HINTS FOR HAULIERS,
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An Occasional Chat on Subjects and Problems of Interest to Those Who are Engaged, or About to Become Engaged, in Running Commercial Vehicles for a Living.
ACORRESPONDENT this week asks me to outline a_bonus, or prize, system of payment to drivers'. After giving the matter a great deat ol consideration (and when I had really discovered the sort of problem that had been set me!) I decided that I should like to speak to him—over the telephone.
The subjeet is a thorny one ; it does not: lenditself to prices and definite treatment. No example can be given that would be applicable to a large number of users and be satisfactory to most of them. At the same time, the subject is one of general interest and, therefore, comprises fit matter for inclusion on this page. In this present article, I only propose to deal with it generally and to give an example of a system based on fuel consumption only, this thing being the one method which is, perhaps, applicable to most eases ; apart from that, it is obvious that each owner's case must be considered separately and independently on its -merits. Subsequently, if those of my readers who are interested and have read this contribution will write to me and give me sufficient details of their method of working, I will endeavour to help them to formulate a system of their own.
Bonus Systems for Drivers and Maintenance . Staff.
Not only.do the conditions, under which each owner uses his vehicles, vary in detail to` such an extent as to make it difficult to give advice in , more than a general fashion, but, additionally, the basis on which the bonus systein might be founded is equally diverse. For example,. as I shall show later, the system might conveniently be founded upon economy of fuel effected by driver and repair staff, or it might be thought more useful, particularly where public service vehicles are the mainstay of the business, to take freedom from accidents as the basis. Maintenance costs might be taken into account, or tyre wear. In some cases, the bonus is awarded to the driver merely on account of his regularity of attendance and punctuality. \Where delicate-goods are carried, it might be better to consider the goods only and not the lorry, so that freedom from claims for breakage and loss in transit might be taken as ground upon which to found a bonus or prize system. Some hauliers, I know, make an award according to the tonnage carried per week, some consider the mileage covered, and, yet again, in some cases, the last two are lumped together as ton mileage and taken as a guide when arranging the award.
What is the Aim of the Bonus ?
It will be realized that. the first thing the owner must decide upon is the object he wishes to gain by payment of a bonus. Does he want his chassis to be better cared for ? Does he desire economy, either as regards fuel, tyres or maintenance? Does he wish to increase the quantity of goods carried, or is he largely concerned with improvements of the service directly ‘afforded to his clients? Each of these objectives calls for a different system and, while it is not impossible to devise one which would cover all the ground, it would, undoubtedly, become rather complicated in use. On the other hand, it is veryeasy to makethe mistake of so au-aiding the bonus for any one feature so that it would react in thelong run to the detriment of the service. As an instance of the latter failing, I need only mention the system which takes the tonnage carried or the mileage covered as its foundation. The former is a direct inducement to the driver to overload: the latter must inevitably incline him to overspeeding. In the end, maintenance and tyre costs are sure to be such as to eliminate the temporary advantage gained in respect to tonnage carried. Not only will the cost of these items increase out of all proportion, but the time lost in laying up the vehicle for repairs and tyre renewals will operate• to bring down the average .pzformance to something hardly
better than can be affected in normal circumstancesand without the aid of a bonus system.
At the same time, however, much can be done by way of eliminating unnecessary and trivial delays. I remember on one occasion, myself investigating conditions of working of a brewer's transport. 1. went out on one journey with a four-ton lorry delivering' goods at hotels within an eight-mile radius of the brewery. We started not earlier than nine o'clock, and the driver's first stop, a mile or so away from home, was for breakfast! Each delivery was a small one and, in every case, was made the occasion of a stoppage a arying in length from a quarter to half an hour, and sometimes even longer than the latter. On the return journey it was quite apparent that some of the delays were deliberate, so that there should be no likelihood of getting back to the works in time for a second journey that clay. I was convinced that the same driver had done the journey in byegone days, using horse transport ; that he had been accustomed to doing it in a specified time, and he was deliberately spinning out his journey so as to make it last as long as it used to do. Now, while it is difficult to see how any bonus system would be able to correct behaviour such as that, it should be quite easy to arrange for some system which would encourage the driver to be prompt at starting, to waste no time over detail deliveries, whilst, at the same time, eliminating the risk of his driving the vehicle at excessive speed.
It is most essential that any system which it is proposed to employ must be thoroughly thought out beforehand. It would be fatal to alienate the confidence of theadriver, or for hinri to think that he is being squeezed in any way. It is not practicable, as a rule, to take him into your confidence beforehand and to endeavour mutually to arrange a. system. It may be possible to do this in certain cases, but it depends upon the man and his attitude. Having decided upon a basis, the details must be worked out and percentage bonus finally and irrevocably fixed, before the system is put into force. If there is to be any subsequent change, it should be in the favour of Sim driver. Attempts to cut bonus rates have always ended disastrously, and it is a fact that much of the distrust with which trade unions regard bonuses and premium methods of payment is due to the fact that, in the past, employers have put the systems in force without giving them sufficient consideration.
A Bonus System Outlined.
The system suggested in the following notes is one which was described in The Commercial Motor some years ago by a user who had actually incorporated the system into his works, and to whom it was giving satisfaction. I have revised the prioes so as to bring them into line with present-day costs-at that time the price of petrol to commercial users was is. per gallon-and I have endeavoured to simplify the explanation somewhat. I will take two examples, a 30cwt. lorry and a Ford van. Payment of the bonus is determined entirely according to economies effected in fuel consumption. The 30 cwt. vehicle, which I will consider first, had been worked for a, considerable period on an average consumption at the rate of 10 miles per gallon. It was decided then that this should be taken as a mean, and that economies over and above this should be paid for.
When calculating the bonus, it is first necessary to ascertain what is likely to be the total economy which will be affected, and w=hat proportions can be awarded to the driver. The prime object of any system is, of course to reduce running cost to the owner. At the same time, if the driver is expected to put himself out, his share must be worth having. The first thing -to do then, is to estimate the gross saving. We will take the petrol as being 3s. aid. a gallon, inclusive of tax' which is 3s. bid. net to the commercial user-say, 35. 64. as a round figure for calculation purposes. Assume that the lorry's weekly mileage is 250.
At 9 miles per gallon the cost per mile is 4.67d., and 1,168d. per week.
030 At 10 miles per gallon the cost per mile is 4.20d., or 1,050d. per week. At 11 miles per gallon the cost per mile is 3.82d., or 955d. per week. At 12 miles per gallon the cost per mile is 3.50d., or 875d. per week. At 13 miles per gallon the cost per mile is 3.23d., or 808d. per week.
The saving effected, therefare, tv the event of the consumption being improved to the extent of a mile per gallon, that is to say from 10 to 11 miles per gallon, would be 95d., or 7s. 11d, per week. If improvement amounted to two miles per gallon, the saving would be 7s. 34c1. per week for each extra mile got out of the gallon. In the event of 13 miles per gallon being achieved, the total saving would be 242d., or 6s. 9d. per mile per gallon per week. The average saving per mile per gallon per week is therefore 7s. 4d. If we assume then that 3s. 6d. of this is apportioned between the driver and the repair staff as bonus so that the driver gets 2s, 9d. per week for an economy of a mile a gallon and the repair staff share among them 9d. for each van in connection with which this economy is affected, then a fair division of the amount saved has been made. If there are half-a-dozen vans and the repair staff amount to .two and, if all six drivers effect an economy of a mile per gallon, then each driver receives 2s. 9d. per week and the two repair hands will divide six times 9d. between them, therefore receiving 2s. 3d. each per week.
The Penalization of Poor\ Results.
It is only fair to penalize poor rAsults in some way. It will not be found pacticable, however, to do this by depriving the driver of an equivalent amount if his consumption inereases, but, by averaging the results for a period, so that if during the four weeks of a month a van does nine miles per gallon in one week, 11 during another, and 12 for the other two weeks, the bonus is calculated on the average weekly consumption during the period, that is to say, 11 miles per gallon. In order to create a spirit of rivalry, it is a good plan to post up the record a for each week of each van, and to award a prize of a sovereign to whoever accomplishes the best results over periods of six months each.
A fair bonus in connection with smaller vans can be estimated in the same way. If we assume 350 miles per week and an average consumption at the rate of 20 miles per gallon, then the figures for costs run out as follow : At 20 miles per gallon, cost per mile is 2.1d., which is 735d. per week. At 21 miles per gallon, cost per mile is 2d., which is 700d. per week. At 22 miles per gallon, cost per mile is 1.9d., which is 665d. per week. At 23 miles per gallon, cost per mile is 1.83d.,, which is 640d. per week. The saving effected, therefore, if.the consumption is improved from 20 to 21 miles per gallon would be 35d. per mile per gallon per week. If from 20 to 22 miles per gallon, it would still be, within a decimal, at the same rate, and if at 23 miles per gallon saving would be 32d. per mile per gallon per week. In the case of a Ford van, therefore, a fair bonus would be at the rate of 1s. 44. a mile divided in the proportion of Is. per mile to each driver and 4d. to the repair staff. One little point should be noted. The mileage recorded by a speedometer is not a sufficiently aedurato guide to the distance covered by a van. In every ease where a bonus system is fixed on mileage, it has been found practically essential to fit the wheel of each -van with a hub odometer. THE SKOTCH.
Of Extreme Interest and Value to all Hauliers-.
".RUNNING COMMERCIAL MOTORS FOR A LIVING." Full Information on Costs and Scales Of Charges. One Shilling Post Free from Temple Press Ltd., 7, Rosebery Avenue, London, E C.1.