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PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER.

11th September 1928
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Page 23, 11th September 1928 — PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A Query from a Reader in Africa which Raises Several Interesting Points. Some Figures for Overseas Operators.

QUESTIONS which I receive from readers overseas are usually only of direct interest to the person concerned ; they are not likely to arise in. connection With haulage work generally, and on that .account I very rarely refer to them in these columns. I have one before me at this moment, however, whielt differs from the usual run in that it is of general interest on two grounds.

This particularquery comes from Nyasaland. The writer is the owner of a small fleet of comnaercial vehicles, concerning which he has' apparently kept fairly accurate notes as to operating costs. He is desirous of having those costs analysed, and the resulting figures arranged in a form Similar to that familiar to all users of The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs.

Now I am going to do this for him and set it out in these columns, because the information introduced therein will 'obviously be so very useful to readers in his part of the world. In addition, there are certain other points which have arisen in connection with the compiling of these figures which are of interest to the general body of my readers. The latter aspect of the matter will naturally appear first and to make it fully understood by all concerned I must begin by giving the gist of the inquiry itself.

In the first place, it should be noted that the inquirer has five motor lorries and two trailers. The vehicles are as follow :—No. 1: A 2-tonner, make "A," with pneumatic tyres (33 ins. by 5 ins., singles on the front and twins on the rear). This machine travels 11 miles to the gallon of fuel and 200 miles to the gallon of oil. The initial cost, including body and, of courses tyres, was £510. That was in August, 1926. The cost of a licence for this vehicle is £5 per annum, whilst insurance works out at 118 15s. for the same period. Tyres generally last, in this case, for about 6,000 miles per set, and cost £7 10s. per cover and

5s. per tube.

No. 2 is also a 2-tomer, of make " B." This one, too, is equipped with pneumatic tyres (32 ins. by 6 ins., singles on the front and twins on the rear). The petrol consumption in this case is about a

• gallonfor eight to nine miles, but a gallon of oil is only consumed in every 3,000 miles running. The cost of the vehicle when new, with body and tyres, was 1800, and that was in December, 1926. . The licence costs 18 per annum and insurance £23 17s. 90. for the same period. Tyres again last, on an average, for 6,000 miles, and cost £12 10s.-for each cover and £1 12s. 6d. for each tube.

Licence According to Engine Power ?

There is a point here on which I should like to -touch in passing: Both these vehicles are of the same load capacity—namely, 2 tons—yet • the taxation in the one case amounts only to £5 per annum, whilst that of the other is £8. It rathdr seems as though the taxation of heavy vehicles in Nyasaland is graded according to engine power and not according to load

capacity. One thing is clear, and that is users of heavy vehicles in that part of 'the world are taxed very lightly indeed, at any rate, in comparison with what we have to face in this country.

Lorry No. 3 is of yet another make, which I will call "C." Its load capacity is only 30 cwt. and it is. equipped with pneumatic tyres (32 ins. by 4i ins., singles on the front and twins on the rear). The consumption of fuel is at the rate of a gallon per 13 miles or 14 miles, and that of oil a gallon per 400 miles. The first cost of this vehicle, which was bought in July of last year, was 1415. The annual licence costs £5, the insurance premium is £15 Os. 6d, per annum. and the price of the tyres 16 10s. per cover and 18s: 6d. per tube. The life of a set of tyres approximates to 6,000 miles' running,

No. 4 is a vehicle precisely the same as No. 2 and was acquired last October at the same price, namely, £800 complete.

No. 5 is also a 2-tonner of the same make as the 30-cwt. machine No. 3. It is a rigid-type six-wheeler (with tyres measuring 32 ins, by 4 ins., singles on the steering wheels and twins on all four driving wheels, which means that there are ten tyres to a set) Petrol is consumed at the rate of a gallon per 11 miles and oil at a gallon per 400 miles. The cost of this machine, in April of this year, when it was bought new, was £650. The licence costs £5 a year and insurance £18 .8s. 60. Tyres are priced at £6 10s. per cover and 18s. 6d. per tube.

The tyre mileage is not yet known in this case. The owner says he thinks it will certainly not exceed 6,000, but in that I should think he is wrong. Experi'ence--at any rate, in this country—is that the tyres ou rigid-type, six-wheelers outlast those on fourwheelers of corresponding capacity and doing similar work. There is nothing in the letter I have received to indicate that this six-Wheeler is to be put to work more difficult than that which is being done by the other 2-tonners, those which have only four wheels. Therefore, I expect -that time will demonstrate that the tyres on this vehicle will outlast those on the

others by a considerable margin. Pending more definite information on the pf5int, however, I am bound to take the figures given to me as the' proper basis for these particular tables of operating costs. Perhaps this correspondent will write to me again at some future date -and tell me what his actual experience is with the tyres of six-wheelers of the rigid type.

Besides the five vehicles mentioned above there are twp trailers,alike in design and both having a load capacity of one tou. They are tyred with pneumatics (30 ins. by 3i ins.), costing £3 10s. for each cover and 12s, 6c1. for each tube. Both of these trailers were purchased in 1925 at a price of 1100 each complete. They are subject to an annual tax of £2. The cost of insurance is not stated, but the trailers are used only in connection with lorries Nos. 2 and 4.

Prices of Essential Commodities.

Petrol in the part of Africa whence this inquiry comes costs 3s. 1d. per gallon—there is no tax on it. Oil is Os. 6d. per gallon, whether for engine or gearboxes. Grease costs lid, per lb. The total rent payable Hi respect of the garage, in which the particular vehicles -under discussion are stabled, amounts to £5 10s. per month. Please note that there are no rates. Wages are 13 per week Per driver per lorry, and interest must be calculated at the rate of 10 per cent, per annum.

An unusual item, one which rarely figures to any considerable extent in the accounts of a user of commercial vehicles in this country, is 1550 for a stock

of spares, and of this £110 is set apart for lorry No. I (make 'A"), £125 for lorries Nos. 3 and 5 (make "-C ") and the balance, £315, for lorries Nos. 2 and 4 (make "B "). In this country the manufacturer of the vehicle, his local agent, or both, carry those stocks, and this relieves the user of considerable expense.

The vehicles are used for carrying miscellaneous stores, for the transport of tea and of tobacco intended for export, for imported goods like cement, timber, provisions, fertilizers and machinery in moderate-sized packages; occasionally some furniture, maize in bags, steel work for buildings and factories, lime, salt in bags, and petrol, oil and paraffin in cans.

Fair Mileage and Good Roads.

The daily mileage varies from 70. to 140, but is more usually the former. The roads are all metalled and, I am advised, fair for the country in question. In the calculations which I am about to make I shall assume an average weekly mileage of 500 per vehicle, excepting the trailers, which will have to be considered separately. That mileage is equivalent to 83 per clay, reckoning six days to the week.

Operating Costs of a 2-tonner.

First, I propose to deal with No. 1 vehicle in detail, The fuel cost per gallon is 37d., divided by 11 (representing miles per gallon), which gives 3.360. per mile. Oil costs 780., divided by 200 (also representing miles per gallon), giving 0.390. To that figure a little must be added for grease—say, 0.060.—giving a total of 0.45d. for lubricants. A set of tyres 'costs £52 10s., so that if each set lasts for 6,000 miles the tyre cost per mile must be £52 10s., divided by 6,000, which gives 2.10.

The cost of maintenance is likely to be more in this case compared with costs incurred in this country. Curiously enough, not a word about this item appears in the whole of • the correspondence. I am going to take it that it 'is 1.100. For depreciation I shall take 120,000 miles as representing the total working life of each machine. On that basis this No. 1 vehicle,, which cost £510, less £52 10s. for tyres, giving an initial figure of £457 10s., depreciates at the rate of 0.920. per unit.

The above are the running costs. I must leave the standing charges and the rest of the tables to a

subsequent article, S.T.R.

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