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PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER.

11th August 1925, Page 28
11th August 1925
Page 28
Page 28, 11th August 1925 — PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Casual Delivery Work Charged on a Time Basis, Would a Charge of 5s. per hour be Profitable ?

HAULAGE contractors are frequently faced with the difficulty of compiling estimates for prospective customers under conditions which are very indefinite. The least variation in the quantity of work performed is apt to make all the difference between a profit and a loss when a fixed rate of charges is adhered to, originally calculated on a basis which proves in the Aillness of time to be incorrect.

Charges made at a rate per mile are easy to work out, but, unfortunately, there are many jobs that cannot be dealt with in this manner owing to time losses, which mean that the owner is without the use of his vehicle for a period in respect of which he would not receive an adequate return in cash if he were to send in a bill at so much per mile. A one-ton van, for instance, may cover only six miles Ii a working day, and by no stretch of imagination can it be taken that payment at the rate of, say, Is. per mile will be profitable in such circumstances.

A haulier writes to me about a job that he is doing, and asks for an opinion upon his charges. He runs a one-ton lorry which is casually employed delivering goods for customers in a district within a 12-mile radius. His charge is 5s. per hour.

There are lots of things which the correspondent has not told me, but I hope to illustrate some points which may help him, by giving a few imaginary figures, and so forth. Whether the vehicle is equipped with solid, cushion, or pneumatic tyres he does not say, but I am assuming, for the sake of argument, the last type to be the ones in operation. There is not a very large difference in the operating costs per mile with the various species of tyre, but if my assumption be wrong, the inquirer mustadjust according to circumstances, as the difference will mount up to an appreciable total in the long run.

Factors Which Affect Results in a Delivery Round.

In a delivery round of the kind mentioned there are many factors which affect the mdney question. The nature of the goods carried is important ; for example, loaves of bread usually can be handled by the driver, but such articles as pianos cannot. As a one-man job is the most probable I shall work on the basis that he is not given any assistance with the load-in or out, " The number of stops made per trip affects the time and mileage. Bread and pianos again form a contrast. The former will involve many stops at intervals of even a feiv yards, but the day's mileage will probably be greater than that accomplished when carrying pianos, as these often necessitate considerable delays for each loading and unloading; in the majority of cases, a piano takes a considerable time to move into position in the house, while the van is standing idle outside.

No data being given, I shall assume that a stop takes five minutes, and that eight deliveries are made per hour. This leaves 20 minutes for running, which, at an average speed of 12 m.p.h., will mean four miles travelled in the hour. This may seem a very small distance, but it must not be forgotten that-running from house to house is a slow job, and top gear will not be engaged for very long at a time. Incidentally, the particular inquirer to whom I am referring lives in a large industrial town, and the distances covered are, therefore, likely to be smaller than if he lived in a rural area where the delivery points were widely separated. c44 Now, the district covered is within a 12-mile radius of the home centre. Taking what iS probably a fair average case, the van runs from home to an extreme point and back by devious ways, delivering most of the time. At this rate, 36 miles seems a reasonable length of trip, and this will occupy nine hours at the estimated rate of working.

This job is described as a casual one, therefore weekly totals are out of the question. A day is apparently the longest period upon which we can work in the present instance, and my remarks on 5s. per hour as a charge are desired by the correspondent. Every week the one-tortner is costing something like £4 6s. 10d. for standing charges ; establishment -expenses in the case of a small haulier will be at least a week, and he will want £4 profit in the same time. This makes £9 6s. 10d., and a further £2 should be allowed for contingencies, as the job is not a regular one. This means £11 Gs. 10d., which must be got in 51 days to make life worth living. At this rate £2 1s. 3d, per day is the required figure, or 4s. 7d. per hour of a nine-hour day.

A Return of 5s. 9d. Apparently Requisite.

So far, it seems that our friend Is 5d. per hour in hand, but is he? What about the costs of running? The 4s. 7d. per hour takes no-account of travelling at all. Running costs per mile for a one-tonner are about 3id., which means an extra 1s. 2d. per hour when four milesare covered. This makes 5s. Od. per hour the desired figure.

It appears that the inquirer is not getting the right amount of money for his work, but I cannot say so definitely, in view of the fact that I am working on assumed figures, which have had to be used owing to the shortage of information. He must blame himself if my remarks are not as true to life in his own ease as they might be.

As a matter of interest, let us take two variations just to see how 5s. an hour looks in the light of different facts.

Supposing the deliveries are fewer and the mileage greater ; say, for example, eight miles are covered in the hour-the running costs will be more, namely, 2s. 4d., but the' 4s. 7d. per hour required for non-running charges will be the same ; thus 6s. 11d. is the proper charge in these circumstances, which means that at the present rate a loss of nearly 2s. per hour is being made.

Working in the opposite direction, it is quite probable that a house-to-house delivery may entail, with certain classes of goods and payment on delivery conditions, a very small mileage indeed. The van may get into a series of long streets and wait about for a matter of an hour, possibly covering one mile in that time. The required 4s. 7d. for "standing work," as it may be termed, plus 30. for one mile, gives 4s. 10,0. At this rate, 5s. per hour seems reasonable.

, The possibilities of such a tiny mileage are not great, and it would appear that 5s. per hour is on the low side, but my assumptions, as stated previously, may be wide of the mark. The gentleman concerned must work out a set of figures to meet his own case, using the tables of operating costs issued by this journal as a guide.

The £2 allowed for contingencies is desirable, in view of the casual nature of the woes, and so forth. I would recommend the inquirer not to ex chide this point. S.T.R.

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