Bonuses on Fuel Consumption

13th November 1953, Page 152

13th November 1953

Page 152

Page 153

Page 152, 13th November 1953 — Bonuses on Fuel Consumption

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The Relationship Between Good Driving and Use of Fuel is

Sufficiently Close to Enable a Simple Incentive Scheme to be •

Based upon Consumption Figures

THERE are many hauliers who think that no bonus system can be described as good, for the reason that any bonus is bad in principle. To offer a bonus is to compound a felony, or at least that is what they seem to think. It is, in effect, nothing more or less than bribing a man to do a job for which he is already paid at an agreed rate. A man should always do his job to the best of his ability in return for the wage he is paid; to seek to devise ways and means whereby on some excuse he can he presumed to have done a little better than he normally does is equivalent to offering a bribe.

I do not agree. It is, in my opinion, the fact that he is paid a standard wage that justifies the payment of some sort of bonus not as a bribe, but as a reward for doing a little better than the next man. The weakness of the Wages Act is that it makes no provision for payment on merit; by offering a bonus the employer removes that defect. Another correspondent states that he regards the scheme about which I wrote a fortnight ago as too complicated for use by a small operator. He is in favour of a bonus scheme in which savings on fuel consumption are taken as proof of competency and would like me to deal with the subject on those lines.

Let me begin, this time, by considering this question of bonus schemes in a broad way. Then I can take this fuelconsumption basis as an example of the application of the principles laid down. There is at least one point in favour of the choice of fuel consumption as a measure of judging the driver's competence—it is something which everyone can understand.

It will, I imagine, be realized that the operator, in considering the matter, should make up his mind on what he regards as the objective. Does he want his vehicles to be well cared for? Does he desire economy as regards fuel, tyres and maintenance? Does he want the quantity of goods carried to be increased or is he largely concerned with the improvement in the service he renders his customers? Each of these objectives calls for a different 'stem. The method described a fortnight ago covered most a the points but is decried by this correspondent as being too complicated.

Imaginary Complication .

Actually, in practice, as / saw it, its complication was more imaginary than real, as I thought I had shown. However, here is at least one haulier who does not agree with me, so let me see if I can please him.

As a preliminary to dealing with the matter in this way, I should warn readers that there is danger in a bonus scheme which is too simple: its application may bring unexpected troubles.

An outstanding example of the sort of thing I have in mind is the system which takes the tonnage carried per day or week, or the mileage, as its foundation. There is a direct inducement to the driver to overload his vehicle and to overspeed. In the end, maintenance and tyre costs are sure to offset the temporary advantage claimed in respect of the tonnage carried or the miles run. Not only will the cost of maintenance and tyres be increased out of all propor-: tion, but the time lost in laying up the vehicle for repairs will bring down the average performance to something hardly better than can be effected in normal circumstances, that is to say, without any bonus system.

The Point I am trying to make is that it is unwise to rush this plan of applying a bonus scheme. With care, the risks I have in mind can be eliminated, but care is necessary.

E46 A good purpose is achieved if nothing more results th the elimination of unnecessary and trivial delays.

I was once requested, many years ago, to investigate t working of the transport system of a brewery. In the cow of my investigation, I went out one morning on one of I vehicles, a 4-tonner. It was engaged on the delivery bottled beer in cases to a series of public houses and c licences situated within a radius of approximately 18 mil We set out on our journey at 9 a.m. and our first stc about one mile on our way, was for the driver to eat 1 breakfast!

There were many deliveries to make, and most of the were small ones. The time element was entirely overlook by the driver, whose minimum per call was 15 min.; it si usually more than thatand on one occasion was nearly min. This dalliance persisted throughout the journey ur it became obvious that the delays were deliberate, with sot particular object in view. The object, as I soon found, Is to ensure that there should be no likelihood of getting ba to the brewery in time to set out on a second journey.

Spinning Out Journey

Later it transpired that the driver had been with t company in their early days, when horses were more vogue. He had travelled this route with horses and cc sidered that there was no justification in trying to do t work in less time. He was deliberately spinning out I journey to make it last as long as it used to do.

Now whi/st_it is difficult to see how any bonus syste would operate To correct behaviour such as this, it shou be quite easy to arrange some system which should encot age the driver to be prompt at starting and waste no tir over individual deliveries, at the same time eliminati. the risk of driving the vehicle at an excessive speed. h personal view at that time was that the transport manag was not up to his job.

At the same time, I-can appreciate the difficulty in whi the transport manager would be in devising a bonus syste which would be likely to be acceptable to this particul driver. It is one thing to devise a bonus system and qui another to make the driver do other than stonewall it he doesn't happen to like it. If the man was, in all oth ways, a good man, the manager might prefer to keep hi] tricks and all, rather then try to foist a bonus scheme I to him.

It is not, as a rule, practicable to try to take the drive into confidence before the scheme is thoroughly work, out right down to the last penny. It may be possible do so in some cases but generally it is a bad polic The thing to do is to plan the scheme and then tell tl men about it. First decide upon the basis and then wo it out. Leave room, if desirable, for modification of tl terms, so that there may be something to bargain with trouble arises. Attempts to cut bonus rates usually brit trouble, hence the need to have the plan worked out detail before putting it into effect. Much of the .distru with which trade unions regard bonus systems arises fro the fact that employers have put systems into force witho giving them adequate consideration beforehand.

The system which I am about to describe is one outline to me a long time ago: it is stated to be still inoperatic to the satisfaction of both employer and employees. I ha, revised the figures to bring it in line with today's price otherwise it is unaltered. Two types of vehicle were co. cerned, one was of 30 cwt. capacity, the other a 10-ton va Payment of the bonus was determined entirely according economies effected in fuel consumption. The 30-cwt. hide, which I shall consider first, had been Worked for period on an average consumption rate of 18 m.p.g. It s decided that this should be taken as a mean and that 3nomies effected on that as a basis should be paid for. When calculating the bonus, it was essential first of all ascertain what was likely to be the total economy which mid be effected and what proportion could be awarded the driver. The prime object of any system is, of course, reduce running costs. At the same time, if the dri'Ver Ls expected to put himself out, his share must be worth ving. The first thing to do, therefore, was to calculate tat the gross saving was likely to be. Assume first of that petrol cost 4s. 2d. per gallon. The weekly mileage vered by the vehicle averaged 250.

At 18 m.p.g. the Cost per mile for petrol was 2.78d. and 5d. per week; 19 m.p.g., 2.63d. and 660d.; 20 m.p.g., 2.50d. d 625d.; and 22 m.p.g., 2.27d. and 568d. The saving ected, therefore, in the event of the consumption being proved to the extent of 1 m.p.g., that is to say, from 18 19 m.p.g., would be 35d. or 2s. I Id. per week.

If improvements amounted to 2 m.p.g.,. the saving would 5s. 10d. per week, and in the event of the consumption proving to 22 m.p.g„ the total saving would amount to s. 7. per week.

Probable Savings If I apply the same 'rules to the 10-tonner,a different story 3 be told. Its consumption of oil fuel might have been m.p.g., which, with oil fuel at 3s. I0d. per gallon, is uivalent to a cost of 4.18d. per mile. If the consumption re improved by I m.p.g., the cost per mile would have len to 3.87d: In the former case, assuming that the vehicle 800 miles per Week, the cost for fuel oil would have en 3,334d., and in the. second instance 3,064d. The /Mg would thus have been 280d. If the saving could ve been increased to 2 m.p.g.. there would have been proximately 560d. per week saved, paying quite a good nus to the driver if he were allotted one half.

Sometimes a scheme provides for penalties in case of Allis being below the normal. To plan this is rather Ecult. It will not be found practicable, moreover, to do .s by,depriving the driver of an amount equivalent to what would have gained had he reduced the fuel consumption. The only satisfactory way is to average the results for a period, so that if during the four weeks of a month the 30-cwt. lorry does 18 m.p.g. in one week, 21 m.p.g. for another and 22 m.p.g. for the other two weeks, the bonus is calculated on the average weekly consumption for the period, which is 20.75 m.p.g.

Sometimes it is helpful to create a spirit of rivalry among the men in such ways as posting the records per week of each vehicle and awarding a prize of £.1 to whoever accomplishes the best results.

Key to Performance It will no doubt be of interest to conclude this article by . quoting the views of Mr. J. S. Nicholl, M.Inst.T. He said, in a paper he read before the National Safety Congress, that petrol consumption could be a useful key to performance, given the necessary preliminary investigation to arrive at a fair figure of mileage per gallon based on normal engine condition and good driving with, in the case of the larger vehicles, a differential by which the standard figure could be varied according to the load carried, summer or winter weather, and varying route or traffic conditions.

. A car falling short of standard becomes at once subject for special inquiry. A poor petrol performance may indicate one or more of several things; the driver may be lacking in skill or for some other reason not working to best advantage; the vehicle may require attention or adjustment; an inspection and test will usually indicate where the trouble lies.

Presuming the fault to be with the driver, a poor petrol performance often indicates deterioration in a man's driving, and once attention has been called to it steps may be taken to correct matters before serious consequences ensue. Carefully verified experience both in this country and abroad has gone to show that the safe driver almost invariably has a good petrol performance, and the driver who is accident-prone has almost invariably a poor one.

This is not unnatural when you realize the relationship which exists between over-driving, violent braking and violent acceleration on the one hand and accidents on the other. In his own company, Petrol consumption. figures were looked upon as a valuable indication in regard to the performance of both driver and car. It would seem that Mr. Nicholl is not one of those who regard bonus systems as something to be avoided. S.T.R..

QINCE acquiring a David Brown

50TD oil-engined .crawler tractor a few months ago, the East Fife Area of National Coal Board (Scottish Division) has found many uses for this versatile machine,. Which serves 11 collieries. One ingenious application is in building a new tip for the Michael Colliery at East Wemyss.

First,. a temporary line is laid from the colliery to the site selected for tipping. As the slag is tipped from wagons alongside the line, the tractor; which is' fitted with a flaw-Knox . hydraulic

angledozer, .levels it off. Platelayers then jack up the outside rail, and pack it loosely with ballast until it lies at about the same height as the newly. levelled slag.

Working from the opposite and lower side of the line, the tractor drops its angledozer into position against the butt ends of the sleepers and pushes the line, a section at a time, sideways into its new position ready for 'the next tipping operation.

In one working day the tractor driver, working with a team of four men, moved about 100 yd. of temporary line one trackwidth by means of this method.