Comparative Working Costs.
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Mr. Henry Sturmey's Views.
" What will it cost me? " is the question which the tradesman at once asks when it is suggested to him that he should replace his fleet of horsed vans and wagons with motor vehicles. He may, or he may not, know what his horses are costing him, but, at any rate, he has a fairly approximate idea, according to his own way of reckoning it. As for the motor vehicle, however, his mind is a blank. He has no experience to guide him in the matter at all, and he hesitates to make the change, because he would be taking a step in the dark. Imbued with this spirit of uncertainty and doubt, he readily lends an ear to the " tarradiddles " related to him by his friends, who, with that little hearsay kno-■%lcd,;e which is a dangerous thing, try on all sides to frighten him all his new idea, and to dissuade him from his purpose.
Grim Tales of Warning.
One has heard of the experience of a wealthy scorcher, with an Solep. car which eats up tires at the rate of „{:,2o or
a month, and petrol at four miles to the gallon, and he prognosticates that his friend will be ruined by the expenses. Another has heard that Lord Tomnoddy has to pay his chauffeur 1;5 a week, and his prognostication of woe is that, unless his friend pays ;63 or L:4 a week for the services of a skilled chauffeur, his enterprise is doomed, and, -of course, the man knows he cannot pay that. A third adviser points to the sad experience of Mr. Blank who, a few years ago, tried to use an antediluvian pleasure car as a commercial vehicle, and came to unutterable grief. And then, when the distraught enquirer takes up Some of the motor trade literature which is sent by the enterprising . manufacturer to convince him, he finds figures set out to influence him which even he, with his lack of knowledge, on the subject, sees are impossible and absurd, and he concludes that the maker is throwing dust in his eyes, and is bent on fooling him. Now, this is an undoubted error of judgment on the part of the manufacturer, to say the least of 'it, and the setting out of absurd claims, as to the saving to be effected by the use of motor vehicles, only defeats its own object, for the buyers of commercial cars are not callow youths spending money on a toy, but men of more or less successful business experience who, if they are not experts on motor matters, can at least discern the preposterous.
Foolish Claims,
As an example of what I mean, I may quote from the catalogue of the makers of one of the ton vans, running light in class A in the trials, wherein it was claimed that one of these vans would do the work of and was capable of
replacing no less than ix horses Could anything be more absurd? Just let us see what this means. The makers of this vehicle, although selling it as a ton vehicle, evidently feared to subject it to the stress of carrying that load under R.A.C. inspection, so, instead of entering it in the one-ton class, they ran it in the to-cwt. one. We will split the difference, therefore, and take 15 cwt, as a fair average load for it. Now, 15-cwt. loads with horsed outfits are usually carried in single-horsed vans, with a good stout horse in the shafts. For work under load, day in, day out, throughout the year, few horses will be able to average more than 12 to 15 miles per day. If we take the latter figure for calculation, this means that the motorvan, in order to equal the work of ix horses, must run 165 miles a day all the year round, and must do this whilst allowing for all the stoppage time of It separate vehicles ! How absurd this is will be seen if we remember that very few horse vans in a tradesman's delivery-service will spend less than an aggregate of an hour in stopping time (loading at the stores, and unloading at customers' houses), so that we have it hours taken up, with this alone, out of even a 12-hour working day, for loading and unloading will be no quicker with a motor vehicle than with a horsed one, thus leaving the demon driver of the marvellous motorvan to do his travelling at 165 miles an hour, or else to put in about a 20-hour .day himself ! Sach wild statements as these carry absurdity on the face of them, and do more harm than good, as the tradesman naturally concludes that, either the manufacturer takes him for a foul, or is one himself. So, too, are the excessive claims made at times for marvellous mileage per gallon of petrol. Because a touring car, or even an empty van, can be driven straightaway on the road, say, 30 miles on a gallon of petrol, it is absurd to put that forward as a basis for estimation of running expenses. In the first place, much of the work will be done in traffic, and in the narrow ::treets of towns; then, there will be a good deal of manceueningin tight places, and the engine will often be left running for many minutes together while calls are being made, in addition to much starting and acceleration work under load. All of these run away with the petrol, apart from the fact that the van will most certainly not be driven by a skilled driver, who is trained to the economical use of an engine, so that 15 miles to one gallon is very much more nearly what such a wagon may be expected to run under ordinary service conditions, and no other are of any use to the purchaser. It is also a mistake to reckon petrol at a price at which it cannot be bought retail in the country districts, where vans will be widely used. Because a large manufacturer, buying petrol in bulk, in London, say, can get it at Tod. a gallon, there is no reason for reckoning it at that. price when it is quite certain that the user of a single van in a country town will not be able to buy it at less than is, 2d. Besides this, when the intending buyer, who is " looking into things," sees a calculation on petrol at loci. a gallon, and he asks Mr. Jones at the garage up the town the price of petrol, and is told is. 4d., it " gives the show away " and, instead of convincing the buyer, has just the opposite effect.
Give the Horse a Chance.
Having got thus far by way of introduction, let us now examine the question of working cost, as between the motor and the horsed van, as fairly and as squarely as possible. First of all, we will deal with the case of the horse van. I wonder how many users of horses know what their distribution by this means really does cost them? Most, I have no doubt, can tell pretty fairly what the care and feeding of their horses totals, and what wage they pay their drivers, but how many really bring in all their expenses or allowances for interest on outlay, depreciation, etc., and how many know to a fraction of a penny what their expenditure is per mile run? I fancy not many. Let us look at things a bit, and come to some conclusion.
In the first place, instead of the mythical It horses of the motor catalogue, let us take three and a couple of vans. We will be on the safe side, and give the horse a chance: if the individual circumstances of any particular tradesman enable him to do the work of more horses and vans with the one motor vehicle, the argument in favour of the latter will be all the more convincing. In taking three horses and two vans for calculation, I am supposing the work of the employer calls for something more than 15 miles a day for each of his two one-horse vans, and that he keeps a third to relieve them, and with which he also gets in very nearly a full average. The two vans, therefore, with the three horses, cover, say, 40 miles a day.
Taking capital expenditure, we will suppose a couple of good, substantial vans are employed, which I will take at .£38 apiece. I don't know much about horse vans, but I think a nice one can be bought for that, though a trader told me the other day he was on the point of paying D3o for one. I want, as I said before, to give the horse a chance. Now, as to the horses themselves. Will it be unreasonable to take them at ,Z.40 apiece? I know you can buy horses for very much less, but these animals of the " pound a leg " variety are of no use for this sort of work, and, for loads and averages such as we are considering, a fairly good class of horse is required. The tradesman who fancies a bit of horseflesh, and prides himself on having a really smart turn-out, both in vans and animals, will pay much more for them. ;4;7 should provide a good set of harness for each van, and stable utensils, fittings, and requisites will run to nearly a fiver. I set these items therefore cut thus :—
I do not think this is an unfair estimate. It may run to a good deal mare, and cannot be done for any very appreciable amount less.
The Running Cost of Horsed Vans.
And now to our running expenses over a year's wcrk. At least one man will be required to each van. Some tradesmen send a boy out along with the driver, but we will take it our drivers are general utility men, and that each drives and looks after his vehicle and horse, and shares in looking after the third animal. We will also take it we don't pay fancy wages, and are running the business for profit in a country town, and that we pay our men LI a week each.
Next, there is feed and litter for the horses. I believe the large omnibus companies, contracting for fodder by the
ship-load, reckon it costs them 9s, a week to feed each horse. I have heard it said, by one horse-keeping man I know, that he reckoned his horse cost him 16s. a week, and I have even heard Li given as an estimate, but, with the fullest desire to be fair to the horse, I will take it the owner is a close buyer, and well situated for buying, so I will throw the litter in, and call it 128, a week. Can von do it for this, Mr. Reader? If you can, you are all right. If you cannot, there is all the more reason for your buying a motor.
Some people take the utmost care of their horses, have very elaborate and costly stabling, and provide fine accommodation for their vehicles, whilst others leave the vehicle in the open, and house the horse under galvanised-iron sheets, plus old boarding and roofing felt, but I will suppose we go to neither extreme, and I think Lt8 a year will not be too high a rent to pay for a three-stall stable, and covered accommodation for a couple of vans. Neither harness nor vans will last for ever without attention. Parts of the former will frequently require renewing or re-sewing, and the vans will at least want a coat of paint now and again, and the tires shrunk on to the felloes of the wheels, when the summer comes round. Am I unreasonable in putting down .4:4 as the annual expenditure per van and harness? I do not think I am.
Then, the horses, too, require attention. They will want their yearly clip or singe, and their shoes need constant renewal (say every three weeks), roughing or sharpening in the winter when the frost is on, etc. Would .;3 a year be too much for this item per animal? I fancy not. Again, a man may be lucky, and have no illness in his stud. On the other hand, he may be the reverse, and experience a lot. a year for veterinary surgeon's fees and medicines for the three is not a great deal, and I hazard it. And when the horses are sick, how goes the business, and what is to be done without the invalid? Do you ever have to hire while horses are ill, or when you temporarily have more work to do than that of which they are capable? I will leave that to you and, to give the horse a chance I will debit nothing on this account, but you, Mr. Horse-van Owner, can include it in your figures, if you have met with the experience. The wheels of the van will want greasing, and the
lamps must be lighted for night work in the winter, or our friend the policeman must know the reason why. Suppose we say Li for this, or, shall we say " los. and costs "for the omission?
Put all these items down, and then remember your capital has to be considered, and your-_,-214 los. should at least earn its 5 per cent. Neither your horses nor your carts will last for ever. You won't get what you gave for either if you try to sell them, however good condition they may be In. Your horses may die, and require.tobe replaced, and various causes may induce you to sell them and get others better up to your work. All this must be taken into consideration in the depreciation account, and I do not think I am unfair in asking. you to debit your account with 7/ per cent, depreciation on the cost of the vans and harness and with 15 per cent, on the cost of the horses. With these items included, the expenditure, in doing the work with horses, will .stand somewhat as follows :— Your annual expenditure in delivering your goods with your three horses and vans is thus shown to be ,474 and we have already taken them as averaging. 40 miles a day between them. This equals 240 miles a week, or 12,480 van-miles per annum. If you will calculate out this, you will find the cost will be
5.28D. PER HORSE-VAN. MILE.
— I wonder how many tradesmen using horsed outfits work out their figures to this extent, and how many are in blissful ignorance of its costing_ them so much as 5.28d. to deliver a van-load of goods one mile away I Yet, I think, it costs
a good many people more ! " Ah ! But " I fancy I hear the astonished one say, when he has got as 'far as this—" how about the motor what is it going to cost me? Won't it be a very great deal more than that? " Well, I think not, but before I proceed to show what it may be expected to reach, I would ask the reader who has his figures at hand whether I have been fair to the horse in tins reckoning. I have endeavoured to be absolutely so. My reader's own experiences will enable him to form a practical opinion as to the accuracy of my estimates, and upon that he can draw his own conclusion as to whether I am likely to be correct in regard to the motorcar, but I would ask him to remember that he knows a great deal more about the horseend of the subject than I do, whilst, in all probability, I know a great deal more about the motor side of the question than he does, for it is my business to do so. I would therefore ask him to be lenient to any errors he may find in my estimate re the horses, and to take my figures re the motors for what they are worth, in view of the fact that I am interested in them.
(To be continued.)