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Town Cleansing by Contract
Page 119
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The Pros and Cons of Contracting Out Municipal Haulage. The Usual Conditions of Tender and Some Guid ance in Quoting
ON broad grounds of practical economy, the decision as to whether a municipality should use its own vehicles for cleansing and other transport work, or have it carried out by contractors, turns on the size of the town or village and the work to be done.
Some varieties of municipal-transport work are more extensive than others, occupying more of the time of the motor vehicle employed, and this, of course, is a factor in the determination of the method to be 'favoured. The house-tohouse collection of refuse, for example, may, even in comparatively small townships, be sufficient to involve the wholetime services of a motor vehicle, whilSt in the same area there may be work for only one day per week in connection with gully-emptying and flushing, street wakring, and sweeping, and even general haulage.
It may be, therefore, that a municipal body that used its own vehicle for refuse
collection would find it profitable to resort TO contractors for the other jobs.
One of the reasons why the multipurpose municipal vehicle has been developed so extensively is that it enables' the one vehicle to be kept employed, if not every day of the week, at least more fully than would otherwise be the case.
Even, however, when there is work enough to ensure the full-time use of a refuse-collecting vehicle, the authority concerned may still prefer to hire and have all its cleansing work done by contract rather than create a mechanicaltransport department just for the sake of one vehicle and, at the same time, have to contract for the use of others.
The size of the township is not always a determining factor. There are many large municipalities the interests of which are sufficient to justify the purchase of their own machines, yet they find it more economical, if only in the sense that it is more convenient, to place the work Ont.
It is hardly possible to suggest a dividing line between conditions that would make ownership advisable and those that would render it more economical to make use of the services of contractors. This is the case even if we confine our consideration entirely to the size of a township or its population. A compact town of about 30,000 population can be served by one refusecollecting vehicle, provided that the dump is centrally located. On the other band, in another township almost similar in area and population, but having the dump outside, even though the distance to the tip or destructor be moderate, one vehicle would be insufficient.
Often, too, the decision may turn, temporarily at least, on the fact that facilities for the housing and maintenance of a fleet are not conveniently available. Moreover, the procedure involved in hiring is less complicated than that necessary in order to obtain permission to borrow money for the acquisition of vehicles and garage.
Ample Scope for Hauliers.
There is ample scope in most parts of the country for haulagecontractors who may desire to enter this branch of the business. The profits are, usually, not great. It is a known fact.that work for county councils, corporations and other similar bodies is apt to be cut in price. On the other hand, it is regular work, regularly paid for and not subject to unknown factors.
The work is usually allotted in response to tenders, requests for which are advertised in the local Press and in The Commercial Motor. Generally, these announcements appear daring February and March, and the contracts are timed to commence at the beginning of April. They may be for a year, but sometimes they are for longer periods.
A typical tender invites contractors to quote a price per day per vehicle and driver. The work is to commence at 7 a.m. each day, finishing at 5 p.m. on Monday to Friday of every week, and noon on Saturdays, with an allowance of an hour and a half for meals on a full day and half an hour on Saturday. Sometimes the authority specifies certain particulars of the vehicles "which it prefers, to haveemployed.
The conditions of the tender conduce to simplicity and ease of quoting. The haulier may use the figures in The Commercial Motor Tables; of Operating Costs relating to the particular type and capacity of vehicle that he proposes to use. Certain reservations are, however, advisable.
In the first place, the consumption of fuel and engine oil is, as a rule, somewhat higher on work of this class than in an average case, such as is quoted in the Tables. The increase may be as much as 20 per cent., and it is not likely to be lees than 10 per cent.
The cost qf maintenance will he about the same, for, although the frequent starting and stopping involves more work for the clutch and gears, there is, on the other hand, no speeding.
Tyre cost approximates to the average. -The tyres might give a greater life, but for the fact that the vehicle coven a comparatively small annual mileage, consequently they deteriorate before they wear out.
The first cost of the machinc is a little higher than is allowed for in the Tables, but the difference involved in the total operating cost is so small as hardly to be worth consideration. An allround addition of about 5 per cent, to the running costs would, in the majority of instances, meet the case.
In view of the fact that quotations are usually "per day," without any direct reference to mileage, it is of interest to note that, when the dump is quite near, the mileage covered daily by a refuse-collecting vehicle is usually about 16-20. If there be a run of two miles to the dump this will probably add six or eight miles to the distance covered per day. In quoting, the haulier, having in mind these figures for mileage, can with comparative ease arrive at an estimate of his total costs.
The foregoing figures apply chiefly to vehicles used for refuse collection. For other classes of municipal work it is possible, by going over the ground and noting the number of gullies to be emptied and flushed, the routes taken, the number of times per week that each needs attention and so on, to arrive at an accurate figure for mileage, time and cost. Data in connection with street watering and sweeping, and other services, may be collected in a similar manner.