An Opening for Enterprise.
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By Henry Sturmey.
Recent experiences in connection with the commercialvehicle branch of the motor industry have convinced me that there is a very large opening for the profitable employment of capital which, up to the present, has practically been untouched, and a line of work too, which, in its direct influence upon the spread of the industrial automobile movement, would be likely to be of the utmost assistance to the manufacturing branch of the trade. Although large commercial houses in London are to-day using motor vehicles for the dis_ tribution of their goods, some of them a large number, when we get outside London—with the exception, perhaps, of a steam tractor or a big motor lorry, here and there, in the hands of a contractor or brewer—the use of a motor vehicle in business is, as yet, practically unknown. In spite of the fact that there are very few businesses of any size at all which cannot be materially assisted by the introduction of motor haulage in lieu of horses, the tracing community appears to be either ignorant of the existence of such a means of facilitating its mode of distribution, or else it is frankly sceptical as to the advantages to be derived therefrom. As the members of-it have had no experience., either their own or other people's, to guide them in the matter, they are all waiting for " the other fellow " to "try the experiment." Firms which have got so far as to believe that motor vehicles might, possibly, be advantageous, hesitate to try it for themselves. In some cases the fact that, several years ago, other firms in the district tried the then inefficient and imperfect vehicle with no success, is a strong factor in deciding them to let somebody else pull the chestnuts out of the fire for them. Then again, in many businesses, the whole of the distribution work is done for the trader, not by his own outfit of horses and vans, but by contractors, who supply more or less, or larger or smaller vehicles, as required by the firm during the several periods of the year, at a specified rate, which includes all charges of upkeep and all risks. The tradesman, therefore, has only to pay his money —a fixed sum—and get his work done for him. Ile has no worry, no risk and no responsibility and he shirks taking any. It is here that enterprise can come in. What is badly wanted in this trade is, undoubtedly, the services of firms all over the country which are prepared to contract by the month or year, for all the distributing work of the tradesman and manufacturer by motor vehicle, Such a concern would be of the utmost value in two directions. In the first place, it would overcome the prejudices of the business man who is afraid that the " experiment " may not prove successful and who would readily take out a contract for the work, where he would hesitate about expending a considerable capital sum in organising a branch of his business of which he has no knowledge. There can be little doubt that, in the vast . majority of cases, the experiment, when made, would prove successful and, provided the servie were efficient, its continuance would follow as a matter of course, except in those cases where the tradesman has been sufficiently satisfied with the advantages gained to set up his own " stud " of cars ; in this case, the contracting firm, acting also as agents for different makes of motor vehicle and being, through its contracts, directly in touch with the customer, would secure the contract for supplying the cars at a profit on the deal. By systematically combining the two functions of agents and contractors, energetically handling them with tact, and provided with sufficient capital, there should be an opening in almost every provincial town for such a business, It is, furthermore, useless to ask, as I have been asked that the manufacturer should undertake maintenance con tracts, situated as he is, more often than not, perhaps couple of hundred miles away from his customer. Such L company as I have indicated would be in an admirablt position for undertaking maintenance contracts for yam supplied, as well as for taking contracts for work, and this would form an additional source of revenue. It is also use less to think that a single firm, let us say in London, or ens other large place, can efficiently do work of this character al a distance from its headquarters. It is local enterprist throughout the country that is wanted and it is a necessary part of the scheme that all such companies should be ade. quately capitalised. Such a concern should be properly organised, and have an efficient engineering staff to keep its rolling stock up to the mark, and it should have capital enough to own, not only one or two vehicles of one type and capacity, but a selection of vehicles of all kinds, suited tc the requirements of the locality. It should also be a part al the scheme that vehicles of different capacities should lak supplied, under the hire contracts, as the nature of the wort.; of any particular trader rose and fell with the seasons, oi with the periods of the week. A system of detachable panels for regular contractors could be used, so that the contracting firm would at all times, apparently, be using its own vehicles and, if properly designed, these panels could be changed in a few minutes and could be arranged to fit the whole series of vans. The establishment of such firms throughout thE country would immediately give a large amount of work tc the motor manufacturer, and it would also ensure that tilt cars, when built, would be efficiently handled by people whc understood them and who would be able to get the best results out of them ; they would see, too, that they were not abused in their use. If organised upon a sufficiently large scale to secure a relay of reserve vehicles and thus make certain that the rolling stock would not be worked to death, and if conducted with ordinary business ability, there could be little doubt but that such establishments could be made to pay and pay well, If adequate capital could not be furnished for the provision of a large amount of rolling stock and for the efficient handling of a contracting business, there is still a considerable opening for efficient engineering firms to take up the selling of commercial vehicles with maintenance contracts. This, as above indicated, can only be done by local people. The manufacturer is constantly asked what the up-keep of a van or motor lorry is likely to be and, when he puts it into figures, he is asked whether he will guarantee it not to exceed this. His usual reply is that, if he can be assured of the efficiency of repairs when done—if, in fact, he can do them himself—he would undertake such a guarantee, and he is usually then asked if he will undertake a maintenance contract at the price mentioned. Here, however, distance from the scene of operations comes in and the impossibility of working upon any such lines at once makes itself clear ; the contemplated business generally falls through. It is at this point that the local man can come in, and be must be one having both the proper tool equipment and an efficient staff ; he must also thoroughly understand the job himself. These are the lines upon which business in commercial motor vehicles can he and probably will be developed in the future. The business is there for those who will take hold of it, and the sooner they do so, the better for everyone concerned—manufacturers, users, and themselves.