Concerning Electrics in the U.S.A.
Page 21
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The Editor of "The Power Wagon " Writes to Us Anent the Present Controversy.
[134S] Sir,—I have noticed with a great, deal of interest and not a little amusement the lively discussion in the English technical Press on the merits and demerits of the electric motor truck. Your attitude and statements on the situation up to the present time are substantially correct, and your criticisms are fair and impartial, although they have evidently been misconstrued by the electric interests, as a whole, as being a cynical reflection on the electric wagon.
The attitudes of Great Britain and the United States toward the motor truck and other comparatively recent revolutionary industrial influences are rather different. In this country we do not bother very much about the ton-mile or vehicle-mile operating costs of a motor truck, as long as the resultant benefit from the operation of the machine, all things considered, shows oa the right side of the ledger. Local conditions vary so largely, even in the case of two concerns in the same line of business in adjoining blocks on the same street in the same city, that we consider it absolutely futile to make any generalized statement on operating costa that can be applied in any particular case. Each individual case must be considered on its own merits, and in our largo installations it happens that in about seven out of ten the operating cost of motor trucks has not been the deciding factor in determining upon their application.
Up to the present time, the electric motor truck it, this country has shown its best and most economical results when operated in comparatively large fleets. Of course, this is usually true of motor trucks of any type, but most particularly so in the case of the electric. I can best illustrate this point by quoting the statistics of fleets of five motor trucks and over in the United States.
Out of approximately 125,000 motor wagons of all kinds in this country, my latest records, compiled up to 15t1) May of this year, show that 16,759 motor trucks are owned and operated by concerns in the " Big Fleet" class ; that is, by those companies that have five or more motor trucks in their employ. Of these 16,759 machines, no fewer than 4533 are electrics and the remainng 12,226 are gasoline wagons. The significant fact about these figures. is that the electric wagons in the big fleets comprise no less than 40 per cent. of the total number of electries in the country, while the 12.226 gasoline trucks form only about 10
per cent, of the total number of gasoline wagons at present in service in the United states.
It is only within the last two or three years that Americans have begun to .understand the administration problems concerned in the operation of a large fleet of gasoline wagons, whereas the problems involved in the operation of large electric installations have been well understood for the past eight or nine years. As you have very truly remarked in one part of your discussion,. the electric wagon was firmly established in a business way in America at a time when the gasoline machine was a very risky experiment, and this fact may amount in no inconsiderable measure for the showing made by the electrics in our big fleets, But one indisputable fact in favour of a mass installation of electrics is that the garage labour expense per machine decreases far more rapidly in the case of the electric, as the number of machines in the fleet increases, than it does in the case of the gasoline wagon.
I have compiled a table showing the number of gasoline and electric machines in our big-fleet installations in 60 different trades. It may interest you and your readers to know the figures in the eases of those trades in which the electric makes its best showing. These are as follow:— Bakers, 581 electrics out of a total of 966. Brewers, 746 electrics out of a total of 1453. Department stores, 870 electrics out of a total of 2753, Express transfer and general haulage, 603 electrics out of a total of 2040.
Light and power, 797 electrics out of a total of 1238.
Of the 581 electrics operated by bakers in the bigfleet class, 244 are from 500 lb. to 1000 lb. capacity, and 198 are of 1-ton capacity.
Out of the 746 electrics owned by brewers in the big-fleet class, no fewer than 625 are of 5-tons capacity or over. About 60 per cent. of the 870 electrics owned by department stores in the big-fleet class are of 1000 lb. capacity or less. The express and transfer companies are most partial to the two-ton electric truck, over 50 per cent of the 603 being of this load rating. The other trades seem to be able to get along with a mixture of electrics of all load ratings.
American figures on the operating costa of electric trucks will be largely misleading to the British public, as our labour charges are from two to four times as big as those in Great Britain. Bearing this fact in mind, it may interest you to know that under average conditions in Chicago a fleet of 10 electrics can be operated an average of about 90,000 miles per year at the following all-in costs:— 1000 lb. wagon, 19 cents a mile. 2000 lb. wagon, 22 cents a mile. 4000 lb. wagon, 27 cents a mile. 7000 lb. wagon, 35 cents a mile. /0,000 lb. wagon, 44 cents a mile.
It is the general experience in this country that an electric wagon is best suited for short hauls with many stops, on good streets, and in cases where the mileage varies from 25 to 45 miles a day.
Under these conditions, if the administration and operation are all right, the electric is usually cheaper than any other form of road vehicle—Yours faithfully, livarty Faaa/NoTow,
Chicago. Editor of "The Power Wagon."
[We have asked this corrostmndent -kindly to furnish comparable all-hi colts for U.S.A. petrol vehielee.—no.]