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EQUIPPING and STAFFING
Page 100
Page 101
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THE GARAGE
The Personnel and Tools Necessary for an Up-to-date Garage for a Fleet of Goods Vehicles.
MHE provision for the mainten ance of a fleet of motor vehicles must expand as the fleet grows. When only one or two are owned the resources of the local agent and repairer should be utilized. Sometimes it pays to arrange a maintenance contract with him, sometimes not: all depends upon the class of driver employed and his capacity for executing any repairs.
An indication of the difficulties of arriving at a decision as to both equipment and personnel is afforded by a consideration of the problem as to when an extra man may economically be engaged as a mechanic and occasional driver. Some guidance is afforded by comparing the amount of his wages with the probable maintenance cost of the vehicles, bearing in mind that if he be worth his pay he will save more by keeping them on the road than would otherwise be spent.
The same process of reasoning and calculation applies in the choice of every major item of equipment, as to whether the economy effected by its use justifies the expense of its purchase and maintenance.
Take as a simple example the case where half a dozen 1-ton vehicles are owned, each doing 400 miles per week. Each of these will have to be decarbonized every six weeks and to have gearbox and rear axle case emptied and replenished in about the same time. The crankcase oil will have to be changed every three weeks. A year's use is 20,000 miles, and in that time the engine as well as certain other parts of the ,classis should be thoroughly overhauled.
Here is work for a mechanic, but not, on that schedule, arduous or continuous. What has to be remembered, however, is that there will be a host of other jobs, minor repairs and maintenance work like attention to sparking plugs, accumulators, electric-lighting equipment, magneto, and cleaning out of fuel systems, as well as repairs, the outcome of slight collisions not sufficiently serious to warrant a reference to the insurance company.
On the question of cost the maintenance expenditure of a one-tonner will approximate to id. per mile, which, at 400 miles per week, is 255. per week per vehicle, or £7 10s, per week for six. The wages of a man capable of doing the work we have in mind will be £3 10s. per week. The materials he will use and the overhead charges on the equipment he will need may amount to as much as another £1 per week, so that his employment will result in saving £3 per week.
Fleets with more or less vehicles than six must be considered in something after the same manner, but, as an indication, it is interest
ing to note that a staff of six mechanics, including a foreman, a couple of painters, as well as a blacksmith and a storekeeper, are considered necessary to keep in trim a fleet of 40 fairly heavy goods vehicles.
Now as to equipment: A bench with a substantial vice and the usual collection of small tools, hammers, files, chisels and a complete set of spanners, preferably of the up-to-date ratchet type for rapid manipulation, are essential. A portable electric drill, with a drill stand so that it can be used as a bench tool, is the next selection. Machine tools are unnecessary and out of place in a modern garage. A substantial electric drill can do almost everything that is needed.
A most useful apparatus is that designed to facilitate decarbonizing with the aid of an electric drill, The cost is about £20, but as it enables the time necessary for decarbonizing to be reduced from a day or more, according to the type of machine, to five or six hours, 'it seems that the provision of this equipment will save one day of vehicle use every six weeks, or eight or nine days per year per vehicle.
In the same way a safe recommendation is the purchase of a grease and oil bucket complete with pump for emptying gearboxes and crankcases and replenishing them. With big mileages a pressureoperated greasing outfit becomes an
absolute essential.
One jack at least is needed which is capable of lifting either axle of the heaviest vehicles, loaded, if necessary, and perhaps" the most satisfactory is the hydraulic type. With it goes the supplementary equi pment of safety stands upon which the vehicle may rest with its wheels off the ground. The jack should be fitted with a lorry-wheel attachment to facilitate removal of heavy wheels from vehicles.
A hydraulic washing plant is a sound investment. With a singlegun equipment all the under parts of a chassis, beneath the wings and similar places, can be cleaned in 10 minutes in a way which half to three-quarters of an hour of brushing will not surpass.
A petrol pump is needed for a fleet of moderate size and an oil pump of sorts, and it is essential to instal a good air compressor capable of supplying air quickly enough to inflate tyres, to provide air for the operation of grease guns and, where installed, a pressure-fed petrol pump. Remember, also, that compressed air is useful for a variety of other purposes.
Expensive and complicated tyrerepair equipment is hardly needed. A good vulcanizing outfit for tubes should be bought and cover repairs handed over to specialists. An alignment gauge for checking the toe-in of the front wheels is needed. A reliable pressure gauge also, preferably one which fits permanently into the pipe line from the compressor and of the type which allows of adjustment of the pressure while the tyre is being inflated.
If many large tyres have to be handled a giant-tyre changer is worth its cost.
The items and the prices in round figures are as follow:— This is equivalent to an annual expenditure of £70, made up as follows : Interest on capital outlay, £17 10s.; depreciation, £43 10s.; maintenance, £9.
If breakdown equipment be bought, that will cost £150, which is equal to £30 a year, comprising interest at £7 10s., depreciation at 120 and maintenance £2 10s.