TRANSPORT TIPS FOR TRADESMEN.
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Particularly Addressed to those Who are Replacing Horsed Vehicles by Motors, or. Contemplating So Doing.
THE MOTOR OWNER with the simplest job, so far as organization and maintenance are concerned, is the man whose business is such that he only requires vehicles of one particular carrying capacity. This man, if he knows his business, will make every effort to avoid mixing his fleet, and ought to be able to succeed in organizing along the lines of the--greatest possible simplicity.
• Mixing Types of Vehicle.
The trader who realizes when be purchases his first vehicle that, if it is a success, it will presently be only one of many must be particularly careful in his original selection. He may, in fact, have been justified in the first instance in doing the very thing that he hopes to avoid later on ; that is to say, forming his small fleet of vehicles each one of which is of a different make or type. This is a rather costly proceeding, because, sooner or later, he will• wish to eliminate all but the best, and this may mean sales at low prices in the second-hand market.
If he can attain the same end by depending on really reliable advice, or on the proved experience of others whose businesses are similar to his own, no much the better, but this is not always possible. It may be necessary to give a good trial to two or three vehicles of different capacities before deciding exactly which is the best capacity in alle'S own case. Similarly, in selecting between different makes it may be, impossible to come to the right conclusion without prolonged road tests. It does not follow that the vehicle which is the. best in one district will be the best. in another, or that a machine unexcelled under certain conditions will be equally nnsurpassed if conditions are different.
One way of experimenting is to employ the services of a carrier for the time being, stipulating that certain of his vehicles shall be reserved for our work and watching carefully to see which provea the most satisfactory. There is, however, a limit to the information so obtainable. The carrier is not likely to give us access to all his figures of operating -costs, when he knows that our object is to obtain enough information to enable us to purchase for ourselves and to dispense with his services.
The small man cannot, of course, afford an expen sive series of experiments. His best course is to follow in the footsteps of others who have obviously been successful, not for a few months only, but for a period of years. The bigger concern may well work upon the principle that, if you want a thing done properly, you must do it yourself.
There are two things to be decided—the make of the vehicle and its load-carrying capacity. Experiments must be made by comparative tests in both these directions. The vehicles which prove inferior or unsuitable must be sold at a. loss, and for this reason a high rate of depreciation should be allowed on all vehicles in the first instance. In course of time, carefully kept reecirds will indicate the proper procedure for the future, and it then becomes safe to buy in quantity. Many people are to-day operating unnecessarily expensive vehicles because they wanted to shirk the cost and trouble of learning for themselves in the first instance.
If the fleet must be composed of vehicles of varying capacities, an important point to decide is whether all these smith be of one make. There ia an advantage in going to the same maker for all the vehicles., For
one thing, if it is necessary to change drivers over from one machine to another, the chances are that the men will find it quite easy to get the hang of a machine of the same make, even'though of a different capacity from that which they have previously handled. For another thing, a good many spare parts are generally common I o various vehicles of the same make but of different capacities. Thus a " one-maker " fleet probably -needs 3r mealier expenditure on spares in support of it. Again, each make has its own peculiarities so that, if only one make is used, mechanics will cuid it easier to spot incipient troubles before they develop el' to locate them when they actually occur.
It is for these reasons that many manufacturers do not adopt the theoretically perfect principle of devoting the whole of their factory to the production of a single model in the largest possible quantity. The question to be decided is really whether this last principle allves so great a saving to be effected in manufacture as to justify the maintenance -Of a bigger stock of spares and the requirement of rather more ubiquitons knowledge on the part of drivers and mechanics.
A Point About Bus Services.
The average trader in a provincial town, particularly if he is the owner of a, motor van, should always welcomethe /establishment of local motor omnibus services, and might well consider the advisability oftaking an active part in their promotion. If the district has its own tramwayservice, there still remain outlying areas into whieh this cannot penetrate, exceptat enormous expense to the Tatepayer. Omnibus routes, on the other h-and, are completely flexible. If, for instance, there are villages some miles out not sufficiently important-to justify a regular service, a--bus running once or twice a week will be a great improvement on the ordinary carrier's cart, and will help to bring people to the trader's premises, whence he in turn will deliver by motorvan or, if dealing in small, parcels, by -arrangement with the bus company. The week's work of each omnibus may be clearly .mapped -out Bo that people an depend on the service. but still the itinerary may vary every day. This, from the -trader's -point of view, is--one. of--the great merits of theseennibus as. against the tram.