An Investigation of the Possibilities of
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BARLEY TRANSPORT
T'
, lot of the haulage contractor may or may not be a happy one; his state of mind is dependent on his circumstances, in which he differs in
no degree from the rest of us, but, at least, his work brings plenty of that variety which is, indeed, the spice of life. There is proof of this in the experiences of Mr.
A. J. Pullin, our guide • and mentor in the search for authoritative information concerning the transport of barley. Ipswich, where his business headquarters are located and where he is well known, is the birthplace of a variety of products, and there is no doubt that that accounts, in part, for the corresponding variety in the nature and dimensions of the loads which Mr. Pullin frequently finds it necessary to carry.
To be called upon to Convey, in quick succession, five-ton loads of Epsom salts, castor oil and Glauber salts, as well as 22 tons of port wine, is part of his normal life. The last load of this consignment of port, incidentally, went up to London in one lorry, with bricks, savoys and turnips.
A more expensive load and a ticklish one to handle is Solactol, a solvent for cellulose paint It is valued at £170 per ton, is liable to leak, and must, consequently, be handled very carefully, as a loss which may be quite small when measured in pints may easily involve a deficiency in cash value enough to wipe out the profit on the haulage of a load. ' Another expensive commodity with the transport of which Mr. Pullin is familiar is plain spirit, one consignment of which, weighing 7 tons 7 cwt., was valued at £9,000.
Awkward Loads.
Machinery sometimes makes awkward loads and often brings difficult propositions. It is quite usual to have to carry compressors, weighing several tons, with one unit, turning the scale at upwards of four tons. Two unusual instances of heavy loads, which are particularly interesting because of the contrast that they afford in the conditions of haulage, occurred in connection with the removal of machinery from a factory, the.kcon c26 tents of which were being transhipped. The loads weighed 12 tons 14 cwt. and 12 tons 10 cwt. respectively, each being a complete unit. In the first case the machinery was loaded in half an hour. In the other instance three weeks elapsed between the arrival of the lorry and its departure with the load.
A considerable amount of work is done in connection with the transport to Covent Garden of farm and marketgarden produce. Much of the work is effected byameans of articulated sixwheelers and it is of interest to note that after three or four o'clock in the morning this class of lorry is not allowed into the particular section of Covent Garden where deliveries have to be made, a circumstance which sets a definite time limit to the operations of Mr. Pullin's drivers. They, however, are partial to these Covent Garden jobs, for which they are well paid. There is a regular fee of £1 is. 41d. per journey with a four-wheeled lorry and £1 7s. with a six-wheeler. To this there are made the following additions :-9d. per call for every call over two and 2s. per hour extra if the man be required to start out with his load before 10 p.m.
It is characteristic of the motor haulage industry that wherever there is a staple product available for transport in regular con signments, the rate of haulage of that commodity is invariably cut so fine that there is very little profit to be roade out of it. Barley as a source of profitable transport does not at present, to any great extent, appeal to Mr. Pullin. For example, 7s. 6d. per ton is the current rate for a 22-mile haul, the conditions being such that it often happens that only one load per day can be carried, whilst the prospect of a return load is equivalent to a ratio of about one in three.
With only one load per day for six days per week the revenue with a 5-ton lorry is £11 5s. as against a bare operating cost (all in) of £13 10s. Even two return loads per week obtained at the same rate increase that revenue by only £3 15s., which amount is just sufficient to earn a gross profit of 30s. per week, this being only too often insufficient to set off against contingencies. With a steam wagon and trailer, taking 10 tona at a time, the prospects are brighter, as the revenue on the aforesaid basis is then £22 10s, and the cost of operation approximately £18 10s., with occasional return loads to improve matters.
Fivetonners Preferred.
Mr. Pullin's view is that 10s. per ton is a fair rate for the work, and as this would bring in a revenue of £15, against an operating cost of £13 10s., giving a reasonable, but not ample, margin over the operating costs and the prospect of making profit by return loads, we are of opinion that he is justified in his contention.
Most of the barley haulage is carried out by 5-ton lorries. Usually these are W.D.-type three-tonners and have the standard subvention-type body. The trade is regular, both as to imported and borne-grown produce. Nearly all the barley that is imported into this country comes to the Ipswich docks and -is carted thence either to mailings or to farms. Shortly after the harvest a little extra business is sometimes done in home-grown barley, owing to the fact that about that period farmers are anxious to turn a proportion of their stock into cash, but, as maltsters prefer not to take more than current requirements indicate, they, for their part, discourage this practice.
So far as the haulage contractor is concerned, there tare three aspects of barley transport, three classes of the work, as it were, differing one from
another in the-degree of convenience of handling. There is haulage from the docks to the mailings, from the docks to,the farmer and from the farms to the maltings. These are enumerated in the order of their convenience. The easiest and most straightforward job is that of hauling from the granaries in the dock to the maltings. It is easy, because the sacks of barley come shoulder-high to the loader at the granaries and are, at the maltings, taken from him with the same facility.
The work of conveying barley from the granaries to the farms is, for two reasons, a little more difficult. There is not the same convenience of unloading, because the sacks have usually to be lifted from the lorry to the floor, and the approaches to the barn, or other outhouse in which delivery has to be made, are often inconvenient. The greatest difficulty is experienced in collecting sacks of barley from the farmer. The sacks are stacked on the floor—at the best, in two layers, in which case the upper layer is easier to load—and there is the difficulty already mentioned of awkward approaches, which have to be negotiated.
The effect that these various conditions have upon the possibility of making a reasonable profit from the transport of a load of barley at a set price may be gathered from the fact that, whilst loading shoulder-high at a granary, or delivering with the same convenience at a malting, a five-ton load may be handled in 20 minutes by two men, it may take anything from two hours to three hours to collect the same quantity of material at a farm.
Imported barley arrives loose at the docks in the holds Of ships and lighters, and is shovelled thence into elevators, which convey the produce direct to the granaries,where it is put into sacks, another, is It m.p.h., and the fuel consumption of the W.D.-type lorry is at the rate of a gallon for 5-6 miles. With a distance of 20 miles and upwards between terminal point:, it is difficult to carry more than one load per day, this being chiefly because of the hours at which loads can be collected or delivered at the granaries or mailings. When the work is the haulage to farms of barley for feeding livestock, it is sometimes possible, if a load can be taken on board overnight at a granary, to make a 7 a.m, delivery to a farm, thus permitting a second journey to be made during the same day. That, however, does not often happen.
As nearly everyone knows, barley in each holding 16 stones, so that there are 50 of these sacks to a five-ton load. That weight is exclusive of the sacks employed.
As an indication of the actual expense of the work and of the conditions that limit the amount which can be effected in a day, it may be mentioned that the average speed of a 5-ton petrol lorry, taking one journey with preparation for its use by the brewer must be converted into malt. The process, on the face of it, is simple, invoiving keeping the barley until it sprouts and then raising it to a given temperature, at which it is maintained. From our point of view the importent factor to keep in mind is that it is vital that no moisture should enter the malt between the period when it leaves the maltings and when it is delivered into the brewer's vats. To guard most effectively against the entry of dampness :t is the practice to load it, while hot, into closed vans and to deliver the malt intc the vats, while it is still warn, at the brewery.
A good deal of this transport of malt takes place between Ipswich, the surrounding district and London. As a rule, the malt is loaded in the evening and delivered early the next morning into the brewer's vat. The load depends upon the size of the vat. It is usually 30 quarters, or 41 tons, but sometimes a load is 35 quarters, or 5i tons.
One point we noted in the course of our investigations at the docks was that the transport of barley is not, in these days, altogether confined to bigger vehicles. There are distinct signs that smaller vehicles of about 30-ewt capacity will become more popular for this and many other classes of haulage work. The fact of the matter is that a highspeed 30-cwt. or 2-ton vehicle can deliver a couple of loads, while the larger vehicle takes one, and, as the expense of ownership of a small vehicle, the standing charges — particularly the licence—driver's wages, insurance and rent are all smaller, the reasons for this tendency to use smaller units are not difficult to find.