PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER.
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Helping the Farmer to Move His Beet Crops and Charging Him a Fair Price For the Service.
FARMING and the farmer happen to be very much in the public eye just now, for various reasons. There is the weather, which, of course is always with
us and appears even more to he with the farmer. Then there is the energetic campaign of a section of the daily Press. Anent this latter aspect of the matter, however, there does appear to be one bright star in the firmament, namely, the activities of the farmer in connection with the growing of beet for sugar.
Now, what on earth, I can imagine my reader saying, has the farmer and his trouble got to do with the problems of the motor haulier and carrier?
Don't Mind Your Own Business.
"Mind your own business" is a command which the haulier should consistently decline to obey, or, at least, it is very important that he should know how businesses other than his own are faring. In "minding other people's business" in this way he is, as a matter of fact, quite effectively and usefully minding his own. What I mean is this. Every haulier should keep a watchful eye on the immediate prospects of all sorts and conditions of industries, so that he may make his own plans accordingly.
The way to look at it is this: The majority of traders to-day have their own vehicles, some more, some less, according to circumstances. They have them to meet their current needs for transport and when trade improves the need for increasing their fleets arises. If it be thought that the improvement may be but temporary, then outside help—that of the haulier—is employed to tide over the period during which the improvement lasts. If the better trade continues, the firms concerned may increase their own fleets or not, as the case may be, their decision in this matter naturally being governed by the efficiency with which they are served by the haulier.
Sugar-beet Haulage.
The foregoing are some of the reasons why the haulier to-day should be keeping his eye on that portion of the farming industry which is concerned with the growing of sugar beet. That industry is prosperous and it is growing fast ; there are present, therefore, conditions which favour the employment of the hauliers' services in any case, but it is also true that in this particular industry the circumstances are such, as a rule, to make it more convenient to employ outside help for transport than to maintain fleets of lorries for the purpose.
The sugar-beet industry is one which only calls for transport at certain periods of the year. It would be folly for those engaged in that industry to buy vehicles and to keep them standing idle for six out of twelve months, which is what would happen. Therefore, they look to the haulier as being an economical source of supply to meet their transport needs.
A Typical Example.
The conditions under which this class of haulage is carried on are typified by the following example of the way in which one man does the work. He has a 4-5-ton reconditioned tipping lorry which he bought for 020. He employs one driver at a wage of £3 Os. a week and two labourers to whom he pays £2 a week each. On the average a man can load a ton of beet in 20 minutes. • The wagon actually conveys five tons of the produce over a fouremile journey, returning empty every time. The average running speed is 12 m.p.h. An 81-hour working day . is the standard, with 41 hours on the Saturday.
• The time necessary for a complete round trip may be assessed as follows. The two labourers each load 21 tons, taking 50 minutes for the work ; the running time for 8 miles (four each way) at 12 m.p.h. is 46 minutes, and a quarter of an hour is required for unloading. That means that 11 hours are necessary fee each complete trip.
On that basis it is possible to carry five loads in an 81-hour day, that is for five days a week, and twc loads on the Saturday morning. In a week the total is 27 loads, equivalent to 135 tons, and the mileage covered in that period is 216.
The running cost on this particular job works out as follow : £ s. d.
Fuel at 2.14d. per mile ... ... 1 18 7 Oil, etc., at .45a per mile . 0 81
Tyres at 1.05d. per mile ... 0 18 11 Maintenance at 1.57d. per mile ... 1 83 Depreciation at 1.17d. per mile 1 11 Total £5 14 11 The standing charges are:—
i s. d.
Licence (£48 per year) ... ..• ... 0 18 8 Wages ... 60
Rent ... ... ... 11 6 Insurance ... ... ... ... ... 78
Interest (5 per cent. on £320) ... ... 0 62 Total 19 10 0 If now we add for establishment charges and profil £6, the total cost and profit per week is 121 4s. lid. which means that 3s. 2d. per ton must be charged.
Looking for a Better Method.
Now we have to try and find if there is a bettet method than this. In any case of this kind the firsi thing to look for is the means of reducing the standing time of the vehicle employed. It should always be remembered that it is expensive to keep motor vehicles idle. The more useful miles they can be made to rur the more economical and paying proposition it is. II is only necessary briefly to refer to the above costs appreciate this point. The standing charges amount no less than ID 10s. per week, and even if we deduct um this the wages of the two labourers, totalling £4, ere is still £5 1.0s. going out week by week, whether 3. vehicle be idle or whether it is doing a thousand iles a week.
Now in examining the details of the analysis of workgiven above, out of every 105 minutes only 40 are tually spent by the vehicle on the road. Half of at time is usefully employed, so that really only 20 ,flutes out of that 105, or less than 20 per cent. its time, is spent in profitable employment. On a b of this kind it is quite impossible to arrange for turn loads, so that, unfortunately, we have to reconle ourselves to the loss of 20 minutes. Of the balancr ' the time occupied in each complete journey 50 mutes is employed loading and 15 minutes unloading The vehicle is a tip-wagon, so that most of the i minutes must be taken in getting into position. lore may be opportunity for slight economy there, but are not in a position to make any practical sugstions for improvement; we can only refer to it so at the haulier himself can take the hint. We are Et therefore with the 50 minutes' loading time as imething with which we can deal. The Obvious way it is to arrange for loading and travelling to proceed multaneously, and this is only practicable if trailers employed.
An Opportunity for Using Trailers.
This suggestion might have come earlier, from a lieral consideration of the conditions of the contract, asmuch as the distance is short and the provision for ading and unloading such as to adapt.themselves to e . employment of trailers. Let us now therefore ark out the times anew, assuming the use or a small ternal-combustion-engined tractor and two 5-ton aping trailers.
The method of working would be to have one trailer : the collection end being loaded, the other either on the iad or unloading at the delivery end. The speed will ray be reduced from 12 to 8 miles an hour, so that the me travelling will be increased to one hour. This, 5 it happens, is just a little more than enough time allow of one trailer being still, as before, for a ?riod of 50 minutes. I am going to take the risk of aiiming that with a little reorganization it would be assible in the 15 minutes hitherto set down for unloadg, to unload and to ehanke trailers at the loading end. Our analysis of the time taken now becomes:—
Running time ... ... .... 00 mine.
Unloading • . ... 15
Total ... 75
This means that it will now be possible to run seven IoadS each day for five days in the week and three loads on the Saturday. The total will therefore be 38 loads, 190 tons in all, per week, and the distance travelled in that period 304 miles.
I am going to assume that it would he possible to. get a second-hand .tractor and two trailers, or possibly one second-hand tractor and trailer and a-new trailer, for £100 more than the 1320 which was paid for the other outfit. That brings our capital cost up to £420. As the second labourer will now be wholly employed loading it will be necessary to engage a boy to assist the driver of the tractor. His wage will he 255. a week.
The schedule of costs under this new scheme will be as follow :— The total coat, apart from establishment charges, if any, is therefore £20 17s. 11d. If the rate of 3s. 2d. a ton is obtainable, then the gross profit is £9 Sc. 9d. If there be competition and that price has to be cut, so low as 2s. 10d. a ton can be quoted, and the sum available for profit and establishment charges will still remain at £6. It is the outside conditions, those not .appertaining to the operation of the vehicle itself, which will determine whether the advantage derived from this rearrangement of the work is to go to the haulier in the shape of increased profits or to the beet grower in the form of more economical transport of his product.
S.T.R.