PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER.
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Loading Delays and Their Effect Upon Operating Costs. Methods of Saving Time and Avoiding Delays at Terminals.
OBVIOUSLY a certain amount of time must be spent in the loading and unloading of any transport vehicle. The inevitability of this leads a number of commercial motorists into the error of forgetting the effect of the time losses upon operating costs and, in consequence, upon charges to customers. This type of oversight is often made when estimating before tendering, despite the fact that it is of greater importance then than when quoting a price for an odd job.
We may well, therefore, devote our thoughts this week to the many points which demand attention in connection with loading and unloading problems. There are primarily two types of burden—first, that which gets itself on board the vehicle under proper guidance and, secondly, that which has to be placed on the machine by extraneous means.
Dealing first with the self-loading kind, this obviously refers-to passengers who can look after themselves so long as they are supervised by the persons responsible for the vehicle. It is the duty of the carrier, in his own interests, to provide this supervision. If told where to go and which machine to use, passengers will reduce the loading time materially, but if they have to wander about and cause delays by boarding the wrong coach or bus, it is the carrier who in the long run has to foot the bill, because his moneyearning machine is kept waiting longer than it need.
Who Pays for Terminal Delays ?
All the waste time spent at terminals costs money, as the standing charges are going on relentlessly, so the quicker the vehicle can be filled up with its human freight the better for the owner. In order to produce the desired weekly profit, the fares are decided on an economical heals; therefore, the greater the distance covered per week the lower can be the charge per passenger-mile and the higher the hopes of attracting custom. When the loading is of a casual nature and people take their time about finding the right coach, the fares have to be higher if a loss is to be avoided ; on the other hand, when groups of passengers are got together at the scheduled time and are directed, they can all take their seats with the minimum of delay and the vehicle can be on the move again in a few momenta; hence it operates more cheaply and fares can be kept ' at a lower and more attractive level. It often happens that obtaining the required economical number of fares for a sun is a matter of chance, as in out-of-season months at the seaside. A fine day and the presence of a fair number of visitors will most probably provide the desired result, but adverse circumstances may involve the vehicle waiting all the morning Without attracting a paying quota. In such circumstances the fares cannot he raised sufficiently to cover the dead time, as the people will be scared away. It is, then, a matter for calculation to see whether it would not pay better to store the machine and thus reduce its standing charges to the barest minimum.
On the other hand, when passengers are in regular supply, so to speak, the rates must not be lowered so much that there is no margin left to cover the slack times as .well as furnishing the desired weekly profit.
This leads us to the conclusion that the problem of self-loading burdens is bound up with the question of the adequate supply thereof. If the number forthcoming be small and the loading delays, in consequence, are long, in the hopes of more arriving, the heavy overhead charges must be considered, but when the flow of passengers is regular and sufficient the prices must cover the loss on slack seasons as well as giving the desired season's profit.
Coming now to the problem of dead loads, or those which need force in one form or another, the main item is the means available for effecting the burdening of the vehicle in the minimum of time and with reasonable expense. Both factors must be taken into account, as, if the haulier has any part in the cost of loading, it is worth his while investigating all possible means in the hope of cutting down the standing charges per mile by increasing the mileage covered.
As a rule, the haulier is more directly interested in the time aspect of the question rather than the cost of loading, as he has to take what facilities exist and the goods owner or consignee has to attend to the financial side of the matter. At times, however, a job includes the task of loading and unloading as well as the actual transport itself, so it will be well to bear both sides of the question in mind when thinking of the points to receive attention.
When unaided manual labour is the method to he used, the time is calculated per load in the light of experience and unduly long waits for loading or unloading call for prompt action by the haulier, as again he is the inevitable loser if they be permitted to occur. Before estimating for a job, the number of men available and the ease with which they can handle their burdens must be taken into account. Where the vehicle owner is concerned with the 'cost of this work, he has to calculate the wages to be paid according to the time the men will be employed.
If crane loading be the practice adopted, so long as its capacity is suitable, the chief item will again be the human factor. How long will it take the men available to prepare the packages for lifting and what difficulties will they have to contend with in getting the load into place is one question to be studied. If the vehicle will have to be manceuvred at the same time that the crane is working, allowance must be made for the number of hands required for the tasks. If roller runs or other means of saving direct human effort are at hand, the time may be reduced.
Time Loss With Different Loading Levels.
In connection with the crane question there is the matter of ramp location and its relation to the vehicle. Where there is any appreciable difference in height between the stationary and vehicle platforms, extra time must be given for the raising or lowering of the load, particularly when the weight must be borne by labourers, whilst the type of body enters into the calculations to a marked extent. In the case of a simple platform lorry, a box has merely to be raised a few inches by the crane so as to clear the shallow edge and the jib can then be swung round. On the other hand, where a tilt is fitted the packages will most likely have to be worked to the back of the body before the crane hook can be brought effectively to bear upon the weight.
If a haulier finds that his lorries are spending too much time at terminals he may well consider the use of such ideas as sliding tilts to allow quicker access by cranes, roller platforms for the packages on the body floors to savethe wages bill, or possibly a block and tackle on a runway fixed to the underside of the body roof.
When loose loads such as soil have to be handled, manual labour is generally the most useful method of loading. Wages, again, are the items to be considered
on the financial side and experience will show how long must be allowed per man to fill the vehicle to its proper capacity. To save time, and where circumstances permit chutes, mechanical shovels or conveyors may be utilized and the haulier can soon find out with reasonable accuracy the quantity of material transported into or out of the vehicle in a given time. A certain amount of hand work will have to be done, however, in levelling the load and directing it properly to fill the space, so the wage bill cannot be entirely cut out.
To deal with the unloading of loose material, the most simple line for the haulier to take is to use tipping bodies. The additional cost, as compared with that incurred with a fixed body must, however, be weighed up before placing the order to see that the cost will be worth while. Even where the customer has to arrange unloading, it may influence him to accept the tender if he finds that the haulier is helping him by providing tipping gear.
Another line in which the vehicle owner may reduce terminal delays is by the use of interchangeable bodies for the conveyance of certain classes of load. As a rule these will only be useful when the beginning and end of each journey are at known and regular points, as the body-changing machinery must be at hand. It would be of little use for casual work when the lorry had to go here, there and everywhere. For a regular contract trip, on the other hand,1eay between two adjacent towns, it might prove its worth, as a small number of men could be loading the spare body while the vehicle was on the road. For longer runs, however, the saving in time might be so small relatively, haying regard to the running time, that the installation costs would be prohibitive.
Following the same general principle, the idea of using two trailers, one at a time, with one lorry, may be the means of cutting down the terminal timeetfor that part of the load which is borne on the trailer. In cases where the distance is short and the loading times are likely to be a big percentage of the total day's work, it may be advisable to abandon the plan of loading the motive vehicle and use a tractor with several trailers, one set for running and one set for loading at any time. In this case the loading question Is the dominant factor, and the expensive part of the outfit is kept fully employed whilst the cheaper part of the equipment only— the trailers—is allowed to spend part of its life in idleness. S.T.R.