TERRIER PROWS A USEFUL BREED
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Councils now have tight budgets anc need versatile and flexible vehicles by Johnny Johnsor
THE NUMBER of commercial vehicles used by local authorities must be vast. Council departments proliferate and each has its own transport requirements. Their fleets need all the flexibility of operation that is possible.
This objective has become even more important in these hard times. Exhorted by Central Government to cut their spending, local authorities are realising that one way to do this is to go for versatile equipment that can be used by more than one department.
However, local authorities must observe the law governing the operation of commercial vehicles; their operators' licences are just as much at risk as those of other licence holders. But, because of what they are, they must try to be beyond reproach.
A conviction for overloading, for instance, attracts more criticism than it would if the operator were not a public body. So flexibility must be allied with fitness for the job.
Staffordshire County Council is one of those forward looking authorities which has begun to replace some of its former vehicles with more flexible units. It has taken delivery of four Leyland Terriers and is evaluating their performance with the intention of buying more.
I asked Mr Brian Chadwick, the council's chief plant engineer (highways), what was the thinking behind the acquisition. He explained that he was responsible for about 700 items of plant and equipment used by the county council and a further 200 or so which were used by district councils as the county council's agent.
Much of this plant needed to be transported to sites where it was to be used. In addition, the highways department was responsible for road construction and maintenance. For the heavier construction work the authority already had a few Boxers, but the maintenance work had been done by using 30cwt vehicles.
Patching roads and pavements, for instance, meant that perhaps several journeys were needed to carry the material necessary to complete the job to the site of the work. There was, therefore, always a temptation to put just that bit more on the vehicle which could lead to overloading.
Rather than run the risk which had attracted the at
The steel body of the Staffordshire County Council tipping Terrier has drop sides in two sections to facilitate shovel loading and unloading.
tention of enforcement staff in the area, in the past, it seemed sensible to consider a somewhat larger vehicle with a better payload to replace part of the 30cwt fleet.
Because of his reduced budget, consequent on the cuts in local government spending, the vehicle chosen had to be of a reasonable price with an economic cost of operation. The choice settled on the Leyland Terrier range which comprises four basic models, the TR650 at 6.5 tons gvw, the TR750 at 7.5 tons and the TR850 and the TR950 at 8.5 and 9.5 tons gvw respectively.
Final choice lay with the TR650 model. The 6.5 tons gvw was enough to satisfy the need for most of the road maintenance activity and gave some promise of being useful for building, too. The two were becoming less well defined as separate activities as the need for economy of expenditure reduced construction to a minimum.
The TR650 has a wheelbase of 132in and plated axle weights of 2.6 tons at the front and 4.5 tons at the rear. The standard engine is a 4-98 four-cylinder diesel unit, but a 6-98 six-cylinder engine can be fitted as an alternative. With the smaller engine the hydraulically operated singledry-plate clutch' is '11 in in diameter and the larger engine has a 12in plate.
The standard gearbox is a four-speed synchromesh unit but a five-speed box is available. This is always fitted with the 6-98 engine.
The frame of the vehicle is of the conventional ladder type with six cross-members. There is a choice of overhang; if the longer overhang is preferred, then an additional cross-member is included.
Terriers were the first British trucks to be fitted with the power hydraulic braking system which provides many of the advantages of air brakes but without the problems which arise from size and weight encountered on light vehicles. It comprises hydraulic pump gear driven from the engine which draws fluid from a reservoir feeding it into an accumulator. Here it compresses a nitrogen filled bag. When the footbrake is actuated, the nitrogen expands forcing brake fluid along the brake lines to the front and rear brake drums. Steering ratio is 28.1 with a 20in diameter steering wheel. There is a 77-litre (17gal) fuel tank. All the Terrier range have a tilt cab.
In the tipper version, operated by Staffordshire County Council, the body is of steel with drop sides in two sections and a drop tailgate. This gives access to the load at any point from each side of the vehicle and enables road mending material to be either shovel unloaded or tipped. It also facilitates the loading of those items of plant which have to be carried.
Driver Ron Townsend told me that he had formerly driven a 30cwt vehicle but found the Terrier just as easy to drive with the added advantage of the greater payload so that fewer journeys were required. He was enthusiastic about the use of the vehicle for other purposes than road maintenance, particularly for ditching where equipment as well a! material has to be carried.
There was no loss of manoeuvrability either, he said This could be of vital importance in the confines of counci yards or in narrow country lanes when on outwork.
When I saw the vehicle ir use, the gang were spreadinc bitumenised material on E pavement and had completec a job which required some tons of material in one operation. Had they been using z 30cwt vehicle, they told me, ii was possible that two additional trips to the depot tc replenish the material woulc have been required.
Mr Chadwick expected that the council would probably replace up to one third of it5 30cwt units with Terriers which would be possible within thE confines of his restricted replacement budget taking intc account the relative prices al the two types of vehicle.