Problems of the
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HAULIER and CARRIER BEFORE continuing the subject with which I was dealing when I terminated my previous article, I must refer to a point which has been raised by a correspondent jle writes in a critical but a very friendly vein, pointing out that in these calculations I am taking no cognizance of the number of men which has to be employed in furniture removal. That he writes me thus makes it obvious I have not made it sufficiently clear that, for the time being, I am dealing only with the bare cost of operation of the motor vehicles themselves and not with the total cost of removing a houseful of furniture. I propose to enter into that side of the problem a little later on in the series.
Incidentally, this same correspondent makes me a kindly offer of help, of which offer I am going to take fullest advantage. I should, indeed, like to take this opportunity for stating that, besides holding myself at the disposal of any readers who may want advice and help in connection with any problem of motor haulageI ani also very glad to hear from them, if they have any information which they are willing to impart. There is no charge for my services.
The Factor of Distance.
The previous article terminated when I was in the middle of discussing the practicability of using small internal-combustion-engined tractors for furniture removals and I had purposely selected, from the several jobs which had been actually carried out by a furniture remover in the course M a t,week's work, one about which there might be some doubt, inashauch as the distance was rather great for the tractor.
In addition, there was-the further circumstance that the load was a large one, involving the use of a 4-ton van and trailer, This meant that, if a tractor was to be use0it would inevitably have to make two journeys, because it could not, at once, draw the two trailers which would be needed in order to cope with the load.
I had got so far as demonstrating that, in all, six trips would have to be made by the tractor, involving 15 hours' work, as against the 13 which was all that was needed for the simple, self-contained van and trailer. That, I pointed out, went against the tractor outfit, and there is still the question of costs to be discussed.
The operating cost of the tractor and trailer is, of coarse, much lower than that of the van with trailer, only '51d., per mile, less a penny per mile for depreciation, which, in accordance with our previous calculations, we will transfer to the standing charges, which will thus become 15 15s. per week.
The mileage per trip, out and home, on the job we are considering, will amount to 40, and, as the journey n34 had to be made three times, that means that 120 miles were covered while doing that one job. Note that I am leaving out of consideration the " dead " miles covered between the destination of the furniture and the garage to which the tractor "and trailers must be returned at night. It is assumed that that distance is short. Moreover, I have not considered it in discussing the cost of the self-contained van and trailer.
The operating4cost for 120 miles at 41d. per mile is 12 5s. The cost pet hour, at /5 15s. per week, is 2s. 5d. nearly and that, for 15 hours, totals 36s. 3d. The total cost, therefore, exclusive of overtime charges, amounts to £4 1s. 3d. The overtime charges amount to 9s., thus bringing the cost up to £4 10s. 3d., against £4 is. lid, for the van and trailer.
Where the Tractor Fails.
There is, therefore, not only a loss of two hours of time and a difference, in favour of the self-contained van and trailer, of 8s. 4d. on the actual cost of operation of the vehicles on the job, which means, other things being equal, that there is a Iths of profit of the same amount, but there are other losses, not accounted for in any of these calculations, due to the fact that the three or more loaders are also each kept at work for two hours longer.
It seems to be fairly well established, therefore, that the small tractor and trailer is not the best adapted for this job, which is better, more quickly, and More cheaply carried out by means of the 4-ton furniture-removals van and trailer.
Now I am going to apply the same methods of reasoning to the consideration of that job which is more clearly suitable for the tractor, namely, the one which involves travelling only 10 miles out and home, and where the load is only sufficient to fill the one trailer.
ff there be only this one job to do on the -.day appointed, then the calculation is an easy 'one. We may take it that an extra half-hour would be necessary, over and above that stated to be taken by the ordinary van, so that the total for the job would be 7 hours instead of 61 hours. The mileage is still 10. The cost, therefore, is 3s. 9d. (for the 10 miles at 41d. per mile), plus seven times 2s. 5d., which amounts to 16s. 11d. Total, /1 Os. 8d.; or, if we add a further 2s. 5d. for the time the vehicle is idle in its garage, £1 3s. 1d. There is a clear saving there of 13s., the cost with a van having been shown to be 11 16s. id.
There can, therefore, be no doubt of the wisdom of using a small tractor for this job. Its advantages show more clearly, however, if there happens to be another job of approximately the same kind to be done on the same day.
In those circumstances the costs work out as follow: —Take it that each journey is about five miles long and that the distance between the two houses where operations are going forward is also about five miles. The time-table of the day's work will be something like, this, assuming a start at eight o'clock in the morning:— 8 a.m.—Tractor leaves with trailer No. 1 for first house.
8.30 a.m.—Tractor arrives first house and leaves trailer No. 1.
9 a.m.—Tractor returns for trailer No. 2.
9.40 a.m.—Tractor arrives with second trailer at second house.
10 a.m.—Tractor returns to first house to await trailer No. 1.
11.30 a.m.—Tractor starts away from first house with trailer No. 1, 'which is now loaded.
12.10 p.m.—Tractor arrives at destiultion of first load. 12.40 p.m.—Tractor takes second trailer away from second house and returns with it, arriving at destination of second load at 1.15 p.m.
1.20 p.m.—Tractor leaves to collect trailer No. 1, but has to wait until three o'clock for it to be unloaded.
3.15 p.m.—Returns to garage with trailer No. 1 and proceeds forthwith to collect trailer No. 2.
4.30 p.m.—Returns to garage with trailer No. 2.
Altogether 8i hours have been occupied on this job and the mileage is very nearly 40. The cost is, therefore, 11 is. 6d. for time and 15s. for distance, plus, say, a shilling for overtime. The grand total of operating cost of the tractor and trailers, but with no allowance for wages of loaders, is £1 17s. 6d.
Now, the cost of doing each of these jobs with a single van has been shown to be £1 16s. 1d., so that there is an actual saving of 11 18s. 8d. by using the tractor and trailers. S.T.R.