Motor Road Transport For Commercial Purposes
(Liquid Fuel, Steam, Electricity)

148 MOTOR ROAD TRANSPORT Spare Parts. As regards spare parts, the transport owner will be well advised to keep a reasonable number in hånd. It is here especially a question of the happy mean, for it is almost as expensive to keep a large and over- stocked spare part depot as to be understocked and to have to rely on the manufacturer in time of need. If the van-owner is running a class or type of vehicle of which he has not had previous experience, the best plan is to get from the maker a list of those parts which from the latter’s experience are most likely to give trouble and to keep a corresponding supply of these. To depend on the manufacturer to supply a correct spare part at a moment’s notice, is, in. many cases, to court unnecessary expense, for the reason that there will probably be delay in the business, during which time the van. must lie idle, and in addition cost money. Tyres. The bulk of commercial motor transport in this country to-day is undertaken by vehicles running on solid tyres; nevertheless, there appears to be a tendency on the part of traders whose transport is of the fast type, to favour the pneumatic tyre. This question of pneumatic tyres for the heavier types of mechanical road transport is a large and important one, for the reason that it contains the possibility not only of widely increasing the scope of the road motor, but also of effecting a considerable decrease in the cost of operation. Two of the greatest obstacles in the past to the employ- ment of big air-filled tyres for lorries were overcome by making the covers with cord instead of fabric, and by using the straight-side bead in place of the clincher type. With these improvements it was found possible