
A milk float is a
vehicle
A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...
specifically designed for the
delivery
Delivery may refer to:
Biology and medicine
*Childbirth
*Drug delivery
*Gene delivery
Business and law
*Delivery (commerce), of goods, e.g.:
**Pizza delivery
** Milk delivery
** Food delivery
** Online grocer
*Deed ("delivery" in contract law), a ...
of fresh
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
. Today, milk floats are usually
battery electric vehicle
A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that uses electrical energy exclusively from an electric vehicle battery, on-boa ...
s (BEV), but they were formerly
horse-drawn floats. They were once common in many European countries, particularly the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, and were operated by local
dairies
A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...
. However, in recent years, as the number of
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
s, small independent
grocer
A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...
s and
petrol stations
A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel.
Fuel dispensers are used to ...
, and
convenience stores
A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lottery t ...
stocking fresh milk has increased, many people have switched from regular
home delivery
''Home Delivery: Aapko... Ghar Tak'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is ...
to obtaining fresh milk from these other sources.
Characteristics
Because of the relatively small power output from its electric motor, a milk float travels fairly slowly, usually around although some have been modified to attain speeds of up to . Operators often exit their vehicle before they have completely stopped to speed up deliveries; milk floats generally have sliding doors that can be left open when moving, or may have no doors at all. Electric milk floats come in three-wheel and four-wheel versions, the latter normally larger. They are very quiet, suiting operations in residential areas during the early hours of the morning or during the night.
Most electric milk floats do not have seat belts, and the law in the United Kingdom only requires wearing seat belts where these are fitted in the vehicle. While there was previously an exemption in the law meaning those making local deliveries were not required to wear seat belts, which would in theory have included drivers and passengers in milk floats with seat belts fitted, the law was changed in 2005 to deliveries less than apart.
Statistics
In August 1967, the UK Electric Vehicle Association put out a
press release
A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...
stating that Britain had more battery-electric vehicles on its roads than the rest of the world combined.
It is not clear what research the association had undertaken into the number of electric vehicles of other countries, but closer inspection disclosed that almost all of the battery-driven vehicles licensed for UK road use were milk floats.
[
Glasgow has one of the largest working milk float fleets in the UK. Most of the vehicles operate from the Grandtully Depot in ]Kelvindale
Kelvindale () is a district in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Kelvindale shares the G12 postcode with the neighbouring residential districts of Kelvinside, Hillhead, Hyndland, Dowanhill, as well as Gartnavel General Hospita ...
. Some dairies in the UK, including Dairy Crest
Saputo Dairy UK, the trading name of Dairy Crest Limited, is a British dairy products company. It was created in 2019 when the Canadian company Saputo Inc bought Dairy Crest. Dairy Crest itself was created in 1981 as a spin-off of the Milk Marke ...
, have had to modernise and have replaced their electric milk floats with petrol
Gasoline (North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When formul ...
or diesel fuel
Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a re ...
-powered vehicles to speed up deliveries and thus increase profit.
Manufacturers
There were many manufacturers of milk floats in Britain during the 20th century.
Brush Electrical Engineering Company had been established in 1889, and had manufactured electric cars between 1901 and 1905. In 1940, Brush required some small electric tractor units, but as none were commercially available, they asked AE Morrison and Sons to produce a design for one. Morrisons produced a 3-wheeled design, which Brush then used to manufacture a number of units for internal use. They then began selling them to customers, shipping a large order to Russia in 1941. They expanded to producing battery electric road vehicles in 1945, when they bought designs and manufacturing rights from Metrovick. The Metrovick designs were for 4-wheeled vehicles, but they also produced 3-wheeled vehicles, which were marketed as the Brush Pony. In early 1949, they reduced the prices of their electric vehicles by around 25 per cent, in an attempt to make them more competitive with petrol vehicles. All of their road vehicles were sold through the motor trade, in order to achieve a good standard of after-sales service. Production of 4-wheeled battery electrics ceased in 1950, although the company continued to manufacture the 3-wheeled Brush Pony, and their range of industrial trucks. By 1969, Brush were owned by the Hawker Siddeley group, which also owned half of Morrison-Electricars, and manufacture of Brush electric vehicles moved to the newly established Morrison factory at Tredegar. Most were industrial trucks, but the transfer also included the Brush Pony, and a number were manufactured at Tredegar subsequently.
Electricars began trading in Birmingham in 1919, and although they initially made heavy duty electric vehicles, suitable for payloads up to 6 tons, they soon diversified into smaller vehicles suitable for doorstep delivery. In 1936, they became part of the business group Associated Electric Vehicle Manufacturers Limited (AEVM), but during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, few electric vehicles were built, due to a shortage of materials, and they ceased producing them in 1944.
Graiseley Electric Vehicles were produced in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
by Diamond Motors Ltd, a company which previously had made motorcycles, and which bought the sidecar business from AJS when that company was liquidated in 1931. Included in the sale was the Graiseley marque, and this was used for a range of three-wheeled battery-electric pedestrian controlled milk trucks. They soon found that they could sell into other industries as well. In 1937 they produced a ride-on four wheeled vehicle, suitable for a payload of . Nevertheless, it was for their pedestrian controlled vehicles that they were best known, and their range included the Model 60, the Model 75, and the Model 90. Because the primary focus was on the dairy industry, the model numbers represented the number of imperial gallons of milk that could be carried. Between 1948 and 1952, the company sold a large number of Graiseley PCVs to United Dairies, and gradually diversified into stillage trucks and pallet trucks for use in factories. The company was liquidated
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as wound-up or dissolved, although di ...
in 1960,[ but the Graiseley marque was used by Lister Graiseley in 1969 and by Gough Industrial Trucks Ltd of ]Hanley
Hanley is one of the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke- ...
, Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...
in 1971.
Harbilt electric vehicles were initially produced by the Market Harborough Construction Company, which was formed in 1935 as a manufacturer of aircraft components. After the end of the Second World War, they diversified, and electric vehicles were a part of their new product range. The first vehicle produced was the 551 pedestrian controlled vehicle, which they supplied with a charger made by Partridge Wilson of Leicester, who were making their own range of Wilson battery vehicles. As well as milk delivery, the chassis was popular in Switzerland, with some 2000 vehicles supplied to the Swiss Post Office and to Swiss hotels. From 1956, they introduced ride-on vehicles, beginning with the model 735, and expanded the range considerably over the next few years. At some point in the early 1970s, prior to 1974, Harbilt and Morrison-Electricars reached an agreement for a product exchange and rationalisation. All milk floats would be built by Morrisons at their Tredegar works, while Morrison trucks would be handed over to Harbilt. The electric vehicle facility was taken over by a management buyout in 1975, and registered as Harbilt Electric Trucks. It continued to make trucks for a variety of industries, until it was bought for almost twice its share value by Fred W Davies, a Canadian who owned the Davies Magnet Group and York Trailers, in 1987. Production moved to Corby, but the venture was short-lived, and it was sold again to M&M Electric Vehicles of Atherstone in 1989.
Lewis Electruks were built by TH Lewis Ltd of Watford, a company closely associated with London's Express Dairy Company. Lewis began building milk floats, milk carts and horse-drawn vehicles for Express Dairies in 1873, and the business became a limited company in 1899. It was taken over by Express in 1931, as part of a reorganisation of their business. TH Lewis designed two types of electric vehicle for Express, the first of which entered service in 1934. This was a 3-wheeled pedestrian controlled vehicle with a payload. They were one of the first companies to provide storage for dry goods on their vehicles, and demonstrated a type AER 4-wheeled float with a grocery box behind the cab at the 1955 Dairy Show. Their exhibits at the 1958 Dairy Show included a standard milk float with a walk-through cab and a vertical steering wheel. The company was acquired by Austin Crompton Parkinson, makers of Morrison Electricar floats, in 1961, and Morrisons continued to make two of their models, the Electruk Rider, which became the model E15, and a pedestrian controlled vehicle, which became the model DPC3. Both Express Dairies and the London Co-operative Society had large fleets of the Electruk Rider, and continued to add to them with purchases of the E15.
Metrovick electric vehicles were made by the Metropolitan-Vickers
Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...
Electrical Company between the 1930s and 1945. In 1939, the Metrovick range consisted of a model, a model and a model. By 1943, a model had been added to the range. A more modern design of cab had been introduced in 1939, and as the Second World War ended, Metrovick ceased to make battery electric road vehicles, selling its designs and manufacturing rights to Brush. Consequently, early Brush designs are virtually indistinguishable from later Metrovick designs.
Midland Electric milk floats were produced by Midland Vehicles Ltd of Leamington Spa. Their first design was a chassis, which was launched in January 1937. It was designed by J Parker Garner, who at the time was a well-known designer, having been involved in the manufacturing of vehicles for a number of years. In early 1938, Midland added a model B20 to their range, which was designed for a payload, but was otherwise very similar to the earlier model. It was showcased at the British Industries Fair, held at Castle Bromwich in February. By 1943, Midland Electric were producing five models, which could be fitted with various types of bodywork, including a flat-bed truck for coal deliveries. They produced a new lightweight design in 1949, which featured an all-welded chassis with an integral body frame. The company was listed in a 1956 directory of electric vehicle manufacturers published in Commercial Motor, but the company closed in 1957.
Morrison-Electricars had their origins in the 1890s in Leicester, when AE Morrison began producing bicycles, motorcycles and stationary engines. The company became AE Morrison and Sons in 1929, and produced their first battery electric vehicle in 1933. They moved to larger premises in 1935, and all other products were phased out. They were another major player in AEVM, and Electricars and Morrisons rationalised their product range, with Morrisons concentrating on the smaller vehicles suitable for milk delivery. The vehicles were marketed as Morrison-Electricars from mid-1942, and were so known despite a series of takeovers. The Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company Limited was a British manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin, Herbert Austin in Longbridge. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors, Morris Motors Limited in the new holdi ...
bought a 50 percent share in AEVM in 1948, and the company became Austin Crompton Parkinson Electric Vehicles Ltd. Austin merged into the British Motor Corporation
The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a United Kingdom, UK-based vehicle manufacturer formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris Motors, Morris and Austin Motor Company, Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merge ...
in 1952, which in turn merged with Leyland Motors
Leyland Motors Limited (later known as the Leyland Motor Corporation) was an English vehicle manufacturer of lorries, buses and trolleybuses. The company diversified into car manufacturing with its acquisitions of Triumph and Rover in 1960 a ...
in 1969, to become British Leyland
British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...
. The electric vehicle business became Crompton Leyland Electricars Ltd. In 1972, British Leyland sold their share of the business to Hawker Siddeley
Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in list of aircraft manufacturers, aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers ...
, better known for aircraft manufacture, and the company became Crompton Electricars Ltd. The Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
refused to allow Morrisons to move to new premises in Leicester, because of a lack of skilled labour in the area, and instead offered to build them a new factory in a development area, so the manufacturing base moved to Tredegar
Tredegar (; ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial R ...
, south Wales, in 1968. Morrison-Electricars ceased to be made in 1983, when Hawker Siddeley sold the business to M & M Electric Vehicles of Atherstone, Warwickshire, who subsequently adopted the Electricars name for their own vehicles.
Victor Electrics was formed in 1923 when Outram's Bakery in Southport
Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...
, Merseyside, wanted to buy some electric vehicles to replace horses and carts on local deliveries, but found that both home-produced and imported vehicles were considerably more expensive than they were prepared to pay. They started manufacturing their own electric bread vans, which looked like conventional vans, with the batteries mounted under a bonnet at the front. They were soon making three models of bonneted van, but in 1931, produced a forward control vehicle with a walk-through cab for the dairy industry. By 1935, they had a range of forward control vehicles in production, and ceased to make bonneted vans. In 1967, the company was acquired by Brook Motors, and became part of Brook Victor Electric Vehicles. This company was itself acquired by Hawker Siddeley in 1970, and in 1973 it became Brook Crompton Parkinson Motors.
Wales & Edwards was the name of a garage and car salesroom for Morris and Wolseley cars, based in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...
. Mervyn Morris designed an electric vehicle, and the first milk float was sold to Roddington Dairy in early 1951. A request from United Dairies saw the production of a 3-wheeled chain driven vehicle, which was an immediate success. An order for 1,500 vehicles followed, and a new manufacturing base was set up in Harlescott, a suburb to the north of Shrewsbury.[ Larger models followed, although the 3-wheeled design was retained for most of their subsequent output. Four-wheeled vehicles were introduced in 1966 for payloads which exceeded , although they made eighteen 5-wheeled articulated milk floats from 1961, which could carry . The company was acquired by ]Smith Electric Vehicles
Smith Electric Vehicles (also known as Smith's) was a manufacturer of electric trucks. The company, founded in 1920 in the north of England, moved its headquarters to Kansas City, Missouri in 2011. Smith suspended all operations in 2017.
Smith ...
in 1989.
Wilson Electrics were made by Partridge Wilson Engineering, who were manufacturers of charging equipment for accumulators, and were based in Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
. In 1934 they produced their first electric van, suitable for a payload of , and went on to produce several larger models, including a version. In 1939 they were offering special deals for fleets of six vehicles, which were charged using a Davenset 3-phase group charger. Wilson Electric vehicles ceased to be produced in 1954, although the company continued to trade in Leicester until 1986.
Other manufacturers included Smith's, Osborne, and Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
. In 1941, Morrison-Electricar standardised three types of body which would become the basis for thousands of milk floats built after the war to deliver goods to the recovering population. By 2003, there were still a number of companies offering doorstep deliveries, but no companies supplying new vehicles. Bluebird Automotive attempted to fill the gap, but only succeeded in supplying two vehicles to Golden Vale Dairies in Bridgend
Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...
and one to Express Dairies, which was trialled in Northampton, before becoming insolvent in 2007.
Alternatives
Before BEVs, dairy supplies were delivered using horse-drawn milk floats. This lasted from the late 19th century until the 1950s. Today, with rounds expanding in coverage to ensure profitability in the face of falling levels of patronage, the limited range and speed of electric milk floats have resulted in many being replaced by diesel-powered converted vans.
Preservation
A collection of 29 milk floats and other BEVs dating from 1935 to 1982 and representing 14 different manufacturers is kept by The Transport Museum, Wythall at their museum, and an early Brush Pony, dating from 1947 and operated by United Dairies, can be seen at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu
The National Motor Museum (originally the Montagu Motor Museum) is a museum in the village of Beaulieu, set in the heart of the New Forest, in the English county of Hampshire.
History
The museum was founded in 1952 by Edward Douglas-Scott ...
. There are five battery-electric road vehicles in the collection at the Ipswich Transport Museum
The Ipswich Transport Museum is a museum in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, devoted principally to the history of transport and engineering objects made or used in its local area.
The museum collection was started by the Ipswich Transport Preservat ...
, including a Smiths milk float dating from 1948, which was operated by Ipswich Co-operative Society, a Smiths vegetable cart dating from 1965 and a Brush Pony van dating from 1967. In addition several milk floats are still in service today, albeit repurposed after their milk delivery days. Many are used for work in factories, or as pleasure vehicles in rural areas, and some are hired out.
See also
* Delivery wagon
*Electric platform truck
Electric platform trucks are electric powered trucks with a large flat surface for holding objects to be transported. Some are also called warehouse utility vehicles, electric trolley carts, or powered platform truck vehicles. Electric platfor ...
*Milkman
Milk delivery is a Delivery (commerce), delivery service dedicated to supplying milk, typically in milk bottle, bottles or cartons, to customers' homes. This service is performed by a milkman, milkwoman, or milk deliverer. (In contrast, a Cowman ...
* Neighborhood electric vehicle
Bibliography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milk Float
Milk transport
Electric vehicles
Vans
Battery electric vehicles
Trucks