HINTS FOR HAULIERS.
Page 19
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The Effect Upon Administration Charges ot an Increase in the Size of a Fleet From One Vehicle to Three. What it Means per Ton-mile.
ITHINK that very few of those who have not had the experience will be able to appreciate how different are the circumstances of the man who owns more than one lorry as compared with he whose fleet is still in the embryo stage, not having increased beyond the single unit. Yet, if a little thought be given to the matter, it will no apparent that the conditions alter very considerably indeed so soon as a second vehicle is put into service. Before that event the haulier has his own business, not under his hat, perhaps, or in his hand, but. almost entirely in the sight of his own eyes. He drives his own lorry, loads and unloads it—or superintends those operations-takes his own orderz, pays for his own goods ; in fact, controls everything .personally. His business is "personally conducted" in the most literal meaning
of that term. 1 The advent of a second lorry alters all that He becomes an employer of labour—I had almost written " capitalist! "—and there is no way of understanding the meaning of that term, and of realizing the responsibilities which it involves, other than by actually experiencing them. So soon as a man employs a paid driver, so soon does he appreciate the meaning of the old saying, "To do a thing well, you must do it yourself.' Not that good, responsible, and reliable drivers are non-existent or even, necessarily, hard to find. But no employee ever does everything just as the employer himself would have done it. However, that is only one of the responsibilities and worries of the employer of labour. It should not greatly affect that part of the business with which we are cencernpd—the balance sheet.
Development Entails Additional Expenses.
In last week's issue I dealt with establishment charges, enumerating them first in general, and then considering them in particular in their application to the one-man one-lorry owner-driver business. Now it is necessary to do the same thing for the haulier whose business activities are a little more extensive, such as one, for example, who owns three lorries. In considering a business of this size we have again two alternatives to bear in mind. There is, on the one hand, tlie case of the man who employs two drivers, but looks after one lorry and the business himself, retraining, perhaps, the services of a junior clerk or an overgrown office boy—or girl—to keep an eye on things in the office whilst he is away, to answer telephones, accept clients' cheques, and to deal with such inquiries as may come along. The alternative arrangement is that in which the owner rarely drives, but manages the business, looking after the commercial end, while three employees do all the actual driving of the lorries.
For convenience and simplicity, as well as for the sake of uniformity, we may as well keep to the methods employed in last week's article, dealing with the items in the same order, and in the same manner. We will consider, first, the case of the man who drives a lorry himself, and employs some junior to keep the office stool warm during the day.
First, then, as to rent and rates. The single-lorry man may be allowed to carry on his business from home_ Thia will not be so easy in the case we now have in mind. The average wife (there is not such a thing, of course) will submit to having a room littered up with papers, old sparking plugs, magneto, and carburetter bits, broken gearwheels, and the like, so long as the " litterer " is her lawful lord, but if it is proposed, in addition, to place some more or less callow youth in charge of this part of the house, then it is more than likely that something will be said. A separate office will, therefore, be advisable, unless the house is a large one, which will, so far as the business is coneerned, have the same effect—on the rent aS if a. small; separate • office were used. The telephone will naturaliy have to be more freely used if work for three vehicles has to be dealt with than with one vehicle in use Six and sixpence a week will be an average expenditure tinder this head. Insurance we had better assume to be ninepence a _ week.
Small Items That Mount Up.
Both lighting and heating will cost more when they cease to be under the direct control of the man who pays for them. We may safely take a shilling a week for each. Maintenance of office furniture and fittings should still not exceed 18d. a week, which figure, givei for the single-vehicle man, was perhaps a little on the top side. Post-ages and telegrams will be about eight shillings. Travelling expenses are still, in this ease as in the previous one, rather indeterminate. With three men on the road, an average of 22 is a fair figure to assume. Each individual reader must look to his own experience to check my estimate. I hope it may be possible to keep clear of the law, even with three lorries, and will only enter half a crown a week against this item. On the assumption that a man with three lorries expects to be making a little more per annum than he would without one, I estimate income-tax at 10s. a week The office boy, junior clerk, typist, or whatever he may call himself, will involve expenditure of at least 21 a week ; 255. is a fairer estimate.
A new item which must now figure in our balance sheet is advertising. This is hardly necessary in order to keep one lorry going„ but is almost essential with three. As very little advertisement space can be bought for a, shilling, we had better reckon on 21 a. week for it.
The weekly establishment charges for a three-lorry business, in the case where the proprietor of the business drives one of them, may very well be made up as follow ESTA 16ISHMENT CHARGES. s. d.
Rent and rates • • • O 10 0
Telephone -.• O 6 6 Insurance O 0 .0 Lighting and Heating O 2 0 Maintenance of office, stationery, etc. O 9 6 Travelling expenses 2 0 0 Legal expenditure ... O2 6 Income-tax 010 0
Office staff. • ... 1 50 Advertising • ... 1 0 0
Total . 26 6 3 Now, in calculating the effect of this cost on hire charges, it has to be remembered that it must be spread over three lorries, so that it is really 22 2s. id. per lorry. Taking the same example as before, namely, a three-tonner which costs a shilling a mile to run, and which involves standing charges amounting to .26 a week, then, assuming that such a lorry is running 300 miles .a week, its total cost each week, for running costs, standing charges, and establishment expenditure, is 300 shillings (215), plus £6, plus 22 2s. lid., that is 2s. 1d., and the total cost per mile,is this amount divided by 300, which is
is. 6.46d. THE SKOTCH.