Problems of the HAULIER AND CARRIER
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More About the. Conditions Under Which Haulage of Sugar Beet is Carried On
TLEFT off in the previous article in the middle of
discussing the conditions of beet haulage. The subject is of particular importance just now, as I know from experience. Even if I did not know, the intimation is being given to me in my mail bag in the shape of letters of inquiry from correspondents.
In that article I had emphasized the importance of having a vehicle suitable for the work and I had also pointed out that the haulage contractors living in the beet-growing area, and, therefore, knowing the conditions, are in a much better position to quote for the haulage of sugar beet than those who are strangers to that particular business.
A little knowledge of some of the special conditions underlying this beet-haulage business will be a help to those who have had no experience. They should realize, for example, that the farmer is not an arbiter of the way in which he will have his beet carted. He cannot, for instance, call in a haulier and arrange for him to go ahead, delivering beet to the factory as fast as it can be taken from the ground. The factories, as a general rule, only accept deliveries from individual farmers in stated quantities per week. They issue " permits " for those quantities and the farmer can
only deliver accordingly. I need not go into the reasons for this. It is sufficient, I think, if I state that they are quite reasonable, having in mind all the circumstances.
This condition is important from the haulier's point of view, because it means that he cannot take up a contract from a single farmer with any prospect of being able to make it pay. I have before meas I write a schedule of permits issued by one of the largest .beet-sugar factories in the country and in quite a number of cases the maximum they will accept from a farmer in a week. is five tons. The rules relating to these permits are not absolutely rigid, but the amounts quoted on the permit do indicate with reasonable accuracy the quantity which that farmer is going to be able to deliver. The only thing the haulier can do is to divide his services amongst a number of farmers, so as ,to be sure of finding sufficient work to keep his vehicle busy the whole week through. One thing, at least, is certain. No haulier will be able to make beet haulage pay unless he does obtain work to keep his vehicle busy every day of every week that he is engaged upon it. There is not sufficient margin of profit in the prices paid to allow him any idletime. In an article which appeared in The Commercial Motor dated Septimber 2nd, the advantages of the six-wheeled lorry were pointed out in relation to its application to the transport of beet. It Was claimed that vehicles of this type make it possible to cart the load direct from field to factory without the necessity of the farmer depositing the beet at the side of the road in heaps. for it to be picked up by motor wagons. The scheme has its possibilities, but, of course, is not of universal application. I cannot conceive, for example, of any motor vehicle intended mainly for use on hard road surfaces being satisfactory in the circumstances depicted in the picture at the top of this page, which shows conditions that are by no means rare. From the haulier's point of view the prospects of this type of vehicle are not too promising. To load a three-tonner by the side of the road would take half an hour ; to load it in the field in the same time would necessitate the concentrated efforts of 20 people pulling the beet, topping them and putting them into the lorry. Only those farmers in particularly favourable coaditions as regards acreage could arrange for that staff to be available, and even they would have to divert the
beet and commence stacking by the roadside after their weekly quota had been loaded direct.
If there be any readers of these pages who have in mind the use or subsidy-type six-wheelers for the haulage of beet under contract, they should bear these facts in mind and take particular pains to make it clear to the farmer that, inasmuch as they are saving him is. 6d. per ton, the cost of cartage from the field to the road, they will expect a corresponding advance in the haulage rate. Without the haulier's attention to this matter it is apt to be overlooked when the farmer is comparing quotations.
The Most Suitable Size of Vehicle.
I come now to the all-important question of price. The matter of the selection of size and type of vehicle is closely related to it. Both questions depend upon the mileage the beet has to be conveyed. The greater the distance the greater the capacity of the vehicle. A man with several sizes of vehicle at his command should bear that factor in mind, using his biggest for the long distances and the smaller ones on short runs.
The average jobbing haulier with only two or three vehicles will find the four or five-tonner best suited to his needs in the usual circumstances, which are such that he will have one day to cart beet a distance of 20 mild and the next a distance of three miles ; the day after that the farm he is serving may be some eight or nine miles from the factory. It is, perhaps, because of this and as the outcome of the natural law—the survival of the fittest—that the four or five-ton lorry is most popular in this work. It is not so economical as a larger vehicle on hauls of upwards of 20 miles, but is more so on shorter runs.
When he comes to consider his probable costs the town dweller finds himself at a further disadvantage. as compared with the local man. The wages paid to lorry drivers in rural districts are less than those current in towns. Garage rents are lower, insurance premiums are less and, furthermore, general expenses, upkeep and so on are reduced in proportion. Moreover, the town-dwelling haulier who sends men and vehicles into the beet district may have to compensate Iris drivers for having to live away from home. That is a further expense which will have to be considered.
In order to arrive at the probable -cost the owner must take all these matters into consideration and he must sit down and set out the figures for his own costs, so far as he knows them. The following is intended as a guide to him when doing so, and the figures which I have introduced are only as examples. I strongly recommend each reader who is considering the signing of a contract for beet haulage to introduce his own figures, so far as possible.
Taking his standing charges first, lie must include a proportion of the licence he pays, calculating what. that amounts to per week. The next item is wages, those of the driver and of a mate to assist in loading, the extra money he will have to pay his driver for being away from home, and provision for overtime. The garage rent to be charged against the job will be the amount to he paid for housing the vehicle near the area in which it is to work. phis that of the home garage which, presumably, will have to be retained until the vehicle returns. Insurance, presumably, will remain the same since the haulier cannot obtain" a reduction for temporary rural work, and the interest on first cost will, of course, not vary. The incidence of these two items per week must be calculated.
Items of Running Costs.
So far as the running costs are concerned, petrol and oil consumption will be slightly in excess of the usual average. The depreciation of tyres may be considerably more than usual; all depends on the sort of work upon which the vehicle is usually engaged. Much of beet haulage is done along narrow country lanes, roughly repaired with sharp-edged stones, which are not so favourable to economy in tyre wear as are the
streets of towns and cities. For maintenance and depreciation the figures the haulier usually allows may be taken as applying.
Examples of these costs anti their application will he given in the next article. S.T.R.