Problems of the
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HAULIER
AND
CARRIER
IHAVE just shown that the proper charge per ton for carrying a ton for a mile, using a ton lorry, should be 2s. 3d., whilst if the distance the load has to be carried be 120 miles, the charge per ton is increased to £4 Os. 6d. Those, at least, are the rates which would apply if the owner was desirous of earning the minimum profits specified in The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs and Hire Charges which, incidentally, have just been revised and were published in an improved form in our issue dated July 14th.
In these calculations I am assuming that a ton can be loaded in 12 minutes and unloaded in 8 minutes, so that the total terminal delays amount to 20 minutes per ton. Certain average speeds from point to point are also assumed. For particulars of these see the accompanying Table II.
Now if, instead of a ton vehicle, another of 12-ton capacity-say, a rigid six-wheeled petrol lorry-was used on these two journeys, and assuming, in the first instance, that the work available is sufficient to nable this larger machine to be utilized to the limit of its rated capacity, the cost per ton, or the fair charge for the haulage, per ton, would have been much less.
The basic figures from which the tonnage rate may be calculated, as given in our Tables, are: materials, that is to say, running costs, lid. per mile; overheads (standing charges, £6 18s. 6d., plus establishment costs, Li 10s. Od.) £8 8s. 6d. ; and profit, 17 10s. Od. These are for a week. Reduced to a rate per hour they become 3s. 9d. and 3s. 4d. respectively, which is 7s. id. altogether.
Now, in the previous article I showed that the time needed by this 12-tonner, working on the mile journey, was 4 hours 9 minutes. The charge should, therefore, be £1 9s. 5d. for time, which is the amount of 4 hours 9 minutes at 7s. 1d. per hour, and Is. 10d. for the mileage, that being the charge for two miles at 11d. per mile. The total is 11 11s. 3d. That is for carrying 12 tons, so that the charge per ton must be 2s. 74d., as against 2s. 3d. in the ease of the tonner.
1344 On the long journey of 120 miles each way, the time was 16 hours and the charge should be £18 13s. 4d., made up of £5 13s. 40., the cost of 16 hours at 7s, 1d. per hour and 240 miles at 11d. per mile, which is, of course, exactly £11. The charge per ton need be only 11 7s. 91d. That compares with the £4 Os. 6d. per ton of the tonner.
Even if cognizance be taken of the fact that the larger vehicle will have to be away from borne for a night, thus incurring extra expense in the way of garage rent and subsistence allowance for its driver, the charge will total only about £1.7, increasing the tonnage rate to £1 8s. 4d.
Whilst, therefore, a rate of 30s. per ton on the 120mile journey which, incidentally, might well be from London to Birmingham, would show a good profit, so far as the 12-tonner was concerned, a rate of £4 per ton would not be sufficient in the case of the twiner.
Readers should keep the foregoing figures before them. In cases where owners of tanners learn of rates being quoted for loads from London to Birmingham, which seem to them to be absurd, they will then realize that it may be the case that the loads are being carried on these big commercial motors, that being the reason for the apparent rate-cutting which, as I have already explained, is not really cutting as we usually interpret the term.
At the same time, he will appreciate that, if there be only a ton to be carted, the cheapest way to carry it is in a tonner. If any owner of such a vehicle be doing the work for a price which is profitable in the case of only large loads carried in large vehicles, then he should be allowed to get on with the job, without interference from those hauliers who are in the business for a living and not merely for the joy of driving a lorry at their own expense.
One more point before I leave these particular examples for something of more general application : the rates quoted above are those which must be received when the vehicles concerned are loaded in only one direction. If return loads be regularly available, the prices quoted can be considerably reduced.
It seems to me that the only way to make the whole subject clear to everyone, no matter what size sehicle he owns, is to work out a schedule of prices per ton for each size, basing the calculations on the principles' just enumerated. The first step to that end is to find what should be the charge per hour for each size, assessing it in the same way as has already been done herein for the tonner and the 12-tonner.
Explaining Table I.
In Table I these figures are given for all sizes of four-wheeled petrol-engined prieurnatic-tyred ehassis from 1-ton to 8-ton capacity inclusive; in addition, data for a six-wheeled rigid-type vehicle are given. It should be noted that, as well as quoting the charge per hour, I have given the cost per hour, excluding establishment charges and profits. That is for the benefit of those readers who, using this method of calculating their charges, may, nevertheless, prefer to know what are their costs of operation, adding such amounts on account of gross profits as may seem reasonable.
Average Speeds to be Assumed.
To be able to put this Table I to practical use the average speeds given in the previous. arttcle must be taken into consideration or, alternatively, such average speeds as the reader knows to be attainable under the conditions appertaining to the work m prospect.. The speeds I have assumed are set out in Table II.
How the Tables should be used is best illustrated by example and for that purpose I will assume a load of four tons is to be conveyed 40 miles, with no prospect of a return load.
The standing time will be 1 hour and 20 minutes,
calculated by multiplying the 20 minutes per ton by four. The travelling time will be four hours, being that occupied in traversing 80 miles at an average speed of 20 m.p.h/, as given in Table IL The total time is, therefore, 5 hours 21) minutes. The charge for time alone will, therefore, be assessed on the basis of 5i. hours at 66d. per hour, which is £1 9s. 4d. There is still the charge for distance to be added, and that must be calculated on the full distance--not, as some users mistakenly assume, on that for which the load Is carried. The figures are 80 mileS at 6.26d. per mile, and the amount is £2 is, 8d. The charge must, therefore, be 13 us. Od. altogether, or 18s. per ton.
Proper Charges per Ton.
Tables III, IV and V have been compiled in thp foregoing manner. They show the proper charges to make per ton for all the various capacities of vehicle to which reference is made in Table I, assuming in every case that the 'vehicle is filled and that there is n1 prospect of a return load. In Table III the pointto-noint distance is four miles; in Table IV it is 40 miles and in Table V it is 120 miles.
Keep this Issue Filed.
Readers should keep this issue of The Commercial Motor by them for reference, not only for the reason that in a subsequent article I shall refer to the figures given in the tables, but for regular use. There are many points frequently occurring in hauliers' difficulties that the men-themselves could solve if they would file -these articles, preferably using a system whereby information relating to any particular subject may be found quickly, without the need for
searching through dozens of issues. S.T.R.