NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTION

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1401, 8 September 1923, Page 8

NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTION

THE USE OF MOTOR FLEETS. THE UTILITY VEHICLE. It has been proved that the best kind of motor for work is one which is stronglv but lightly built, and equipped with a comparatively large engine of from 20 h.p. to 25 Ih.p., which will give a high torque at fairly low speeds, and thus permit rapid acceleration. Unfortunately it would appear that the British manufacturer does not provide a chassis which will fulfil these conditions, with the result that, much against their will, all the •well known evening papers in London have had finally to resort to vehicles not made in England, states the Commercial Motor. The vans recommended for the work by British makers, speaking generality, were of approximately 15 h.p.. with an engine which only developed its power at comparatively high speeds, and this class of machine had to be rejected. This is unfortunate, not only because of the large numbers of vehicles employed, but also because they form valuable advertising media, and are a prominent reproach to our own manufacturers. Very large fleets of vehicles are employed by the Evening Mews, the Star and the Evening Standard, and with a view to obtaining information on some of the problems confronting the transport departments of these papers we visited each of them, our first call being on Mr J. M. Gummerson, M.1.M.E., A.M..L, Min. E., the transport manager of the fleet which deals with the distribution of the Evening Standard.

This fleet comprises, roughly, 40 Dodge Brothers' vans of the 15cwt capacity, six Talbots, 18 light Fords, three 2 ton Federal lorries, three motor cycle combinations, and three cars for attending race meetings. The last named carry reporters, and. in the ! case of those meetings which are not too far from town, photographs are taken to the works, and alternately are taken direct to the scene of activities, with the result that, as the public leave the course, they can frequently buy the papers containing the results of the race. Apart from this fleet, there are three cars used for staff purposes. Circulation and Distribution. The system of operation is usually as follows: The circulation department, which is also responsible for the distribution, informs the transport manager as to the number of vans which will be wanted, and, having supplied them his responsibility ends until their return, unless they break down. Each vehicle has allotted to it a certain territory. The vans first proceed to the publishing department, and are there loaded from the chutes, down which the papers are sent, tied up in bundles and addressed either for the shops or the street sellers. Each car, when loaded, starts off with the driver, and two or three newspaper hoys. Taking a particular instance, there may be 15 bundles of papers, of which eight would be delivered to shops and four to newspaper sellers waiting at the street corners, the remaining three being taken charge of by the boys who have accompanied the van, and who alight with their bundles at their respective destinations. I Distribution is effected over the j whole of Greater London to a radius of approximately 15 miles from Fleet Street. Apart from fhe vehicles employed on this work, there is a number em- j ployed on parcel work to feed the railways with bundles of papers for the proinces. This Is far more straightforward work than that performed by tu' 1 roundsman, who apar; from binding over the papers, have to collect the money from them either at the time or later on in the day. In this article we are referring only to the distribution of the evening papers, but we may point out that the vans are never all in the garage together, and actually the garage never closes. There are only two days in j the year on which no newspapers are printed, but even then the cars have | to be on their night work preparing i for tfhe following day. On an average week day 95 per cert of the cars are expected on the roads, I while at night 20 per cent of the fleet is working under a different shift of I drivers. In spite of this, the vehicles j are kept in very good condition, both i mechanically and as regards appearance, and are washed daily. All the j repairs are done in the garage, and in j the case of a breakdown an engine J can usually be changed in two hours and a back axle in half an hour, and spare units are always kept in stock | for this purpose. | Some idea of the work can lie gath- | ered from the fact that the average mileage for a month is between 70,000 and SO,OOO, the petrol consumption is I varied round 1800 gallons per week, and that of lubricating oil 100 gal- i lons. The total staff employed at the garage is 30. I The Daily N'ews Floel. Our next visit was paid to Mr H. W. j Hewitt, transport manager of the j Star and the Daily News fleet. This consists'of 18 Teljots of two types. I carrying lOewt, and one ton respec- j tively, 25 Leon Bolless of lOewt capa- j city, 20 15cwt Dodge Brothers' vans. | two Napiers, five 7cwt Fords. five ! Oalcotts, which are used for inspec- j tion work, two 3 ton Leylands and a j two tonner of the same make, and ten ' motor cycle combinations, which are used chiefly in the provinces. This large fleet is attended to by a garage : staff of 25 all told, and this in spite ; of the fact that the vehicles are housed , among three garages -one at Rouve- ! rie Street, London, and the other h"o I at Amelia Street, Walworth, Loudon, j S.IC, and Sancrol'l Street. Kenrrii';- , ton, London, S.U.. the vans being kept at the nearest garage to the finishing points of their runs in order to avoid : j dead mileage. i 1 The fleet has been practically doubl- < ed since 191'J, and is sti'l growim- \ certain number of cycles is still in i ' use. bin these are gradually Icing re- : placed, while horse transport disap- | i pearul altogether some- years ago. If vi c <u>f>i, as i?i V"- ease of thai of j i the Standard, is divided into two sec- ! I lions, driven by depot men and par- I eel men respectively, the former be- i

ing employed in the street and shop j distribution, while the latter take the i bundles of newspapers to the various ! railway stations for places anywhere I outside a radius of 12-15 miles from I the publishing offices. i Fifty vehicles out of the fleet of 80 (which includes cars used for the Daily News) are out on the Star distribution every day, but the transport manager always has to be ready for the unexpected. For instance, on the Saturday on which the Cup final was played it was found impossible to | send the papers to Wembley by train, ! and the motor fleet had to be called I upon to take them by the road. Mr Hewitt emphasised the necessity of the vehicles having quick accelej ration for traffic work, and this is I where the large American engine j scores particularly, i The procedure for the ordinary delivery work is practically identical J with that already described, and, in j the case of big race meetings, cars I are sent to them with the early morni ing racing edition. I The Star has a very large circulation jin Reading, Brighton, Ipswich, Colj Chester, and the southern and eastern coast towns in general, and it is here j that the motor cycle combinations | have proved most useful. Reliability is of the utmost importj ance; all ordinary repairs, as well as j overhauls, are carried out at the ! publisher's own workshops at Amelia ! Street. The vehicles are giving considerable satisfaction, although some of the Leon Bollees have already been in active service for 10 years to 12 years. The Dodge Brothers' vans are of recent date, and up to the present have given excellent results. The mileage of the fleet is between 70.000 and 80,000 per month, and the petrol used is about 1200 gallons per week. The Evening News Fleet.

, | Our last visit was to Mr E. C. Bell, : ! the transport manager of the fleet . | which deals with the Evening News. i j Mr Bell is a staunch adherent of stanj dardisation, and he has adopted vans I made by Dodge Brothers and supplied I by International Motors Ltd., of Ham- , ! mersmith, who also built the bodies. ; | There are 45 of these vehicles, all , | of 15cwt, carrying capacity, and apart i i from these, there are 15 heavy vehic- , ; les, which are used for carrying the ; j Daily Mail to the railway stations. | Among these are six 2?. ton Lancias, ' four Austins of 2-3 ton capacity, and three old chain driven Austins of 40 j h.p. There is also a Peugot car, which ■ j is employed in connection with race '■ ! meetings, and some staff cars. : j The vans start from the garage in 1 | Friars Street. London. 5.E.1.. at about : | 9 o'clock each morning, and proceed i i to Carmelite House, where they take in their supplies of what is called the third edition of the Eveniug News. . ' The actual papers are sent on elevaI tors to the publishing offices, where they are made up into parcels, but j tlhey are delivered to the vans from I different windows, according to the I districts for which they are intended. | It has been agreed among the pubI Ushers that no evening paper shall leave the offices until 9.30 a.m., and after that the rush commences. I The radius of operation isapproxlmately 15 miles. Each car covers an average of 40 miles a day, during which time it deals with five editions, and sometimes some extras. Normally about 43 of the vans are out every day, and the arrangements for inspecI tion and repair have to be made so | that practically 100 per cent of the fleet can be out on the Saturday, which is, of course, the day when the newspaper world is extremely busy; for instance, on the Saturdays of the Cup tie final, 49 vans and two lorries were employed in carrying the Evening News, and they run a total of 2500 miles. The extra vehicles used were borrowed from the Daily Mail fleet, j Inspection Every 4000 Miles. Mr Bell is a great believer in dock overhauls, and each vehicle of -:he fleet is brought in for thorough inspection and repair every 4000 mites. The work performed includes decarbonis- j ing the engine, grinding in the valves, | withdrawing the back ax'e shafts, ex- | amining all the ball races, the front i axle and steering, and also the elec- J trical equipment. This almost eliminates breakdowns on the road, and does away with the necessity for an annua! overhaul. To cope with this work there is an office staff of three and a garage staff of 31, excluding an electrician, who attends to all the lighting equipment. Night shifts are not employed for repairs Very careful costs are kept, and Mr Bell can give the cost of any particular item at a moment's notice, for instance, tvres and tubes cost 79d per mile, and this includes fiv j of each per <ehicie. The whole fleet runs on a fuel mixture, consisting of 20 per rent benzole with a No. 3 petrol, and Silvertown oils are used exclusively. Both the petrol and oil are kept ?n bulk, the former in Bowser underground tanks I and the latter in mobile tanks of the j same make. ! The Evening News garage is kept in j a remarkably clean and fhy condition . and is provided with all the latest j equipment, such as compressed air ' plant with take oil's, conveniently si:- j uated round the walls, machines for j dealing with the straight sided cord tyres, etc. Tlw tyres used ars mostly of Dunlop make. (Published by arrangement * \v.th Holmes Bros., TV Awamutu distribu- " tors for Dodge motor cars). ALL WELL AGAIN. I THANKS TO LOASKY'S "GET WELL." I , "Yes. we've all had the 'flu. from I father down to baby, but thanks to a friend putting uie on to Loasby's "Get Well' we all soon recovered.'' This is the experience hundreds ;.,t wLe people have had. There's nothing j will sihili the 'tin once it gets a good ; grip of you, bin afterwards ins lead of j lingering along with vitality at a low j el V, lake a course of Get. Well' audi you'll soon Ic lit and strong again. This potent tonic contains no drugs, yet is a wonderful strengthener after i illnesses or when run down. From all j stores -L 6d and 8s Rd per bott'e. or | post free 5s fid and 10s. Wholesale j from merchants or direct from A. M. LOASBY, the Only Prescribing Chemist. 26 His Majesty's Arcade, Aucklan.l. I"