Maintenance Contracts and Local Organisation.
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By Henry Sturmey.
Some years ago, before there were any garages about the country, or any organisations of the kind, I wrote in another journal pointing out the opening for such establishments throughout the land, where owners could have pleasure cars stored and looked after for inclusive sums the system has now been universally adopted. Up to the present, we have no such organisations existing specially in connection with commercial vehicles, but I feel inclined to prophesy that, before another decade has passed, very extensive work in this direction will be done. This work will differ somewhat from that which, to-day, is carried on by garage proprietors in regard to the pleasure car, but the opening is there, and it is a very large opening, with an ample scope for the judicious employment of capital, and work will be done in several directions. There will, of course, be the housing, or garaging, of motor wagons, just as is done with pleasure cars to-day, but I think the majority of commercial houses will be found to have their own accommodation already in existence for their horsed equipments, so that there will be quite a considerable amount of work done away from the owners' depots, and, apart from the simple storing of vehicles, the taking complete charge of Others.
Scope for the Specialist.
Vehicles can be housed and cleaned regularly at fixed charges, and, where this is done, the fuel and oil supplies, and all other supplies of necessaries, will fall into the lap of the garage man, who, it is imperative, should have both a properly-equipped workshop, and thoroughly competent men in it, and who should himself be a sound engineer, with an equally sound knowledge of automobile matters. The carrying out of repairs promptly and at reasonable charges will be an important item of the work, but quite the must important item, I think, will be the carrying out of maintenance contracts. To-day, one of the principal causes which checks the advance of the cormnercial motor vehicle is the ignorance of the potential purchaser as to upkeep. In the case of horses, he knows approximately where he is, and what to expect ; in the case of the motor vehicle, he is abso. lutely in the dark. The enterprising manufacturer, keen on persuading him to purchase, tells him the cost will be next to nothing. hIis well-meaningfriends tell him it will be ruinous, and between the two " 'e dunno w'cre 'e are," so that the establishment of firms on the spot, who will contract with him to keep his vehicle—bar accidents—in proper repair, at fixed and inclusive charges, or even to take the entire charge and control of the vehicle out of his hands, providing the driver and looking after the vehicle in every respect, Will be just the very thing he wants, and will very largely tend to facilitate business in the sale of cars, and to assist the general adoption of the motor vehicle.
The Local Agent's Opportunity.
This question of maintenance contracts falls, I think, legitimately within the scope of such firms as those I have indicated. For a year or so we have heard a good bit about manufacturers' maintenance of their own vehicles. According to rny way of thinking, this is not the province of the motor manufacturer at all, and, whilst it may seem to show a certain confidence in the durability of one's own productions, it is, to my mind, an intrusion into the legitimate sphere of influence and work of local firms, besides which, it is exceedingly difficult to see how it is possible for any manufacturer efficiently to maintain a vehicle which may be situated some hundreds of miles away. It is true he may enter into a sub-contract with a local firm, but here he had far better let the customer make his own arrangements. It will be cheaper for the customer in the first place, because, if the manufacturer makes the contract, he, being responsible, most protect himself and make a small profit on the transaction, and it will relieve the manufacturer of a lot of unnecessary and needless worry and correspondence in matters with which he is really not in a position adequately to deal. Further than this, a direct contract would entail the setting up of an elaborate, complete, expensive, and separate organisation at the works, for no manufacturer can carry on repair work and production advantageously under the same roof. The local man, of course, needs to protect himself in advance, by obtaining a priced schedule of spare and replacement parts from the maker in each case.
What about other Trades ?
To those who think that the manufacturer is the right person to undertake such business, I grant that he is primarily responsible for the production of the vehicle, and should be prepared to " see it through," but I would say that their view is hardly reasonable, and is not justified by precedent. Let us take, for example, the piano trade. Now, we. know perfectly well that, if a person bought a piano and simply kept it and used it, year in year out, without attention, it would be capable of but poor music after a few months' time, and what the nature of the notes would be in three or four years had better be left to the imagination. A piano, like a motor vehicle, requires to be "tuned up " from time to time, and, should wires break, which they occasionally will, they require to be replaced, and replaced properly. Yet we seldom find purchasers of pianos urging that Messrs. Bechstein, or Steinway, for instance, should undertake to keep their instruments in tune and in repair for an indefinite, or for any, length of time. They simply look to the local musical instrument depots, whose organisation enables them to tune up the piano and effect repairs whenever required, and so it should be, and so it will be, with the motor vehicle. The local depot will he on hand either to contract, as is often done by owners of pianos, for the regular tuning up of the machine, or for repairs and adjustments when the need for such develops.
Hiring Organisation.
So much for this phase of the business, hut there is an-. other branch of work for the local depot which is equally important, though it will entail the investment of a larger amount of capital. I refer to the running of motor vehicles for hire, either under contracts for regular daily use, or for periodical use, from time to time, as may be required. Ultimately, many business houses will, I have no doubt, contract with such firms for the hire of their vehicles, just as a great many do now with their horse equipments, the contractor arranging to keep a sufficient number of vehicles on hand, so that a customer shall never be disappointed, and, if the one usually placed at his disposal should be, for the time being, out of commission, another will be available to do the work. This system furnishes the reply to one of the most important queries raised by the possible motor vehicle user to-day, who pertinently says--" But what will my business be doing when the thing breaks down ? "