• HINTS FOR HAULIERS.
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An Occasional Chat on Subjects and Problems of Interest to Those Who are Engaged or About to Become Engaged, in Runniug Commercial Vehicles for a Living.
The Van Used For Pleasure Work.
IHAVE A LETTER this week from an energetic gentleman who 'possesses a Ford van, which he drives all the week, I understand, in the course of his business. He desires to ose it now and again, week-ends, and suchlike, to joy-ride (I hope that is not a split infinitive!) with his family. New, I have never . had a Ford of my own, although I have heard a lot about them, but what have heard would never have led me to believe that a. man, having, from necessity, to ride in one during his working hours, would, of his own free will and pleasure, choose to continue the experience during his periods of leisure, as is evidently the case with this sparta,n. individual. It makes me wonder now if that story about the chiropodist—but there, after all, -what does it matter I My optimistic correspondent wonders. if he will need to notify the police, or other authority, of his proposed little game. I should just think he will. Let 1.14F see what the law states, in reference to this subject, and particularly as to payment of licences, and the rebate of the petrol tax. As it now is, Iunderstand, . his Ford is fitted with a van body. Moreover, it is only used to convey goods of some kind or' other. n, therefore, complies strictly with Part I of the Fifth Schedule of the Finance Act, 1910, in that it is " . . a motorcar which is constructed or adapted for use, and is used; solely for the conveyance of any goods or burden in the course of trade or husbandry, and whereon the Christian name and surname and place of abode or place of business of the person, . . . . keeping the same, shall be legibly and visibly painted in letters of not less than 1 in. in length."
No Loopholes in the Act.
Now. the wording of a law is important, but we mere laymen find it difficult sometimes to understand precisely what these wise and careful lawmakers of ours mean by their erudite statements. I believe, however, that the above paragraph, if it is to be properly translated, should be split up into two main sentences which will read : (1) . . a motorcar which is constructed or adapted for use solely for the conveyance of any goods or burden in the course of trade or husbandry ; and (2) . . a motorcar that is used solely for the conveyance of goods, etc. Note ; it must be adapted solely and used solely, etc. The interpretation has usually been that, if a ear is so constructed or adapted that it can be used for purposes other than the conveyance of goods, etc. then it cannot be said to answer the above definition. A 'commercial traveller's van has been refused recognition,as being capable of being used for other purposes than the mere conveyance of goods. Having stated that the vehicle must be adapted solely for use, etc., the ordinary man would have thought that enough had been said. But, no, there is to be no room for a loophole. The motorcar, besides being so made that it cannot be used for joy-riding, may not be used for that purpose either, for, surely, that is the meaning of the second of my sentences. Now I gather that my enthusiastic friend the Fordite I wonder if he knows R. T. Nicholson ; they would be good cronies, I should think 1—intends to fit his machine with a dual purpose body, and his vehicle will then fail to fill, on all occasions, the requirements of the Act.
In the case of a Ford van 'which complies withgthe stipulations enumerated above, the owner is entitTed to, at least, three monetary benefits. He is relieved from all necessity to pay the tax on his vehicle as a. motorcar proper. He can obtain, from the Customs and Excise officer of his district, a rebate of ad. per gallon on all the motor spirit—petrol—which, he uses on the van, provided he complies with certain formalities which I will enumerate soon. He obtains a rebate on the purchase price of his van equal to the duty which is Payable on it as an imported motorcar : just what the amount of the rebate is I cannot say at the moment, but I believe it is between 217 and 220.
Once Oyer the Border Line— All of these advantages are lost so soon as the chassis is fitted with a couple of seats and is used for taking out your best girl, or even your wife. The motorcar tax will at once become due. The vehicle, I believe, will have immediately to. be re-registered, or some reference made on the original registration form concerning the alternative body with which it is to be fitted. The registration form calls for the following items of information, amongst others : description or type of ear, by which is meant whether it is a steam wagon, electric brougham, or motorvan ; type and colour of body of car, whether it is a, fourseater touring ear or a van body ; whether it is intended for private use or for trade purposes. All of these particulars, as entered on the original form, will require to be modiried when the 'change is made, even if the change be only temporarily, and there is a penalty attached to the offence of taking out a car which does not agree, in every particular, with its description as .given on the registration form.
It will be impossible to obtain rebate of any of the petrol tax on any of the petrol used in the car. The owner will certainly use some of his petrol for the proper and lawful purpose of carrying goods, but, unfortunately, his car does not, at all times, comply strictly with the law in respect of its construction. Moreover, as even theSmost anti-red-tapite of my readers will admit, it would be practically impossible for the owner to differentiate accurately between the petrol which he used for commercial purposes and that which he used for pleasure. In any case, there would be so much room for abuse—there is room enough as it is—that the authorities are justified in refusing to sanction the rebate in the circumstances.
Paying the Import Duty on Conversion.
As regards the rebate on the purchase price, the buyer signs a declaration -when he buys the vehicle that he intends only to use it for goods carrying. He is, therefore, legally and morally bound to declare its use for touring purposes so soon as he does so use it. The proper course to take in that case, I should imagine, would be to communicate with the local Cestoms and Excise officer and advise him of the fact, whereupon the owner will no doubt be asked to refund the rebate.
I expect my correspondent is by now hotfoot for the nearest policeman, and I need not say more on this subject I
The Car Used For Commercial Purposes..
A case the reverse of the previous one has also been brought to my notice. Asman who owns a Ford ear— another . . . Cr . . , enthusiast I—as thinking of using it for commercial purposes. If he does not intend to alter the bodywork, he can get on with it right away, there is nothing to stop him. If, how, ever, he intends to fit a van body for his commercial work, he had better apply to amend his registration form. In regard to this the Act says : "If any circtunetance . . . occurs in relation to any motorca,Wwhich affects the accuracy of any particulars entered as respects that car in the register of motorcars, the owner of the motorcar shall forthwith inform the Council with whom it has been registered, and on receipt of such information the Council shall forthwith cause the entries respecting that motorcar in the register of motorcars to be amended accordingly, and shall furnish the owner with a copy of the entries so amended. No fee shall be charged by the Council in reepect of any amendment of .entries or transmission of a copy of entries under this article."
How to Obfain,Rebate of Half the Petrol Tax.
On every gallon of petrol, which is used for the purpeee of providing power for a isqp.a-fide commercial motor which complies with the lequirements, as I have set them out above, the 'user is entitled to a rebate of half the present 'tax of sixpence per gallon. In order to obtain that rebate, there are certain simple formalities with which he must 'comply. he must make application at least once every six months, for no rebate can be claimed on petrol bought snore than six months before the application is made. Re should not apply for the rebate, however, more frequently than once a month. No claim will be entertained which is in regard to a total purchase of less than five gallons, and no individual purchase of less than two gallons will be considered as ranking for this rebate.
It is necessary, of 'course, to produce prof of having actually purchased petrol on which the duty has • NorscE.
This form must be forwarded to the local Officer of Customs and Excise, and the following points must be observed : (a) The quantity purchased must not be less than two gallons at one time.
(b) The claim for rebate'must be made on a quantity of not less than five gallons.
(e) The claim made .must be for motor spirit consumed within a period of six months previous to application.
(d) Claiins may not be made more than once a month.
(e) This certificate must be kept and delivered to the local Officer of Customs and Excise, with an application for repayment of duty and declaration, both on an official form signed in the presence of the officer, i stating the quantity n respect of which repayment is claimed, the specific use or uses to which the spirit has been put, that the full duty has been paid, if such is the case, and giving the rate of rebate claimed. been paid, and for this purpose the signature of the vendor of the spirit must be obtained. In the case of spirit delivered direct by the oil company no difficulty need arise. The man making the delivery will sign. Considerable quantities are, generally, however, bought on the road, where the same facilities are not Invariably presented. By far the best course is to have a; batch of forms available, whereon the quantity of petrol bought at any one time may be entered, together with the date of the purchase. and the signature of the vendor. I give a copy of such a form. At one time, forms like this were obtainable frOna The Commercial Motor. Perhaps the Editor will say if they can be so obtained at the present time. [Sorry ; No.—En. " e.M."] In any ease they could be got quite cheaply from any jobbing printer, and every driver should be instructed to carry a supply of them for use in the event of his having to purchase fuel en route.
Periodical application tfor the rebate should be made on the official forms which may be obtained from the local Customs and Excise Office. 'The certificates of purchase of the petrol will have to be returned with the completed form, which is of the usual Government type. It is far preferable to take the form in person to the Customs office, otherwise you may forget all about the rebate -long before you receive your money. THE SKOTCH.
Answers to Queries from Hauliers.
[1?eplics to letters will always be sent by post. Those which may help other hauliers will also be reproduced here.—Ed. "C.M."1
"Welshman" Char-a-bancs Costs.
The net running cost of a. 22-seater char-h-banes, presuming it is at work for a six months' season each year, will be made up as follows, the figures being based on those given on page 6 of "Running Commercial Motors for a Living,' with the necessary correction for increases in the price of petrol which have taken place since that book was published. Fuel 5.56, oil 9.32, tyres 1.65, maintenance 1.77, depreciation 1.38, total 10.68, all .pence per mile. The standing charges, also modified owing to increases in wages, musk in addition, be corrected to allow for the' short period of annual use. The wages of the driver will remain at 74s. per week, on the assumption that he is engaged for the six months only. Insurance, too, will probably be taken out in full only for the period of use, a small premium being paid to cover the possibility of loss by fire or theft during the time in which it is in garage and not regularly used. (Take care that it is fully insured again before it is taken out.) The incidence of rent and rates, and of interest on first cost, will, however, be .doubled, owing to the fact that they have to be reckoned only over six months; instead of, as before, over twelve. Making these corrections, the total of standing charges work out at £8 10s. a week, or 2,040 pence. Presuming that the vehicle will average 300 miles a week during the season—a minimum—the total working costs amount to a maximum of is. 5d. per mile. Add to this 3d. per mile for the fee 'which will probably be charged by the highway authorities in whose charge are the roads which you will have to traverse, and the total of is. 8d. is reached. Experience has shown that establishment expenses, or overhead charges, as they are variously called, usually add from. 50to 70 per cent. to the working costs of the vehicle itself and, as a good approximate figure, it is usual to take double the working cost of the vehicle as the return which must be obtained if the business is to pay. You may take it, therefore, that you must get 3g. 4d. for every mile run. As you cannot reckon on the char-à-bancs being filled every journey, this involves you in charging a minimum of qd. a mile to each passenger. Whenever possible, in order to be on the safe side, you should obtain 3d.