Opinions from Others.
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The Remuneration of Drivers.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
L-1,113] Sir,—In your issue of 6th January, " MotorWagon Carrier," at the end of his weekly contribution, raises the question of the remuneration of drivers, and suggests that it would be interesting to have the views and opinions of others on this most-important subject. Although not a motor-wagon carrier myself, I have studied the question a little and am constantly in touch with both owners and drivers. As " Motor-Wagon Carrier " says, it is a most-difficult thing to arrange the manner and amount of pay for motor-wagon drivers, particularly for those engaged in the carrying trade. It is very often a much-easier matter to adjust the rates of remuneration ith the drivers of privately -owned commercial vehicles. The latter have generally a used amount of work to do each day and each week. The owners arrange for the loads to he as constant and as regular as possible, a ml the driver knows what he has to do. It is to his interest to look after things, to get away on his journey as promptly as possible, and so to get his day's work done. I know many drivers who rise at 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock in the morning, as cheerfully as the proverbial lark, and are out on the road with the wagons before five every morning. These men have generally finished their day's work and are off home by 4 o'clock in the afternoon, But how different is the case of the motor-wagon carrier and his driver! They are very often at the beck and call of very-unreasonable customers, who do not consider them in the least, and loads and journeys are often very, irregular. The owner is at his wits' end one day to know how to cope with the work demanded of him, and the next to know how to find work for his wagons. These are very-trying circumstances, both to owners and drivers. This is where the difficulty comes in for "Motor-Wagon Carrier" in dealing with his men. Naturally, there has to he a good deal of give and take between master and man. Your correspondent admits this, I think, pretty clearly, when he says that an employer should be prepared to accept some responsibility in the case of sudden stoppage through weather or other causes. He also recognizes the principle, which is generally observed between nutster and man, that, when a workman receives extra pay for extra hours or labour, he must also be prepared for a reduction in his pay, because of reduced hours or labour. So far he is on good ground. If I were a motor-wagon carrier, I should try to carry these principles further, and to make it to the men's interest to work the wagons to the best advantage. The hest way of doing this would be to graduate their rate of pay according to the amount of useful work which the wagons did. Any extra pay per hour would not do, for, as " Motor-Wagon Carrier " says, such an arrangement would clearly be an inducement for a man to prolong the time taken on his journeys. Therefore, the next best way is to pay a bonus on the journeys run. To my way of thinking, a still-better plan, however, would be to give a bonus on the ton-mileage, if this were. possible, and if it di:1 not entail too-much bookkeeping. By so doing, there would be a strong incentive for a driver, not only to get through with his wagons, hut to make sure that he obtained good loads, and to avoid running light as far as possible. It is wonderful how much a good driver can do in this respect, by interesting himself in the business. He has many advantages and opportunities which the owner has not, through being brought into close contact with the actual work in hand, and with the loaders and customers. A good man also can sometimes pick up a return load, instead of running back empty. In addition to paying an individual bonus. I should be inclined to try some system of a collective bonus for the whole staff of drivers, in order to induce them to help one another as much as possible. It is surprising what can be done in this way, instead of each man's looking after himself, thoughtlessly leaving his wagon or trailer in everyone else's way at the depot, and taking the last bit of firewood, when he knows perfectly well that one of his mates has to go out before him in the morning. Effectively to carry out a bonus system on the lines indicated above, it would be necessary to start with a low initial wage, say 20s. per week, and to give such bonuses that, on a moderate week's work, the driver could make, say, 33s. per week; and for a good week's work, say, 455. I should strongly insist on the 20s. rate, when the wagon was taking shed days or was in the hands of the repairer, in order to induce him to look after his wagon and to keep it in repair and on the road. I.have seen enough of drivers' loitering and wasting their time, when they could have been rendering valuable assistance and saving expense, during the time wagons are under repair, to make me feel strongly on this point.— Yours faithfully, • (hisses, '
Steam or Petrol? Steel or Rubber ?
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
L1,1 l4] was very much interested in the report of
the interview, with Mr. W. Birtwistle, given in your issue of the 24th ult., under the heading " Steam or Petrol ? Steel or Rubber '! " and also with " Lancashire Carrier's " article " Why I Prefer Steam," in the same issue. It is an intensely interesting subject, to both builders and users of commercial motor vehicles, at the present juncture of the industry, and it may ultimately assume as great an import as the battle of the gauges, in the railway world, about the middle of the 19th century. The question of steel or rubber is much nearer a solution than the question of steam or petrol, notwithstanding the present high prices of raw rubber. Were it not for the latter factor, no doubt whatever need exist as to the economy of rubber tires, if all the advantages to be gained by their adoption be considered and taken in conjunction with our improved modern roads—made with tarmacadam, or paved with small granite setts. A reduction in the price of raw rubber to something like a normal figure would put steel tires, even for steam wagons, entirely out of competition. Owing to the present inflated price of rubber there is a tendency to fit machines with rubber tires of so small a section that they do not last well. It is a well-known fact that to get the very best results the tires must be well up to their work, but, as prices now stand, the cost of fitting a five-ton steam wagon with suitable rubber tires is almost prohibitive. Yet I know of three four.lon steam wagons, and one of five-ton capacity, which have been fitted with rubber tires, and their owners are perfectly satisfied—in fact, the smile which some of them wore during the recent snow spell (lid one good to see, and was in itself a testimony to the efficiency of rubber tires. The general employment of rubber tires on petrol wagons is now a foregone conclusion, and, given a substantial reduction in the price of raw rubber, I believe that the use of rubber tires will become almost as universal for steam wagons. The provision of resilient tires would give steam wagons a new lease of life, and make it hard to say which would be the more-popular machine of the future for four-ton and five-ton loads—steam or petrol. Both classes of vehicles have their advantages and disadvantages, and each has its advocates. At the present moment the petrol wagon—judging by the number of makers and the state of their order books—is the mostpopular machine, but the petrol machine is not to have a " walk over " ; Alley and MacLellan, Ltd., Fodens, Ltd.,
Leyland Motors, Ltd., the " Mann " and the " Yorkshire" companies are building rubber-tired steamers suit able for four-ton loads, and makers are doing well with tl.em. The Foden Co.'s machines are all built on its wellknown lines, whilst the Lancashire maker uses a five-ton Leyland petrol chassis, on the front end of which is fitted a standard boiler, and a new pattern single-acting threecylinder engine. I have seen these makes of rubber-tired machines at work on the road and I was particularly struck with their smooth and quiet running, and the ease with which they could be manoeuvred, and got into loading position; compared with petrol machines, this difference was both apparent and striking. These are some of the points in which the steam wagon scores over its petrol-engined competitor; there are others—the steam engine is more elastic, thus doing away with troublesome gear changing—it is better understood--needs not so many delicate adjustments—and is more economical. The advantages of petrol over steam may be summed up as follows :—lts aljilitv to run longer distances without the necessity of replenishing fuel and water supply ; no boiler troubles; large saving in weight on front tires, owing to the absenre of boiler and coke; saving in weight on back tires owing to absence oif feed-water tank aria its contents, which amounts to about 1`2 cwt. when newly filled ; and, I think I might add, cleanliness. The large saving in weight, and its ability to run long distances without taking water are the two striking features in favour of petrol over steam the water question, too, is sometimes a very serious one with steam wagons, especially in districts where water is scarce, or of an unsatisfactory character. As so much can be said for and against both systems I am afraid he would be a very rash person who would go so far as to say that either —steam or petrol—was the better form of power *qt.
Before closing this letter, Mr. Editor, I should like to refer to a very simple petrol engine of American make, which I saw in a small delivery van exhibited. on the stand of the Chase Motor Co.. at the recent commercial motor show in Manchester. The petrol engine is often criticized, if not actually condemned, as being a very complicated piece of mechanism; no one could bring such a charge against the Chase engine, as the only moving parts outside the crankcase are the commutator and the two small bevel wheels which drive it, whilst the only moving parts inside are the crankshaft, the connecting rods, and the pistons. This engine is certainly the very acme of simplicity and it struck me as being an ideal engine for commercial motors. There are no inlet or exhaust valves—the pistons cover, and uncover, inlet and exhaust ports in the sides of the cylinders. It is a twocycle engine with three cylinders, and as there is an explosion in each for every revolution of the crankshaft. the turning effort is equal to that of a six-cylinder engine.—Yours faithfully, " Botsx."
Users Experiences.
The Editor, THE COMMRRCIAL MOTOR.
[1,115] Sir,—I have recently had an opportunity of riding on a five-ton petrol lorry built by Leyland Motors, Ltd., of Leyland. This machine has been in service some seven months, and has run about 7,000 miles, or nearly as many miles as a steam wagon travels in a year ; the machine had, therefore, reached an interesting age for comparison. The load on board was 4 tons 16 cwt., and the roads were in a. particularly heavy state. The chief points which struck me about the machine were the total absence of vibration and noise on any gear, which, to my mind, indicates a long life to all working parts. The ease with which the driver could control the machine was also most marked in traffic ; there was no question of skidding, or side slips, and there was always plenty of power for acceleration in overtaking traffic. T felt that I was on a machine which belongs to a totally-different chapter in road transport to that of the steam wagon. I believe the engine has had a few adjustments but they have been of a trivial nature, and the driver attributes them as much to overloading as to anything else_ It is a danger against which I have warned lorry owners more than once. A further point of interest was that the machine appeared to be far more automatic than a steamer ; the gas mixture, when once set required no alteration, and the spark only nee:ied retarding on gradients. The greater part of the time the driver only required to use one hand to steer with. The comfort enjoyed upon such a machine was most marked, and suggested that wear and tear could not be very severe on a machine on which the road shocks were so perfectly absorbed. The question of the extra exprise required to obtain this luxury is a matter which, as yet, is hardly settled, but I am convinced that, the luxury a ill pay its way to a great extent. Whilst I am prepared to give unstinted praise to the latest productions of petrollorry builders, as a carrier I cannot see how they are going to compete successfully with the five-ton steam wagon and its trailer, on steel tires. The public requires a vehicle which can stand a hit of " bullying " ; they are not as yet trained to calculate their requirements to half a ton, and in many eases prefer to have a machine which they know can cope equally well with either five or eight tons; moreover, the handling of goods in the larger quantities is often a matter of considerable saving to the public. Two eight-ton loads for instance may involve only one break in the loading arrangements, whereas four four-ton loads would involve three breaks which might easily make a difference of one hour in the total time.
was asked to give my advice recently on the best means of finding a lost tractor; my inquirer, who happens to be also a customer of mine, suggested rather unkindly that I was probably an expert on the subject. This little incident suggests to me that on THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR road map, which I hope will soon be on the market, giving particulars of the roads suitable for our purpose, and with watering-places, etc., it would be well to indicate telephone call offices on the main roads, where, possibly, the number of the police-station telephone might also be given. I do not often lose a machine, but it will occasionally happen, and if there were recognized call offices en route, they would be useful for making inquiries from, as well as being of service to a driver in order that he might get into touch with headquarters.
Our log sheet for the week is as follows:— Earnings, £75; tonnage, 18-5; mileage, 1,188; percentage of work done, 96; coke used, 12 tons 10 cwt. ; oil used (gear), 16 gallons: oil used (cylinder), 11 gallons.—Yours faithfully,
" MOTOR-WAGON CARRIER."
Unfair Competition of Rate-aided Trams.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MoxoE.
1,116] Sir,--The council people over here are now making further desperate efforts to rid this part of the world of the motorbus. Not content with placarding the town with their piteous appeals to the residents to support the trams," " why pay twice," etc., they are now putting in some points, so that the cars can turn, just outside Seven Kings Hotel. The motorbuses turn at this place and, of course, the council's idea is to starve them off the road_ I hope the "London General" will rise to the occasion, and circumvent the tramway committee's manceuvre. Why does not the bus company put on some better-lighted machines down here—some of its De Dions, for instance I think, too, in view of the present developments, it would not be a bad idea to make Seven Kings Railway Station the turning point for the buses—they could thus turn the tables on their rate-aided opponents.—Yours faithfully, Seven Kings, -5th March, 1910. " PETROLTTR."