The Roads for Commerce.—Article V.
Page 4
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Petrol-driven Vehicles.
By Manchester Trader.
We now arrive at the petrol-driven lorries. Let us take one five-tonner, rubber-tired. Here, again, increased speed and mileage are the main factors. Anything from 300 to 350 miles per week should be expected from these vehicles, and easily obtained. Taking only 300 miles, on a five-day week, we nave 60 miles (average) per day. The approximate rail charges per ton, for a single journey of 30 miles, are as follow :— Class 1 2 3 4 5 12s. 6d. 15s. 17s. 6d. 20s. 25s.
All collected and delivered.
Five tons carried yields in each class respectively : 23 2s. 6d., 23 15s., 24 7s. 6d., 25 and 26 5s. per day, and 215 12s. 6d., 218 155., 221 17s. 6d., £25 and 231 5s. per week of five days. Taking the drastic course of assuming that there are no return loads or empties, and on the basis of is. per mile run as cost (on the extra mileage this is correct, as against the steam lorry on a lower mileage), we have 300 miles per week = ,C15 outgo, showing only a small gain on Class I traffic, but increasing and satisfactory gains on the classes 2 to 5 following. it should also be borne in mind that, relatively, the lower the mileage by rail the higher is the cost and charge, e.g., a Class 1 rate for a rail journey of five or six miles would be round about Cs. 8d. per ton. Therefore, with either steam-driven or petrol-driven lorries, with good organizing, loading and unloading, and the necessary amount of traffic for anything like continuous work, a good day's money may be more easily made on short-distance traffic.
Take a rate of, say, 5s. 10d. for a six-mile run : five tons per journey will darn nearly 30s., and a steam lorry would do three loads per day-2,4 10s.,with everything in its favour. Even two journeys give 23 per day, which is quite a good figure. The five-ton petrol lorry would do three journeys easily, perhaps four_ If the traffic is big enough to add a trailer on two journeys, at eight tons per. load – 16 tons =
24 13s. 4d. for the " steamer " or the "petrol," would put either the trader-owner or carrier in a position to defy the terrors of the Bankruptcy Court or the workhouse. The foundation of this most important point brings us to a consideration of the fundamental intention in the writing of these articles.
Short-distance Traffic.
This is primarily a railway term, and is self-explanatory. The reason for the comparatively-high rates for short distances lies in the fact that " terminals " are very often higher than the actual charge for haulage on rails. As an example (which could be multiplied hundreds of thousands of times all over the country), a rate of 6s. 8d. per ton, Class 1, collected and delivered, say, for six Miles, wOuld be made up as follows :— Conveyance on rails is. Id.
Terminals ... ... 4s. Id.
Cartage is. 6d.
6s. 8d.
These may, to suit any purpose of the railway company which may appear necessary from time to time, be proportionately increased or decreased; a railway company may elect to say the " terminals " should be 3s., the cartages Ls. 9d., and the conveyance 11d, per ton. The fact remains, however, that for short-distance traffic we have what to-day are a number of absurdities apparent in every rate. From trader A's works to trader B's (his customer) works, the distance is, say, eight miles. Instinctively, in pre-motor times,, trader A would cart (or the railway company would cart for him) his goods a mile to the nearest railway station, pay for station and service terminals there (and perhaps the cartage to the station), and for conveyance on rails (say six miles) to the station at the other end nearest to his customer's works. Sometimes, with luck above the average, this work is all accomplished in one or two days. If the luck of A and B was "out," it might take a week.
Sometimes, again with luck, the consignment might go through from start to finish without any hitch, such as damage, loss altogether, loss in transit for a few days, white the wagon containing the goods had misfortune to be held up at a tranship station en route, dispute about charges, wrong rate—in fact, wrong everything I Tired of this, A buys a motor lorry—and, metaphorically, kicks himself for not thinking of it before, as B's goods are then delivered intact in about an hour-and-a-half (or less) after leaving his (A's) works, and the lorry is back again about 10.30 a.m., demanding more work, so that he is able to get C's and D's orders away\ and delivered all in the same day. Then he begins to organize a little more ; he gets in a return load of something that he wants in bin works after the last trip ; or, again, he picks up a load in the vicinity of his first delivery. for delivery a few miles further on, delivers that, and gets a good return home load. This is all money earned and made : the old rail " farce " was money lost all the time.
Rail Rates Up.
Rail rates have, been going up for many years ; increase of restrictions is parallel to rates, and so is the daily reduction of facilities incidental to carrying. We have no guarantee that the charges for carriage will not go higher still ; rather the reverse, in view of high costs at the present time, is the probability, and in such an event it will be all to the benefit of the motor-owner. His costs are naturally increasing, but there are earnings and economies to recoup him the extras. We have recently had striking evidence from a high authority in these matters (Mr. McElroy, Manchester's Tramways manager), in the expressed opinion that motor-driven vehicles should in future provide for the collection and delivery of short-distance traffic. This accomplished and the railways relieved, the suburban dweller will cease to invoke the "powers of darkness" against heavy road traffic,. and derive consolation from the fact that it has incidentally provided him with a better train service.
In concluding this small effort to bring before the readers of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR the possibilities for the future in motor-carrying for the distribution of the merchandise of the country, the writer would like to emphasize these facts : (1) the railway companies' monoply of carrying is going, in spite of their acquirement and strangulation of the canal waterways ; (2) the outlook for the maker, the trader, and the road-carrier (by petrol, steam, or electric vehicles) will never be brighter ; and (3) for this opportunity, which must he taken, the thanks of the trading community are due to those pioneers of motor transport who, nearly 20 years ago, were in at the birth, who fostered it with dogged persistence, and who are now ready, with pride, to hand over the finished product which is about to bring changes to our commerce carrying of which few, if any, can see the end.