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THE HAULIERS' INQUIRE WITHIN.

29th July 1924, Page 25
29th July 1924
Page 25
Page 25, 29th July 1924 — THE HAULIERS' INQUIRE WITHIN.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Ton-mile of Capacity Considered in Relation to a Specified Case, one of the Minority in which it is of Interest to the User.

IN THE concluding paragraph of my last article I made reference to an inquiry which I had received from a reader who was evidently a close student of the " One Hears " page. I stated that his inquiry was incomplete, but that I had written for more information and that, if he supplied it., we should have, in his problem, subject-matter of considerable interest.

In his first letter he advised me that he was considering the purchase of mechanical transport for the haulage of his bricks. It seemed to him that he had a wide range of choice, not only. as to the make of vehicle which he might use for his purpose, but also as to the capacity thereof. As regards the former, he did not, happily for me, seek my advice ; on the latter point he wanted to know if I would put him in the way of ascertaining the comparative costs of operation of a 30-cwt. machine, a 3-tonner, a 41-tormer-all these to be petrol-driven—and a 6-ton steamer. The average length of his journies, out and home, he stated to be 14 miles. He explained his term comparative costs as being costs per ton-mile of capacity.

The Weekly Mi!eage an Essential Factor.

Now, those readers who are accustomed to my methods of dealing with questions which involve cost of running will observe that there is one essential item of the necessary data absent, namely, the possible or probable total weekly mileage. In this ease I considered it would be better for me to work that out for myself, for which purpose I required to know how long it would take to load and unload the various sizes of vehicle. I therefore asked for that information, and am told, in reply, that, in the case of the 3-tonner and 401-toriner the time needed for loading is half an hour, and for the 6-tonner three-quarters of an hour. Unloading with tipping bodies, which presumably would be fitted, would take, including the necessary nianteuvring for position, a quarter of an hour. The number of working hours per week is 48, including a half-day on Saturday. I will consider the 30-cwt machine first, at some length and in detail, leaving the others for brief consideration on that as a pattern.

The first thing we have to determine is the weekly mileage, approximately. I am going to assume that, as a 3-tonner takes half an hour to load, a 30-cwt. will take a quarter of an hour. On that assumption, and still sticking; to the same time for tipping the load, it is clear that half an hour per load is spent at the terminal points. The seven miles run in either direction may be taken as occupying 20 minutes—say threequarters of an hour for the double journey. The total time per load is, thus, an hour and a quarter. In 48 hours, therefore, 38 journeys could be run, or, in order to allow for occasional delays, we had better take an average of 36.

The weekly mileage on the above assumption is 504, and the cost per mile will be 6.78d. The cost per week will be 14 8s. 6d.

Now, the " ton miles of capacity " per complete journey is the weight carried, in tons, multiplied by the distance through which that weight is carried. In this case the figures are 1, tons and 7 miles, and the ton-mile capacity per journey is therefore 101.. Since there are 36 journeys per week, it follows' that the total weekly ton-mileage of capacity of this particular size of lorry is 36, multiplied by 10i, which is 378. The cost per ton-mile, on this basis, is .r14 8s. 6d. divided by 378, which is 9.17d.

Now for the 3-tonner. It takes half an hour to load it—my correspondent actually states in his letter that the loading time will be ". . . say in the case of 3

and 4i-ton petrol lorries half an hour minimum." I am going to apply the minimum to the 3-tonner and allow a little longer for the larger machine.

We shall have to reckon on the 3-tonner taking, on the average, 25 minutes over the seven-mile journey, so that, including, as before, a quarter of an hour for unloading, the total time for the round trip will tie 1 hour 35 minutes, which is equivalent to 30 journeys a week.

The total weekly mileage will, therefore, be 420 and the cost per mile 9.75d. The total expenditure for the week adds up to £17 is. 3d.

The ton-miles of capacity per journey amount to 21, and the total capacity of this type of lorry, per week, is 630. The cost per ton-mile—still, be it noted, of capacity—is only For the 0-tonner I propose to assume a loading time of 35 minutes and a journey time, each way, of half an hour. The total time per trip will, on that basis, be 1 hour 50 minutes. During the week it will be possible to run 26 journeys, and the weekly mileage will therefore be 364. The cost per mile will be 1-s. and the total cost per week £18 4s.

Each journey a load of 44, tons is conveyed seven miles, so that the ton-mileage per trip is 31. The total ton-mileage per week will amount to 719 and the cost per ton-mile of capacity 6.08d.

The 6-tonne' takes three-quarters of an hour to load and a quarter of an hour to unload. Its time at terminate is, therefore, an hour, while its journey time, calculated at half an hour each way, will also be an hour. The time for a round trip is, on that basis, two Lours, and there is prospect of doing 24 journeys a week. The weekly mileage is 336, and the cost, altogether, reckoning each mite at Is. '21(1., is 220 6a. 'Pis lorry has a ton-mileage capacity of 42 per Journey, which is 1,008 per week, so that the cost per top-mile 4 capacity will be 4.85d. Let me put all this, in tabular form for the purpose of ready comparison :—

Cheaper Transport by the Larger Unit

On the basis of the cost of ton-mile of capacity, therefore, it seems to be the case that the larger the unit (so long as the limit of reasonable speed of travel is not passed) the cheaper the cost of transit. Later on, I should like to discuss the six-wheeler and the trailer in this connection. It may, at the present moment, be interesting to calculate, for the information of this inquirer, the tonnage capacity of the different lorries per week, and to calculate for him. the cost per ton of transit between the two terminal points. To me it seems as though that ought to be the figure which should interest him most, since presumably he is, on this contract, paid according to tonnage delivered.

The 30-cwt. lorry makes 36 journeys a week, and therefore carries 48 tons altogether, at a total cost of E14 Ss. 6d. The cost per ton conveyed is just over 6s. The other vehicles carry respectively :-3-tonner, 90 tons for £17 is. 3d., or 3s. 9A-ci. a ton • 4i-tonner,

117 tons for 4s., or 3s. 10. a ton ; 6tonner, 14,4 tons for 2206s., or just less than 2s. 10d. a ton—figures which argue more emphatically in favour of the larger unit. THE SKOTCH.

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