Points to Watch in
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Contract Haulage
THIS space in The Commercial Motor is, as everyone knows, particularly dedicated to the service of those who zun commercial vehicles for profit, either haulage contractors or passenger-vehicle opera
tors, and rarely is that rule abrogated. There are, however, occasions when some diversion is justified, and here is undoubtedly such a case.
I have had a long conversation with a man who, whilst actually head of the transport department of a laundry with many branches, and thus being in charge of a large fleet of vehicles, is, nevertheless, to all intents and purposes, in the same position as a haulier who devotes himself entirely to contract haulage on behalf
of a launderer. •
Mr. H. W. Baker, A.141.I.A.E., chief transport engineer of Advance Laundries, Ltd., which has central repair works at Dagenham, operates his vehicles as though he were a haulage contractor, hiring them to the different branches of the company, operating them, and preparing his accounts in precisely the same way as I should recommend a haulage contractor to do if he were in a corresponding position.
It is important to pote, too, that this transport department makes a profit on its operations; not merely a nominal profit, but not an excessive one. It is, perhaps, true to state that the profit made is not quite as large as the ordinary haulage contractor would like to see, but it is certainly more than many carriers earn.
The vehicles vary considerably as regards capacity, within a range of 5 cwt. to 2 tons. All are, of course,
boxvans and actually the majority is of 1-ton capacity. A feature of the vans is the attractive appearance and the tasteful lettering. This is important to note, because the lettering is somewhat. costly. There is a fair amount of gold leaf used, and it has been found from experience that only the best-quality material is satisfactory. I shall refer to this matter again.
Another point worthy of note is the efficiency of the scheme of maintenance; it is effective in a dual sense, in that it keeps every vehicle in good condition externally, as well as mechanically.
The work of a laundry van is particularly arduous. It. involves a considerable number -of stops and starts, as may be gathered from the fact, that the average weekly mileage of each vehicle is 230, notwithstanding the fact that the fleet is operated for a full week. I am told that sometimes the calls reach as high a figure as 80 per hour.
These conditions, in all respects except that of total mileage, closely resemble those which prevail in the operation of public-service vehicles, and it is well known that they are particularly hard on transmission systems.
The same circumstance is to be noted in the operation of these laundry vans. It seems to be a reasonable approximation to state that maintenance costs may average 50 per cent, above the figures quoted in The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs. In those Tables 0.50d. per mile is quoted for the maintenance cost of a 1-ton van. It is considered that on laundry service that figure is generally about 0.75d. per mile. • In the course of my conversation with Mr. Baker, it occurred to me that a good deal of his experience would interest haulage contractors, particularly those who are considering, or who are actually engaged on, the hiring of vehicles to specific clients on annual contracts. The procedure under which Mr. Baker operates is similar; each branch of the laundry hires its vehicles from him and pays for them on a standing charge and mileage basis.
It is found necessary to allocate spare vehicles to every branch, in the approximate proportion of one .` spare " for each 10 vans actively engaged. The need for providing a spare vehicle is a point which I have often stressed in giving advice to hauliers who are estimating for a contract. That condition applies even when a contract covers the .supply of only one machine. Obviously, I do not suggest that, in that circumstance, the haulier must keep •a spare vehicle available, yet do insist that he must, in some manner, arrange for a spare vehicle to be available whenever his own is off the road.
The way in which Mr. Baker makes use of his spare vehicles appeals to me as likely to give most satisfactory results, as, indeed, according to his figures, is undoubtedly the case. If it be assumed that a branch desires to have 10 vehicles available, 11 are supplied and one mechanic is put in charge of the fleet. The 11 vehicles are, to all intents and purposes, put into service and each is removed for dock maintenance on one day in approximately every 11 working days. No vehicle operates for 12 working days without having passed through the hands of the branch mechanic and having been given all those attentions which experience and the current behaviour of the van show to be advisable.
That is a definite feature of the general scheme of maintenance, and it ensures that when, at the end of 30,000 miles, the vehicle is taken in for overhaul, little attention is needed to any part of the chassis, except the engine, which is replaced en bloc by a reconditioned unit. There is thus little time lost in carrying out this overhaul, which, in view of the mileage, takes place
approximately once every three years. The cost of the overhaul is, therefore, almost unbelievably low.
A particular point does arise, however, in connection with cost of maintenance, especially if that be assessed on a mileage basis, as is usual. The actual expenditure on maintenance per chassis, apart from the overhaul, is on what I might call a flat rate. A mechanic spends every 11th day or thereabouts in going over it. Consequently, the labour charge, which is the bulk of any.
expenditure on maintenance, amounts to about 1/10th of a mechanic's wage per annum.
In a similar manner, as one man is entrusted with the task of washing and polishing 10 vehicles, it follows that the expenditure on washing and polishing is the same for every vehicle-1/10th of the wages of the washer.
There is still one other point before I revert to the peculiar feature which I have in mind. The cost of maintaining the somewhat expensive paintwork of the vans approximates again to a flat rate of 210 per annum. There is thus what might almost be termed a fixed charge of between 240 and 250 per annum for labour involved in chassis maintenance and for the cost of painting. Given an annual mileage of 12,000, there is at once a figure of 0.90d. per mile.
In the case, however, of a vehicle which happens to be employed on some special work, involving a considerable increase in mileage up to 24,000 per annum, the cost of maintenance for the above items would be cut by 50 per cent. to 0.45d. per mile.
The other point to which I would like to draw attention arises in connection with the paintwork. Haulage contractors who undertake to comply with specific requirements in respect of painting and lettering should have regard to this amount of 10 per annum, because it is a charge in which 'they might easily be involved. ' Rzta