• PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER Is the Large
Page 11
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
or Small Bus the More Profitable One for Seaside Work ?
-.LaA N interesting inquiry, which is of common occurrence, has been forwarded by a reader ; at the present time it is of vital moment to many regular readers who are interested in passenger transport, particularly for holiday-makers during the summer months.
The whole gist of the inquiry is whether a double-decker 56-seater bus will be more profitable than a 32-seater single-decker in the course of a year. The correspondent is of the opinion that during the four summer months the larger vehicle will undoubtedly be more profitable, but he is in doubt as to whether the 56-seater will be a paying proposition to keep on the road during the remaining eight months.
Much that Depends on Local Circumstances.
In this case detailed local knowledge is the deciding factor of the whole matter, and I can only make certain assumptions and use them to illustrate a method of arriving at the various figures for income and expenditure. A definite answer to the inquiry would undoubtedly be distinctly misleading, as the local knowledge previously mentioned is absolutely essential when dealing with the relative comparisons of summer and winter traffic in one special area. During the four months designated summer the traffic, I gather, is almost entirely composed of pleasure seekers from the neighbouring industrial cities and towns, whereas, in the autumn, winter and spring, the passengers will be local residents and, possibly, a few visitors only.
In discussing the problem, therefore, I propose to work out the income and expenditure, making many assumptions as to numbers of passengers, mileages, and so forth. Those who are interested in the matter must take the tables of operating costs published in the issue of this journal dated February 17th and select therefrom figures, substituting also numbers of passengers and similar data in accordance with the facts of their own case, which they are in a position to supply from their knowledge of local conditions.
• Working Out the Annual Costs.
Before dealing with probable income, let us estimate the annual expenditure. The summer is assumed to be 18 weeks, and the winter 34 weeks. Taking first the 32-seaters, and reckoning upon a weekly mileage of 600 miles with pneumatic-tyred vehicles, the operating costs will be £29 14s. per week, or, 1534 12s. for the summer months. Considering now the less remunerative months, and taking 400 miles per week as the average, the costs will be £22 6s., or £758 4s. Adding the 12 months' costs together, the annual expenditure will be £1,292 16s.
Working on similar lines, the annual costs of 56-seaters on pneumatics covering the same mileages will be £1,801 10s., made up as follows :— Summer, 18 weeks at £42 = £756; remainder, 34 weeks at £30 15s. = £1,045 10s.
We have now obtained estimates of the annual operating costs of the two types of vehicle. The other side of the question concerns passengers, fares and probable income. Taking the smaller vehicle first, what percentage of the 32 seats will be occupied on the average? Throughout the sum mer the district in which the inquirer resides is, doubtless, inundated by the teeming thousands from local industrial areas, and, if my memory serves me aright, they are not mean in spending their savings, which, in many instances, have been put by in the funds of various clubs particularly for the annual outings. Presuming on these grounds that the average number of seats occupied will be 27, the weekly number of passenger-miles will be 16,200, as opposed to a possible figure of 19,200. If a fare is charged at the rate of lid. per mile, the weekly income will be £101 5s., or £1,822 10s. for the summer period.
During the rest of the year we reckon 400 miles per week, and the comparative absence of visitors will probably mean that 20 seats will be about the average number occupied on the reduced services, which will show a passenger-mileage per week of 8,000, as opposed to a possible 12,800. At the same rate of fare, the weekly income will be £50, and the income for the second part of the year 11,700. Adding together the two sections of income, the total will be £3,522 10s.
The Weekly Summer Revenue for a Big Bus.
As a comparison, the 56-seater, with seats filled to the same extent, will carry an average of. 48 persons during the summer, which gives a weekly passenger-mileage of 28,800, as opposed to a possible 33,600. Still working on the basis of lid. per mile per passenger, we get £180 per week, or, 13,240 for the summer period.
During the rest of the year, working 400 miles a week, there seems little possibility of carrying a larger number, of passengers than the smaller vehicles would bear, as the supply of passengers is limited and seems to bear little relation to the size of the vehicle. Assuming 20 persons as the average number to carry; the weekly passengermileage will be 8,000, giving an income of £50 a week, or £1,700 for the duller months. The totals for the 56-seater will, therefore, be £4,940. Reverting to the 32-seater, the difference between the income and expenditure in the summer will be £1,287 18s.; in the poorer months £941 16s., or, for the total year, £2.229 14s.
The larger vehicle earns a profit of £2,484 in the summer and £654 10s. during the remainder of the year, or a total of £3,138 10s. for the year.
The Larger Vehicle the More Profitable;
It the figures upon which I have worked are approximately correct in accordance with the circumstances of the case, it would appear that the larger vehicle is the more profitable one on the whole, particularly during the summer months, but, as has been mentioned before, the figures chosen are merely Indicative of the method and must not be considered as actual hard facts in any way.
Possibly, when the correct figures in a0ordance with the local conditions have been substituted and the calculations made, the decision may be exactly opposite to that which is arrived at by the process followed on this page. The crux of the whole matter is the average number of persons to be carried during the summer and winter months, the income being calculated therefrom, and then the total operating costs subtracted, to see which is the more advantageous to the proprietors, also whether a fair profit is earned. S.T.R.