NOISELESS AND GEARLESS: NEW MILK VANS

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 September 1949, Page 4

NOISELESS AND GEARLESS: NEW MILK VANS

With the arrival of the Rivers&le Dairy Supplies Ltd’s new N.C.B. delivery van the milkman’s lot will not be such an unhappy one. Gearless, noiseless, and running without?the aid of petrol, oil or any form of lubrication, the N.C.B. is the nearest; approach to perpetual motion imaginable, and it can be manoeuvred 'easily in the tightest of spaces. ! \ The van which is the first of three ordered by the company, is run on an electric motor running off storage batteries. The principle is not .new: in fact vans of the same principlewere introduced in Christchurch many years ago, but these are completely outmoded by the N.C.B. It was only during the war years when a petrol shortage prevailed that the N.C.B. was perfected, and it has taken some time for the vehicle to be placed on the market. f Well Designed f Apart from one firm, it is reported that there are no other N.C.B.’s m New Zealand, but that the Municipal Milk Department in Wellington has placed orders for them. Having an unloaded weight of one ton 13 cwt. the N.C.B. is particularly well designed for town and suburban deliveries. Its chief virtue perhaps, no doubt at least from the public s point of view, is that it is absolutely The vehicle is simplicity itself in regard to milk delivery. There is no such thing as starting the engine and putting it into gear. A foot placed on the accelerator pedal sets everything in motion, and the N.C.B. moves off over the first 20 yards as fast as any high - powered motor - car. Hydraulic brakes bring the van to a standstill. Low Costs It is a vehicle that is fairly expensive to .put on the road, but against that is the factor that operating and repair costs are practically nil. Replacement of the batteries is the only liability. Because of its manoeuvrability (reverse gear speed is on a par with forward) and noiselessness, the N.C.B. has become very popular in England. It is the essence of freshness the deck being “open air” apart from the roof. The vehicle will carry a load of one ton, and reaches a speed of about 25 miles‘'an hour. The dairy’s second • vehicle, expected to arrive in the near future will have a carrying capacity of 25 cwt.