PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER.
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More about the Difficulties of the Man who has a Little Capital, and Who Cannot Make Up His Mind into which Branch of the Haulier's Business He should Enter.
ININ my previous article I commenced to deal with a which had been put before me by a reader who was desirous of entering the haulage business. I commenced by pointing out at some length how wide was the choice open to such an one, and I gave this man's query in detail. Put briefly, he has a moderate amount of capital, not enough, apparently, to buy a new vehicle outright ; he lives in an ii»portant industrial city and he wants to know how best he can invest that capital in the haulage business so as to ensure a fair return for his investment, as well as for the labour expended. I gather he is of an ambitious turn of mind, and that, although he will of necessity only start with one vehicle, he has no intention of letting it stop at that, but hopes, by turning his profits into the business, eventually to become the proud owner of a fleet of vehicles of one kind or another.
Keen Competition in Passenger-carrying.
In the first place we may at once dismiss from our mind any consideration of the steam vehicle. Not that there is anything whatever against the steam vehicle for haulage work, whether for the beginner or the old stager ; far from it, but because this man is obviously a petrol . man, to whom the steamer will make no appeal.
Then, still considering the personal preferences of the individual, we must turn our mind very carefully to the question of passengercarrying. It may be remembered that, in the last article, Idiscussed the feasi bility of organizing a long-distance town-to-townservice and discarded that idea as impracticable for a man with a limited amount of .capital. More than one vehicle is really necessary in order properly to carry on a service of that kind, and there is a big initial outlay in the way of advertising and preliminary organization expenses to be faced, more than enough to swallow up the capital of a man who is actually proposing to buy his first 'machine by instalments, as in this case.
However, as passenger-carrying is obviously this man's preference, we must consider if there are other openings in that line. There is not much opportunity in the way of bus operation in his locality or in any of the big industrial cities : competition is too keen and fares are cut so very fine that a newcomer has very little chance of success unless he has some special advantages to offer. The coaching business, by which I mean the catering for pleasure parties and for sports
• clubs, professional or amateur, is not a full-time occupation during the winter months. It does not offer anything to a man with only one vehicle, now that the days are gone by when it was possible to make An argument in favour of forw large area to be carried on a c afforded by this picture of a delivered to a Rotherh
the same chassis do duty during the week for goodscarrying, converting it for passenger work at the week-end. There is still a lot of that done, but the coaching is not of a very high class. The question is, can anything be done in the way of offering special inducements to bus passengers to persuade them to journey by this particular coach? I think there is an opportunity there.
First-class Fares to Bus Passengers.
I am going to suggest that this reader should endeavour to ascertain, by inquiry in his own particular district, what are the prospects for a bus service de luxe for a bus which is. luxuriously equipped, well found and well maintained, offering such inducements in those directions that there will be a sufficient number of people who will travel in it in preference to any other in the district, and who, moreover, will be prepared to pay extra for that privilege. Tie will find his clientele in one or other of' the suburbs of the town in which he is located. The suburb will be one which is populated by people who are able and willing to pay extra for a. little additional • comfort, people who have their awn motorcars, probably, but are n Q t sufficiently wealthy to be 'able to employ chauffeurs. They are rapidly coming to the conclusion that there is no convenience in taking the car into the t own every day for business purposes, especially if they are in their offices all day and therefore do not actually need their cars except for the journey out and home. In those circumstances the extra cost of garage alone in the town itself, where it is daily becoming less and less likely that parking Will be possible, amounts to from 1.6s. to a pound a week, in addition to all the other expenses incidental to the ownership of a car. People in that position are becoming more and more inclined to use the car only for week-ends, and it is in catering for. their needs that the opportunity for a special' bus service arises. ard control to enable a body of hassis of standard wheelbase is 6-7-ton Leyland terry recently am haulage contractor.
The Work to be Done.
The work available will be of the following order. The first trip will be from the suburb into the town, carrying a load of b.usiness men to their offices. That duty discharged, the next trip will be a similar one in the same direction carrying their women folk,, or some of them, into the town for shopping. Possibly there will be time for a double journey of this kind during the morning, bringing most of them back again for lunch. There may be some of the men, too, who, given the opportunity of a favourable service, will avail
themselves of it to return home for lunch instead of having it in the town. After lunch there will be these men to take back again, as well as a further party of ladies, and after that again another party of the " sex," shopping bound, or going into the town, say, to have tea with friends. They will want to be brought home again, and after them the menfolk. Then there will be parties for dinner, parties who have had dinner at home but who are going into the town for the theatre or a dance, and, later on, all. these people to be returned home.
A Suggested Time-table.
That works out at three double journeys in the morning, three in the afternoon, and three, possibly four, in the evening—ten journeys in all per day. The time-table ;night very well be mapped out as follows : First journey up, 0 o'clock, arriving in town at 9.30; return at 9.35, getting back to the suburb at 105, ready to leave again with the second load of passengers, mostly ladies, with a few members of the aristocracy amongst business men—those who do not need to be at the office before 11 o'clock. The arrival in town would be timed for 10.40.
It would probably be found necessary to delay the return until 11 o'clock, in order to satisfy the requirements of those who had run up to town on some special errand and who would want to be back home again almost at once. They could get back on the 11 o'clock bus by 11.30, the bus leaving again for town at 1140, arriving at 12.10, and leaving again for the suburb at 12.30, so as to be able to bring a load home for lunch at one.
In the afternoon the first bus would leave for town at 2 o'clock, taking back those business men who had come home to lunch, as well as those of the fair sex who wished to visit the theatre or attend an early session of "the pictures." The bus would have to return again immediately, at 2.85, getting back at 3.5, ready for another inward journey at 3.10, to arrive in town again at 3.40. Leave again at 3.45, getting back to the suburb at 4.15. Depart for town once more at 4.20, arriving at 4.50.
Now wait for the return of "the bread winners," who will probably want to be brought home about 5.15, arriving at 5.45, The next journey up to town should be about 6 o'clock, taking the dinner and theatre parties, returning at once so as to be ready for the " theatres only" at 7.10. Return again to the suburb at 7.45, getting in at 815, ready to take dance parties out at 8.30. On each of the return journeys to the suburb there will no doubt be a sprinkling of passengers, those who have had to put in a little extra time at the office, or who have been out of town by train and arrive back in time to catch the bus, and so on. There will, however, probably be no point in endeavouring to cover another journey between 9 o'clock, when the dance parties have reached town, and 11 o'clock, when the picture theatre people will be ready to come home. Get them back by 11.30 and set out for town again, taking back sundry visitors to the suburb and collecting a further load of supper and theatre people at 12.15.
That comprises a day's work. Ten double journeys have been made and, if we assume that the distance is eight miles each way, then the total distance is 160 miles per day, say, 800 miles up to Friday night, with possibly another 100 on Saturday ; total, 900 miles per week. That is assuming that the vehicle is garaged somewhere near the suburb itself and has no dead mileage to run getting to and from its starting point night and morning. It is essential that that should be arranged, if at all possible, and it has the advantage that, in all probability, it will be possible to arrange for garaging facilities at lower rates than would have to be paid if the other end of the journey were to be selected for that purpose.
The Kind of Vehicle Required.
The question is, bow is it going to be possible to offer these people sufficient inducement to persuade them to choose this particular service in preference to any other which may be available?
The disadvantage of using their own cars has already been set out. I need not go into it again. To compete with other bus services there must be greater comfort— comfort to the point of luxury—better speed and the avoidance of unnecessary stops en route. The utmost importance attaches, therefore, to the selection of the vehicles in the first place, to the choice of the bodywork and the fitting and upholstering. A six-wheeled pneumatic-tyred chassis, with an engine of ample power, and brakes of corresponding efficiency and power, is the natural choice. The body must be roomy enough to seat 32, but there must be seats for no more than 24. That gives the ample room, the feeling of luxury which spaciousness brings, which Is so necessary to the success of this venture. A saloon-type body is essential, and the equipment must include electric lighting and every provision for efficient ventilation. The cost will not be less than f1,500, and it may even be a
little more. S.T.R.