, they cover bulk tank (liquids), clearing houses, express carriers, heavy haulage,• horsed-vehicle operators, film, livestock, meat and milk carriers, and tipping vehicles.
It is pointed out by the R.H.A. that, whereas a local association might be able to do something for hauliers centred in one particular locality, and, an association based on function might be able to do good to hauliers falling into one particular functional group, only a body national in scope, and not only divided into areas, but also, according to function, can represent the industry in any or all parts of the country both geographically and functionally.
It is, therefore, believed that the industry can best 'make itself felt in 41.16 national affairs by giving as nearly as possible universal support to one great organization capable of serving it both from the standpoint of the location of the haulier and from that of the specialized character of his busi,ness. Each of the R.H.A. Functional Groups is carrying on 'actively and looking after its particular interests.
CLEARING HOUSES' ANNUAL FUNCTION
THE principal guest at the annual luncheon of the National Conference of Road Transport Clearing Houses, to be held on October 30 at Frascati's Restaurant, Oxford Street, London, W.1, at 1 p.m., will be Mr. F. R. Strauss, M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the M,O.W.T.
PARIS SALON IN 19-46
WTE learn with interest that the
W French motor industry, on both the commercial and private sides, is alive to the potentialities of the future. For this reason the French Motor Show, which will include all classes of motor vehicle, will be held in Paris, at the Grand Palais as usual, on October 3, 1946, The British industry must look to its laurels in this respect.
LONDON TRANSPORT APPOINTMENTS
AS a result of the retirement of Mr, T. E. Thomas, C.B.E., from his position as general manager of the London Passenger Transport Board, also that of Mr. J. H. Parker, chief electrical engineer, Mr. S. R, Geary., 0.B.E., has become general manager, Mr. A. A. M. Durrant, C.B.E., chief mechanical engineer, and Mr, G, F.
C.B.E„ deputy general manager, all for the-road-services side of the Board, whilst Mr. P. CroomJohnson has become chief engineer for electrical and civil engineering.
INVENTIONS MADE IN GERMANY SINCE SEPTEMBER, 1938
NOTIFICATION is given that the Government has decided that inventions made in Germany since September 3, 1938, shall not be allowed td form the basis of valid application for the grant of patents, or for registration of designs, in the United Kingdom, and, accordingly, such applications will not be accepted by the Comptroller of -the
Patent Office. Any rights lawfully acquired by non-enemies before September 3, 1939, in inventions for which protection was applied for in Germany in the 12 months preceding that date will be safeguarded. Any legislation or other measures necessary to give effect to this decision will be adopted as soon as practicable.
INDEX 'FO VOLUME 81 OF "
THE index to Volume 81 of " The Commercial Motor " covering the issues from February 2 to July 27, 1945, has recently been published. A copy is available from the offices of Temple Press Ltd., Bowling Green Lane, London, E.C.1, price 7d., postage included.
R.H.A. ISSUES BOOKLET. OF AGREED RATES
THE R.H.A. has issued as a useful booklet the rates schedules for the weekly and daily hire of road vehicles contained in RH/D/20 and revised to September 17;
The rates are divided into separate schedules 'for each of the four wage grades under the Road Haulage Wages Board, and . they apply only to standard vehicles. A special increase for tipping vehicles engaged on tipping work is referred to in notes on each schedule.
This is tbe first publication detailing an agreement on rates reached between the Ministry and the industry as a whole, and the R.H.A. recommends that its members should be closely guided by the rates. Copies can be obtained, at 6th each, from any R.H.A. office, , or from Roadway House, 146, New Bond Street, London, W.I.
M.O.W.T. AND SHORT-TERM PERMITS I N the House of Commons last week, Mr. A. Barnes, Minister of War Transport, in reply to a question by Mr. De la Bere, stated that the termination of numbers of short-term permits, granted to .transport undertakings, was made only in cases where the Regional Transport Commissioners were satisfied that the need for them no longer existed. The permits were being reviewed as a preliminary to a gradual reversion to licensing procedure.
• Mr. De la I3ere said that many small undertakings were being handicapped by the failure to speed up short-term permits. Mr. Barnes considered that the word " many " was an exaggeration. " It is not 'many,' it is an enormous number," replied Mr. De In Bere.
LUTON MUNICIPAL BUSES EARN GOOD PROFIT TOTAL revenue from the operation
of buses by Luton Corporation in the year ended March 31 _last was . £.154,161, and as working expenses amounted to £132,472, the gross profit was £21,689, compared with £20,075 a year earlier. Capital charges, bank interest, etc., amounted to £9,213, so that the net profit for the past year was £12,476, contrasted with £10,407 111 the previous year.
From the net profits of the past five years, £15,375 has been paid or set aside as reserve for income tax, £9,170 as reserve for deferred repairs, and £25,004 has been spent on capital assets, including thepurchase of nine buses and two chassis.
At March 31 last, total loans outstanding amounted to £71,039, but this amount has now been reduced to £31,343.
The vehicles are used on a route mileage of 41, and the fleet strength at the end of March last comprised 72 vehicles, made up of 22 petrol machines and 50. oilers, a large proportion of them being double-deckers. The aggregate mileage operated during the year was 1,620.297,, and the number of passengers carried 19,684,706.
AN " EXTENSION " OF THE "LICENCE TO ACQUIRE"
OPERATORS Who had their vehicles requisitioned, or who voluntarily surrendered them to the Services, or who had to dispose of them due to their businesses closing down, can apply to their Regional Transport Commissioner for licences to acquire.
Hitherto, such licences have been more readily granted when it has been a question of vehicle replacement, as against an increase in the vehicle fleet. Mr. A. Barnes, Minister of War Transport, made the point clear in reply to a question by Sir P. Macdonald, in the Houseof Commons last week.
ASSISTING THE APPRENTICE TO FIND HIS RIGHT JOB ASERIES of talks designed to assist youths to decide for themselves which trade is likely to offer the best chances of success, has recently been introduced into its training scheme for apprentices by Leyland Motors, Ltd. The informal talks are being given under the direction of Mr. V. W. Pilkington, the company's director of engineering.
For each meeting a different trades group will be selected as the subject for discussion, and a specialist will talk on its scope and future, after which the meeting will be thrown open.
The subject chosen at the first meet
ing, held at the beginning of this month, was foundry work. The boys were addressed by Mr. W. West, the company's foundry manager, who, first of all, refuted the popular misconception that foundry work was merely a semi-skilled job consisting of monotonous repetition, but pointed otit that it was, on the contrary, a creative trade calling for the highest degree of craftsmanship and initiative.
OBITUARY We regret to announce the death of MR. R. H. COMLEY, joint managing director of the Avon India Rubber Co., Ltd.; of Melksham, Wilts, who was this year's president of the Federation of British Rubber and Allied Manufacturers' Associations. He started business life in .1906 and was with the Sirdar Rubber Co., which was absorbed by the Avon India Rubber Co., Ltd., in 1916. After service overseas in the 1914-1918 war, he returned to the Melksham factory and later was appointed manager of the company's branch at Newcastle, subsequently controlling the Avon depots in the West of England and Dublin. He eventually became director of sales, and in 1942 was elected to the Board and appointed
joint 'managing director. He was a member of the Councils of the Tyre Manufacturers' Conference, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and the Motor Trade Association.
BIG FUEL SAVING FROM POOLED DELIVERIES
SPEAKING at a farewell dinner of the Glasgow Retail Drapery Pool Association, Mr. Archibald Henderson, Regional Transport Commissioner, complimented the pool on its work during the war. He said that through the work of the Pool Committee, which had reduced the number of vehicles on the road from 70 to seven, the' Ministry of War Transport had effected a net saving of 90 per cent, in fuel consumption for the delivery of stores' goods in Glasgow.
AVAILABLE FOR EXECUTIVE IVE know a man who has been works VV manager for a small concern of precision engineers during the war, was apprenticed with Saunders-Roe, Ltd., was nine years a foreman of vehicle maintenance, and for five years prior to the war was entirely responsible for a fleet of 40 or so vehicles. Letters addressed " Executive," care of the Editor, will be forwarded.
LAMINATED SAFETY GLASS SUPPLY ENSURED
A N interesting statement by Tyne1-1 side Safety Glass Co., Ltd., 31-32, St. James's Street, London, S.W.1, is that it has developed for• laminated Safety glass an entirely British-mado interlayer, which is said to possess considerable advantages over the imported American variety, the supply of which is, we understand, difficult on account of the sterling-dollar exchange.
The company does not anticipate any obstruction in meeting the requirements of the transport industry for such laminated glass.
REVEALING AN IMPORTANT HIDDEN SERVICE
MOST of our readers know that the proper fitting of giant tyres includes rim descaling and dressing with a special preservative to stop adhesion, rusting and head rot. To confirm that this bidden service, .popularly called Tyreprimming," has been carried out, many. tyre depots now endorse their accounts with a rubber stamp stating, ".Rims Tyreprimmed," and giving details. The supplier of " Tyreprim " is T. R. Parry and Co., Ltd., Castor Street Works, London, E.14.
FINE WORK OF A MORRIS. COMMERCIAL 5-TONNER • IN 1937, Messrs. T. Miller and Sons, 1 Toronto, Bishop Auckland, commissioned a Morris-Commercial 5-tonner to haul firebricks, sanitary pipes, etc., a vd up to September this year it bad covered 228,710 miles without any major repairs actually travelling
93,000 miles before the engine as decarbonized. Over one period of 12 months, an average weekly mileage of 1,000 was attained over such varying terrain as Yorkshire, Durham, Cumberland and the Border Counties. Individual performances include a load of 8 tons 19 cwt. up to Newton Cap Bank (1 in 7) and 4i tons tip Sutton Bank (1 in 4). CARRYING COMPANY'S JUBILEE DINNER
THE silver jubilee dinner of the Crow Carrying Co., Barking, was held in London last Saturday, when presentations were made to one of the directors, Mr. F. J. Reynolds, and an employee, Mr. S. Scott, who had been with the company from the commencement, whilst all the. members of the staff and other employees received a gift of money graduated according to length of service, the presentations being made by Mrs. Crow.
Mr. Herbert H. Crow, managing director, presided over a gathering of about 200, which included many people prominent in the road-transport industry. During the evening, Mr. Henry T. Duffield, chairman of the 'National Road Transport Federation, presented safety awards, Warm tribute was paid by Mr. Clayton to Mr. Crow and the company, which, he said, was held in the highest regard in the transport industry and by those who used that industry. The progress of the concern was a splendid tribute to private enterprise.
Responding, the chairman declared that the keynote they were striking that evening was one of thankfulness that they had been able to carry on
through 1-ears of trial. The drivers had driven through the black-out and during air raids, and the success they had achieved was the result of team work.
In presenting safety awards, Mr. Duffield commented on the amazingly fine safe-driving record of the drivers during 1944. Later he said that there were dark days ahead of them, and he sincerely believed that road transport could not be carried on successfully under a nationalized system.
MEETINGS OF HIRE-CAR OPERATORS fiEETINGS of hire-car operators 1V1have been arranged in the following districts by the Passenger Vehicle Operators Association:—Southsea, at Kimbell's Cafe, Osbourne Road, at 3 p.m., on October 31; Bournemouth, at St. Swithun's Church Hall, Manor Road, near Lansdowne, at 7.30 p.m., on October 31; Birmingham, at the Chamber of Commerce, New Street, at 3 p.m., on October 30; Plymouth, at the Association's offices, Sherwell Lodge, Marlborough Road, at 8 p.m., on November 1.
• BID TO RAISE STATUS OF TRANSPORT OFFICIALS
THEpolicy of the Institute of Traffic Administration was outlined by the president, Sir Herbert Matthews, to a recent well-attended meeting of members of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Centre at Cardiff. " These,– he said, "could be summed up in one word 'education.'
ft was the aim of the Institute to raise the status of transport officials throughout the country. Although the Institute had been started only in February of this year, a summer school, which proved to be highly successful, had been held last month at Birmingham and examinations were to be held. Mr. H. Jordan, chairman of the National Council, answered a number of questions and gave an assurance to a Services inquirer that contacts were being made with the War Office with a view to securing facilities for the study of transport by young men in the Services who wished to equip themselves for civil occupations on demobilization. He also suggested that the South Wales Centre should approach the principal of Cardiff Technical College with a view to securing a transport course during their next session.
"NORTHERN ALUMINIUM" ALLOYS: NAME CHANGED I T is announced by the Northern Aluminium Co., Ltd., Banbury, that the nomenclature of its alloys is to be progressively changed from " NA " to " Noral." The purpose is to identify the company's trade mark with the materials which it produces. . The change is made effective in the " Noral Castings Handbook " which has been revised and brought up to date and is now being issued.
GUY MOTORS HAS BIG ORDERS FROM OVERSEAS
ONE of the leading British commercial-vehicle manufacturers which is paying close attention to export markets is Guy Motors, Ltd., Fallings Park, Wolverhampton. The company informs as that it has on order, at the moment, Arab bus chassis and Vixen 4-ton lorries to the value of 200,000 from places as far apart as Rio de Janeiro and Auckland, Montevideo and Lagos, India, Belgium, East Africa, France, Nigeria, and Holland.
In addition, it has already delivered bus fleets to Kenya and Ceylon, and these are believed to be the first British buses of post-war design to be exported.
It is also interesting to hear that the company's sales literature is being printed in seven languages, apart from English.
FERODO EXHIBITION OF WAR PRODUCTS
THE comprehensive exhibition held in the works of Ferodo, Ltd., attracted' the public and large numbers of the company's workpeople, who were able to see just how their own particular job dovetailed into the huge plan of providing a large proportion of the braking equipment for the war effort.
Exhibits, starting with the rock asbestos, were numerous and varied, and much attention was focused on the special brake facing which the concern was given some three weeks to pre pare. It was for certain types of amphibious vehicle, which would not react under water to the ordinary friction material, and six weeks before " D-Day " the vehicles were without adequate brakes. The company called in its men from the Easter Holiday, and produced 100,000 pads in the required time.
The exhibition, which was open for two weeks, ended last Saturday, by which time several thousands of people had seen it. STEPPING-UP THE OUTPUT OF SEDDON OILERS
I N the course of his speech at the sales conference, held in Manchester last week by Foster and Seddon, Ltd., the chairman referred to the company's war effort, and said that 1,655 vehicles of various types had been produced, including trailers for a variety of specialized purposes. Despite this direct War work, the company was able to maintain production of the Seddon oiler, and he indicated that chassis production figures are rising steadily, the average weekly output for Sep, tember exceeding that of Augustby over 50 per cent.
The company has niade plans to make twice as many chassis in 1946 as will be produced this year, and about 20 per cent, of next year's output will consist of the 10-ft.-wheelbase tipper chassis, which has not been in produc tion for four years. These forecasts are naturally subject to certain contingencies. In the first place, manufacturers of components must be given time to get into step, and, secondly, certain material is harder to obtain now than it was during the war.
The chairman referred to certain improvements, or modifications, which have been made in the design of the Seddon vehicle. He said that, for some months past, the company had been receiving inquiries from overseas. The sales conference was attended by 70 guests, and on the following day a visit was paid by them to the Bolton factory of Pilot Works, Ltd.
IDLE VEHICLES OF TWO MINISTRIES
APPROXIMATELY 50,000 double. trackvehicles under the control of the Ministries of Supply and Aircraft Production are laid up. This information was given by Mr. Leonard in reply to a question by Sir Waldron Smithers in the House of Commons last week.
NOTTINGHAM HAULIER HOLDS VICTORY DINNER WHEN Robin Hood Transport, Ltd., W the Nottingham haulage operator. recently entertained employees and friends to the number of ISO at a victory dinner, a presentation of cheques to those who have rejoined the staff after being in the Services, and to workers who have been with the concern for more than 10 years, was made by Mrs. Dennis. the managing director's wife.
As.a token of the staff's esteem for Mr. Dennis a silver tankard was presented to him by Mr. Phcenix, the company's secretary, who said It was encouraging to know that the task of steering the company through the difficult days in prospect was in the hands of one in whose leadership they had such confidence.
In thanking the employees for their gift and for their loyal service, Mr. Dennis compared the company's organization to a three-legged stool, with the driving staff as one leg, the maintenance department as another, and the administration as the third. Each one was as important as the other.