THE HAULIERS' INQUIRE WITHIN.
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Dealing Further with the Provision of a Reliable System for Recording, Week by Week, the Working Costs and Revenue of a Small Bus Undertaking.
•I N MY last contribution under this heading I outlined a method of keeping records of work done by
drivers and conductors, and described special time. sheets or time cards suitable for the purpose. The men were called upon to make out daily reports on these cards,on which space was provided for entering particulars of the hours actually worked by the driver or conductor concerned, as well. as records of the mileage covered by each bus, the amounts of fuel and oil consumed, and articles taken from the stores. Provision was also made to enable both driver and conductor to register any complaint which they might desire to make—and which they should make —concerning defective working or condition of any part of the bus. In fact, the cards, when completed, comprise most of the essential information in connection with the running cents of the bus, since they show wages, charges, fuel and lubri cants, and maintenance Bus No WEEKLY —sundry ' stores , items are an important part of vehicle maintenance-and mileage.
The second stage in our little costs system is the collating of thin information, and its entry in a manner which will facilitate the computation of the total operating cost of the bun. To that end I use a modified form of the weekly "Log •Sheet " which I instituted some time ago as an aid to cost-keeping in connection with a h aulage contractor's business.
For the sake of simplicity, instead of arranging to have space for "Logs " of four vehicles on a page, I propose, for bus work, to have only me. Each sheet should be printed as shown, and punched, by the printer, so that weekly logs referring to -ono bus can be kept together. The hpstory of each bus can then easily be traced, by reference to these logs, right from the commencement of its working life. This log sheet needs, I should think, no explanation. Practically all the data for its completion are afforded on the driver's and conductor's time cards. The extra amount paid on account of overtime in connection with each bus must be added to the totals, so that a complete statement of wages will appear.
The weekly record is devised to show, as simply as possible, the total income and expenditure in connection with the whole fleet of buses. It is compiled, in all, from four sources. The first portion, from the left-hand edge of the form to the first double line, including the bus number, mileage, and .visible expenses, is to be filled in from the weekly log sheets which I have just been discussing. The second portion, described as invisible expenses, embraces items which do not occur weekly ; many of them do not actually occur at all as direct disbursements in cash, and the others are only brought directly to the owner's notice at intervals of a year. LOG SHEET. Week. Ending Petrol.
(gals.) oil. (gals.) Lubricants.
Grease.
11.b.) Main. tenance s. d.
Amongst the firstnamed are depreciation of the vehicle and interest on first cost, which would only ap
£ a. d. pear, as regar.ds the
first, when a vehicle has to be sold and replaced by new, and as regards the second never, if the owner forgets that the sums invested in his rolling stack would have brought him in a nice little sum per annum, if invested, in the proportion of about one-twentieth part of the amount in question. Licences have to be bought and insurance premiums paid, once a year ; tyres depreciate, according to the conditions of service, at the rate of one set per twelve to twenty thousand miles. Maintenance, it will be observed, occurs twice in the complete schedule. The first time is in connection with the sundry small items of stores which are entered on the log sheet and on the driver's time card. The second one is intended to cover expenditure in actual repairs arid overhauls which are needed from time to time, more or less frequently accoruing to the system and conditions of working.
The next column, " Totals," explains itself. After it comes one for revenue, and the necessary data for that come from the ticket sheet or way-bill. Establishment expenses have been explained in previous articles at sufficient length ; they may be said, in brief, to comprise all expenditure which is not accounted for in connection with the operation Of the buses themselves. I do not propose to enumerate them again, nor to go deeply into the question of their collation. They are only such as any business establishment will have to meet, and track of them may be kept by following ordinary book
keeping methods. In this case, as in those of the invisible expenses named above, a proper proportion, for a week., is what must be set down in the form. With these forms it is possible to keep a close watch on both expenditure and revenue, to see that the former does not exceed the latter, and that the tendency is for the gap between the two to widen—in favour of revenue, of course. The system gives very little chance for leakages, and needs but little clerical work, or even aptitude to keep it going. It does not pretend to be complete, in the sense that it gives all possible data about the running of a fleet ; instead it gives the minimum essential information. The forms, as set out, would cost little to print: any local printer would prepare them and print them in two or three days. I suggest that the quantities ordered should be small, to start with, so that no needless expense will be incurred if alterations, to suit the peculiar conditions of working, are found to be desirable.
In a subsequent article I propose to present a set of forms completed, as a guide to their use. Criticism from potential users cif them, and suggestions from readers who have simple sytems of their own, 'will be welcomed. Any discussion which might arise will undoubtedly prove of service to all who contribute to it, as well as to readers in general. TEE SKOTCH.