Maintenance Routine for the OWNER-DRIVER
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An Outline of the Servicing Tasks that May Conveniently and Easily Be Performed By the Small Operator to Keep His Vehicle in Roadworthy Trim
THERE are many of my correspondents who take the view that. hire purchase of vehicles should be banned. They say that many small hauliers begin to cut rates comparatively early in the growth of their businesses because they have, to meet a hire-purchase instalment and have not the necessary funds. In order to obtain the money, they accept any job which offers, even when they know the rate to be uneconomic: they give away the profit which should accrue to obtain some ready cash. That may be the first step along the downward path to rate-cutting, but as the period between the payment of one instalment to the next is brief second, third and subsequent steps along that path become almost inevitable.
Whilst I am well aware that that sort of thing does happen and am willing to believe that it occurs too frequently for the good of those who take that course, I doubt whether it is so important a factor in rate-cutting as is believed by those who put forward that view. I believe the fact that he has certain substantial monthly payments to make does prevent i haulier from making the errot of imagining that everything he receives in excess of expenditure on fuel and oil is net profit.
Forgotten Items
In other words, his payments on account of hire-purchase do stand, for the period of his hire-purchase contract, instead of contributions which he should be making to provide a sinking fund on account of depreciation, maintenance, tyres and, other often-forgotten items of operating cost.
Of course, in theory, even this attitude is wrong. For absolute financial stability, the haulier should pay his hirepurchase instalments out of net profits, after he has made provision for all his essential expenses.. But, failing the ability to approach so near to perfection, he is at least on the right path if he manages to make those payments, keep his vehicles . in reasonable condition and provide for all current outgoings.
When a man enters into a hire-purchase agreement, he is, in effect, acquiring a loan to help finance his business. The interest on that loan, referred to by the finance company as "charges," is an establishtnent cost, and has nothing to do with the cost of operating the vehicle. To include that exceptional interest in the vehicle-operating costs would be to exaggerate those expenses and bring about a false idea of the tcital involved.
There are two important disadvantages which would a28 accrue. First, that an unnecessary fluctuation would have to be taken into consideration as and when various hirepurchase agreements were completed. Secondly, that direct comparison between vehicle and vehicle, so necessary for efficiency of operation, would be vitiated.
A new aspect of this problem has been suggested by one of my friends. He said that in his experience there were many small hauliers—most of them, I gathered, ownerdrivers—who, having acquired a vehicle on hire-purchase terms, regard the instalments as corresponding to the amounts that they would normally expect to spend on maintenance, depreciation and tyres, • making no special provision for any of these items.
Purchased Outright
Again, carrying the matter a little further, at the expiry of the term to which the hire-purchase agreement applies, the operator sells the vehicle and enters into another hirepurchase of a similar natute Perhaps the simplest way to arrive at the gist of the matter is to take a straightforward example and compare it with a similar case in which the vehicle is purchased outright for cash.
I,shall assume that we are concerned with a 6-ton lorry, the first cost of which is £1,000 in cash. In that price, provision is made for essential accessories, for painting, lettering and the usual sundries.
If it is purchased through a finance company and paid for over two years, the initial deposit will be about £500 and the company's charges will total £100, so that there is a balance of £600 to be met after the initial payment. That means that the monthly instalments will be £25. • At the end of the two years this operator, according to the procedure envisaged by my inquirer, sells the vehicle or disposes of it in part exchange for another, presumably of the same type. I will assume that he gets £200 for it.
A good deal of the strength of the argument concerning this method of carrying on a haulage business turns upon the mileage covered during the period of ownership. That factor may turn the scale one way or another. Suppose we assume that the average weekly mileage is 500, or, say, 24,000 miles per annum. By the time the period of hirepurchase is concluded, the lorry will have run 48,000 miles.
Assuming, for the sake of this argument, that the figures set out in "'The Commercial Motor' Tables of Operating
Costs" applying to this type of vehicle may be used, the debit on account of maintenance, depreciation and tyres will total, in the course of 48,000 miles, £1,400.
It is extremely unlikely that the vehicle owner will be able to pass through the period in question without having to fit a new set of tyres, or at least covers, and I shall take it that his expenditure in that direction totals 1150. in addition, of course, he will have some expenditure to meet in respect of current maintenance, say £100.
An amount of not less than 10s. per week will have to be spent on washing and polishing and similar attentions, which in two years will amount to another £50.
Out of the 11,400 which is assumed to have been saved in this way as the result of the method, £100 has been disbursed as outlined above, reducing the net saving to £1,100. The expenditure on fuel and oil in covering 48.000 miles will approximate to 1700 and the normal standing charges during the period will total £1,300.
The aggregate outlay iti connection with the vehicle is, therefore, the sum of these two items, 1700 and 11,300, plus 1300—the actual cost of maintenance and new tyres, and the1600 paid for the vehicle in instalments. The grand total is £1.,900.
Now .consider the case of the operator who buys the lorry outright for cash and proCeeds along orthodox lines. His initial outlay will be.£1,000. It it fair to assume that, during the two years, he will spend the same amount (£300) as his rival on maintenance and tyres: He will have been putting by, on account of tyres, maintenance and depreciation, the amounts set out in the Tables as applying to a vehicle of this capacity, namely, for tyres 1.61d., maintenance and depreciation 3.45d. The total is 7d. per mile, and that for 48,000 miles is in the 11,400 already mentioned in connection with the other example.
-Out of that fund he has however, spent £.300 but has still £1,100 against the time when further expenditure is needed. He has still, gs.an asset, the difference between £1,000 (the initial cost, less the 1150, which is the value of a complete Set of tyres and the amount dissipated in depreciation) a stint of 1690. The balance is £310. He has, therefore, 11,100 cash and a vehicle which stands at 1200, a total of £1.300.
Minimum of Capital The man who bought his vehicle on hire purchase has, it is true, a vehicle but no cash. in hand. The advantages of hire purchase are certainly not apparent in this comparison. nor do I see much support for the man who complains that hire purchase leads to rate-cutting. The truth is, I suppose, that by using hire purchase a man can get into business with a minimum of capital and, if he acts circumspectly, is just as likely to make a success of it as the man who pays each down.
I have been asked to outline a system of maintenance suitable to the needs of the owner-driver. I could answer that in a few words. I would direct his attention to the vehicle manufacturer's instruction book, with the suggestion that he should arrange his maintenance as far as possible to conform with the instructions laid down.
In devising a plan for the systematic carrying out of routine maintenance operations, the first consideration is that of the weekly mileage to be run by the vehicle. According to the recommendations of most manufacturers, the periods which should elapse between the recurrence of specific maintenance operations 'are measured in terms of , Miles covered. Where the mileage per week varies within somewhat wide limits, this introduces difficulty.
! Generally, however. I have found it possible to arrive at a reasonably accurate estimate of the average weekly mileage, and to take that estimate as the basis for a scheme of Maintenance. tI, as may happen, the mileage in any , week is below the agreed average figure, the net result is that, for that week, the particular operation comes a little soonerthan may be absolutely necessary. In another week. the mileage covered may be a little in excess of the average. Even so, the risk of damage resulting is small.
Actually, according to the scheme I have in mind, and which I am about to suggest. these variations have no effect whatever, because a complete cycle of operations covers., 10 weeks, within which period weeks in which the mileage is above or below the average are almost certain to cancel: Omit.
In the,case of the owner-driver, the operations are all of a simple order, easy to carry out at odd moments during the day or week. They are all of the kind that the average car owner himself expects to give to his vehicle. They are, therefore, not beyond the ability cif the average van or lorry driver.
He should thaw tip a schedule of operations, based, as have said, on the instruction manual issued by the vehicle manufacturer. The schedule is to be laid out in the form of a sheet with actual dates entered on it, one sheet to cover 10 weeks of operation. At the end of the period a new sheet should be prepared and used as advised. The owner should make provision for the week's work, arranging, if possible, for the work to be done duririg a slack half-hour -or SO. without disturbing the work Which the-vehicle is doing.
He should note, on the current sheet, the, actual day and time when each, particular maintenance operation has been performed, and lie should make, that entry when the job it done, not leaving the entry for a day or so; for in that lies a risk that he will forget it. Later on he will be unable to be sure whethet he has done the work or not and, once confusion of that kind occurs, it Will not be long before the whole scheme is dropped, which is serious, and likely to involve the operator in expenditure on major operations which otherwise would not have been incurred, at least so soon.
Check on Memory The entry. serves as a double check, first on himself, reminding him that the work must be done and recorded and, later on, if evidence arises that the particular adjustment or maintenance operation has nix been effected, a cheek on his memory.
Once each week the vehicle should be thoroughly greased and one of the following series of operations effected in urn.
(1) Tighten spring bolts and other nuts which show SignI of slackening or Which the owner should know, from experi; ence are likely to need that attention. (2) Clean fuel-supplY apparatus, including filters (3) Flush out radiator and water-circulation parts. (4) Clean and adjust sparking plugs
and distributor or, with nil engines, clean injectors. (5) Adjust oil level in gearbox and rear axle and renew engine oil. (6) Clean and adjust electrical equipment and top up battery. (7) Adjust brakes. (8)' Check compression and see that there is no evidence of valves burning: if the pressure its one cylinder is low, the odds are on a top overhaul being needed. (9) Oil body parts and check the bolts holding the body in place.
The foregoing series of operations and the periods are based on a mileage of 400 per week. Readers who are concerned with the operation of vehicles which cover a lesser or greater distance per week can easily modify the above scheme to suit their conditions.
The plan is, broadly speaking, in accordance with the recommendations of the majority of manufacturers. If the reader does not agree, he is at liberty to modify the whole scheme accordingly. Probably he will agree to differ as regards the frequency at which the engine oil should be renewed. 1 have found, as the result of readers' experiences, that the need for frequency of changing engine oil depends upon the quality' of the oil used, as well as the condition of the engine itself.
Assuming that the vehicle has been in use long enough to have passed the first occasion for the renewal of the engine oil, if first-class oil is used changing may not be necessary quite so frequently as recommended. With a cheap lubricant, however, frequent renewal is advisable. If the engine is old and uses a good deal of oil,, complete renewal at frequent intervals is not so essential; the " topping-up " process provides all the lubricant that is necessary. Beware, in such cases, of letting the engine run for too long between
topping-up periods, S:133".3R1.