TRANSPORT TIPS FOR TRADESMEN.
Page 15
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Particularly Addressed to Those Who are Replacing Horsed Vehicles by Motors, or Contemplating So Doing.
UNDOUBTEDLY, one of the weakest spots in the various attempts that have 'been made to enable traders to estimate in advance what it -will cost them to run motor vehicles is that the figures compiled cannot give any idea of the difference of cost due to variation in quality in the vehicles employed. Thus, for instance, we take a few figures haphazard from an admirable series of tables. These tables state that a 30 cwt. van, running 30 miles a day, may be expected to cost in all 48s. 7d. a day. If the same van averages 80 miles a day, the cost is estimated at 80s. 1-0d.
/ Depredation Charges.
Now, these figures are very useful as giving an approximate idea of what may be expected and as bringing home to the prospective user the fact that full mileage means superior economy. One notes at once that, for the 30 mile day, the cost is over 18d. a mile, and for the 80 mile day it is only about 1s. a mile. Among the items which go to make up the total, figures the amount allowed for repairs and maintenance. It is evident that, as a vehicle nears the end, of its life, there is a tendency for the repair bill to mount up. ThiIs, if one buys a second-hand vehicle, the average repair bill per day or per mile for the remainder of its life is likely to be a good deal higher than the average for the whole life of the vehicle purchased new. Another very big item is the petrol bill. Here, again, the second-hand vehicle, being of older type, is probably inferior, and the petrol bill per mile or per day is likely to be higher.
The Effect of Time-Loss for Repairs on Cost • Per Mile.
Reverting to the question of repairs, there is a distinct probability that the need for making anything more than very trivial' repairs will involve the keeping of the vehiele off the road to some extent. Directly the vehicle is kept off the road the average mileage covered by it per da-y is reduced, and the cost per mile goes up automatically. Thus, if a vehicle is purchased second-hand, or, if it is bought new at a low price which properly reflects its quality, we must .expect some items in our operating cost to be much higher than if the vehicles used were all first rate in quality and condition. Also, we must expect our effective mileage to be reduced and our service to be less dependable. Again, if we look at estimates of working cost, we may jump to the conclusion that the necessary allowance for depreciation is directly proportional to the first cost of the vehicle. The estimate is got by assuming a certain length of life and writing off the value over that period. Suppose that we allow depreciation at 20 per cent. Then for a vehicle which costs £900 we must allow for depreciation about 12s. a day. Supposing the vehicle, being second-hand or of cheap construction, costs only half that amount, it would not be correct to allow only 6s. a day, because its life will not be so long as that of the superior machine. Thus for instance, if we buy a second-hand machine of good make that ha a been in service for three years, and if we reckon the total life of such a machine to be five years., we must evidently write off the amount paid for the vehicle in the space of two years. Thus, though ,the first cost may be much lower, the depreciation allowance may be even higher than in. the ease of a first-class nevi an achine.
The Cost of Standing, Idle.
It is often pointed out as an advantage of the motor vehicle over horsed transport that, when the horse is idle, he is constantly consuming fuel, but, when the motor vehicle is idle, no consumption of fuel is involved. The statements of fact. are correct enough, but the deductions made from them are liable to be misleading and to result in very uneconomical practices. As a matter of fact, when a horse is idle, the loss involved is not merely represented by the cost of the Rod he eats. • In addition, there is the rent of his stable to pay for and the wages of the stableman to meet. There is the fact that he represents a certain capital outlay on which, while he is doing no work, no return is being secured. There is the fact that he tends daily to depreciate in value because his life is limited.
Now take the case of the motor vehicle. Certainly, when idle, it consumes no fuel. Nevertheless it continues to cost money. We must continue to pay rent for its housing accommodation. It must receive a certain amount of periodical attention, in order to ensure that it does not get rusty and that its tyres do not perish or develop flats through continually standing in the same position. The motor • vehicle alsorepresents a substantial capital outlay and when it is not in use, it is really costing us whatever interest or profit might have been made in the same period had the same capital been invested, or used to advantage. The life of a motor vehicle is not limited like that of a horse, but, nevertheles, it depreciates in value while it is doing no work; because it gradually becomes obsolete in type, .and, when. its' type has been superseded by something much better, it ceases to be a, commercial proposition.
The main item in the coat of a motor vehicle is the loss of intereat on the capital invested in it. This item is very much smaller in the case of the horse, so that, • on . the whole, it is very questionable whether, if a fleet of motors is idle, the loss to the owner is not greater than if horses and horsed vehicles of equal carrying capacity are similarly maintained without doing useful work. It would be impossible for the motor owner to make a bigger mistake than is made when people forget that idle vehicles cost money.
In actual practice, neither the motor vehicle nor the horse is likely to remain idle for months on end. In each case it is rather a matter of failure to use up to the normal working capacity. If this be so, then. we must add to the cost in each case all the items which can properly be regarded as standing charges. If we are employing a driver he must be paid, even if we give him little or no work to do. If we have a staff for the maintenance of the vehicles, there is a similar outlay, even though the work may be trifling because the vehieles are not properly employed. The very best results are only obtained with the motor when it works . daily to its full capacity in respect of mileage and of load.