1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200 
Understanding THE SUBJECT OF COSTS
Page 111
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A Lucid Explanation of the More Important Items of Costing in the Maintenance and Operation of the Commercial Vehicle.
WFIENEVER anyone asks me what his motor vehicle is going to cost to run, .1 often feel that I would like to tell him as I used to be told when asking inconvenient questions, "Money and fair words." The answer does not altogether apply in the case of a motor vehicle, but it would serve my tame The truth is that no one can tell exactly how much a vehicle is going to cost, unless accurate information be available as to the kind of work the machine is going to do, the attention it will receive, the conditions under which it will operate and other considerations.
It is little better if the inquirer be concerned with the cost of a vehicle which he already owns and As using. The only difference there is that I am inclined rather to suggest to him that he ought to know a good deal better than I do. Actually, all that I can do is to refer him to The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs.
How Our Tables Help.
These costs do not actually provide him with the answer. That cannot be done for the reasons stated above. They do, however, afford him a guide. They give him an idea as to what his vehicle should cost and, given average conditions, they are sufficiently accurate for use as a basis in any commercial calculation. It is as though, instead of asking me what a particular vehicle would cost to run, he had said, "What do motor vehicles of any particular capacity and type cost?"
In giving him these Tables I am presenting him with data for the average cost of operating commercial motors in this country. In actual practice, his results may differ quite considerably from the fig-ures in the Tables. If his machine be new ; if it will be used on good roads and be engaged, as a rule, on long runs with few stops; if his driver be a good one, who takes care of the machine, oils and greases it regularly and decarbonizes it as frequently as he should ; if care be taken of the tyres and the wheels be maintained in alignment ; if the petrol be not Used for washing the vehicle and the driver's hands; if the allowance of fuel be invariably poured entirely into the tank and not spilled ; if the pil be similarly handled—then it is likely that his figures for costs will he lower.
On the other hand, if none of these conditions prevails, the cost will be more than the figures in the Tables would lead the inquirer to anticipate.
The Happy Medium.
Recognition of this fact is embodied in the costs exemplified in the Tables. That end is achieved by the only reasonable method, i.e., the assiduous collection of data from all classes of user and concerning vehicles doing all sorts of work and under varied conditions, the figures thus obtained affording a mean and presenting the result of that collation and calculation in the form so well known to readers of this journal.
Actually, I think that the best use of these Tables is a guide not only to the probable operating cost of existing machines, but to a right method of ascertaining these costs. The way in which the Tables are arranged is, in itself, an indication of the proper system of collating costs.
The reader should note that the first essential is to separate the items of cost into two main groups; one, of running costs, relating to expenditure which varies directly or almost directly in accordance with the distance the vehicle is to run ; the other, standing charges, items of expense which do not vary so much and which remain practically unaltered week by week.
That is the basis of these Tables, but there are other things of note which are also disclosed by the form of these schedules. Considerable importance clearly attaches to the distance covered per week by a motor vehicle. A glance at the Tables will show that the cost per mile decreases considerably as the weekly mileage increases, so that if cost per mile be important ' in any particular business, then to cover a maximum of useful miles per week is obviously a matter of moment. -If, on the other hand, the cost per week be a standard by which economy will be judged, in that case the fewer miles covered the better, provided that the utility of the machine be not diminished.
Another point which emerges from the study of these Tables is the fact that in a business wherein the motor vehicles are used for carrying at a profit other people's goods, in the business of a motor haulage contractor or a common carrier, it is only necessary to bear in mind that the haulier has expenses other than those directly concerned in the operation of the vehicle itself. These expenses must be taken into account before he can arrive at a fair charge to make to his customers.
A detailed explanation of the meaning of the items of cost is, perhaps, not necessary in these days, when 'nearly everyone is aware, or should be aware, of the way in which money has to be spent to keep a motor vehicle in order. There are amongst the running costs obvious items such as fuel, lubricants and tyres. Not so clearly defined in the mind of the layman, perhaps, is maintenance, and it may be as well to expand that term by explaining that it refers to one big item and a large number of small ones.
Big Overhauls and Minor Attention.
The large account is the annual overhaul, the smaller ones are the minor attentions which every motor vehicle must have, such as decarbonizing the cylinders and adjusting the tappets, cleaning out the crankcase and the gearcase, and so on, and cleaning out the boilers and similar attentions to engine and gearbox of steam wagons. Then there are sundry small items of expense too numerous to mention and not amounting to a great deal, even in the course of a year. They are, nevertheless, not to be lost sight of in any system of accounts which pretends to be complete. Depreciation is the equivalent of the slow but definite docrease in value which every motor vehicle undergoes. The standing charges require even less explanation than the running costs. Licences, wages, rent and rates of the garage, and insurance, are all matters with which every user and most prospective users are familiar in their minds, if not in actuality.
The one remaining item of interest is what might be called a negative expenditure. It is put there to represent that sum which would be earned if the capital sum spent on the purchase of the vehicle were to be carefully and safely invested.
The foregoing, then, are the items of the Tables and their meanings. Occasionally, one or other of them is the subject of controversy, but, in the event of any argument, it nearly always transpires that the seeming difference of opinion is not so in truth, but is merely a difference in point of view, and a very little explanation of the points of view of both parties suffices to confirm that the items are essentially correct.