ristol Chamber of Commerce and the Trials.'
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Introductory Retrospect.
'he project of goods conveyance by self-propelled road vees is not a new one : it was the dream of the pee-Victorian on engineers, James, Gurney, Dance, and Hancock, but r efforts never resulted in anything more serious than the erimental conveyance of passengers, and the occasional isport of merchandise. Railway developments, the osition of horse interests, and prohibitive tolls had bereft 3e pioneers of their financial support by the year 1837. tory shows that virtually nothing was done thereafter the traction-engine type of road locomotive was deYped, to which end great encouragement was given by Royal Agricultural Society of England. It is true that igye and others, in the early 'sixties, gave passing atten to the possibilities of lighter, high-speed, steam3elled vehicles for loads of about one ton, but production barred by repressive legislation. Hence, until the year 7, nothing material was accomplished by engineers other 1 in the direction of improving the traction engine, in ch connection the names of Aveling, Burrell, Fowler, others may be quoted.
lodern developments of road locomotives for commercial ?oses date back, in this country, to the passing of the :or Car Act of 1896. This Act granted two chief nptions from the prohibitions of the older Locomotives i, these being : (a) a speed of five miles an hour ; (b) the it to travel continuously all over the country without Tient of any license fee. These concessions, however, e limited to vehicles whose unladen weight voas less than e tons, which did not emit any smoke or visible vapour Tit from a temporary or accidental cause, and which e at no time used to haul more than a single vehicle.
he leading traction-engine builders refused to build any hines to comply with the 3-ton limit of. tare, as they that sufficient margins of strength were not possible if asonable life was to be secured, but a large number of ;criers and manufacturers, who were engaged, eleven
s ago, in other branches of the engineering industry, not hesitate to grapple with the problem. It is true that .y of them had to acquire experience, but it is equally that the commercial-motor industry would not occupy ?osition it does to-day had nobody but the traction-engine ;rner been concerned.
Early Competitive Trials.
le first series of public competitive trials for goods cies to take place in this country was that held at rpool less than two years after the passing of the 1896
x Car Act. The R.A.S.E. conducted a similar, but series of tests, a few weeks after the Liverpool Selfelled Traffic Association, and the Automobile Club of tt Britain and Ireland (now the Royal Automobile Club) a one-day, 2o-mile trial in connection with its Richmond ibition of 1899. Other trials were organised in Lanca!, both in 1899 and 19o1, by the L.S-P.T.A., the lasted series being arranged from Liverpool to Manchester, in the reverse direction, and similarly between Liverand Blackburn, with loads of actual merchandise. The icity given to these Lancashire tests, and the wide cir:ion of the judges' reports upon them, resulted in the ng of a number of orders, and this was more particuthe case at the conclusion of the third series (t9o1).
The Period of Disaster.
us extended from 1898 to 1904 inclusive, and the experiof owners and makers alike during those years were as generally fall to the lot of the pioneer. So-called on vans were very often nothing more than ill-assorted ainations of pleasure-car chassis and too burdensome the only real exception being provided by the manu.rer who gained the gold medal at Liverpool, in 1901, ;o-cwt. petrol-propelled lorries. There were numerous apts to do a business in delivery vans, but failure and attended the essays, in nearly every case, because of the itable nature of the vehicles that were offered : it had een realised, except in the one contrary instance named, commercial work required distinct handling and fresh 7ns. About too orders for vans, with load capacities
estimated to vary from 10 Cwt. to 30 Cwt. but, in point of fact, actually fitted on the average to carry about 8 cwt. inclusive of the body, were placed, to my knowledge, between 1899 and tgot, and the vans were hopelessly broken down, through the dire overloading to which they were subjected, before they had been in use a twelvemonth.
The other, and greater, branch of the pioneering days was the steam-lorry section. More than 250 of these vehicles, each stated to be capable of carrying 3-ton loads in the case of some constructors, and as much as 5-ton loads in others, were built and delivered before the middle of the year 1903. The design of these machines, like those of the pleasure car, had been approached from standpoints which largely ignored the lines of traction-engine practice, and there is no questioning the fact that the whole were much too light for the jobs to which they were put. I do not wish to condemn anybody for the originality of their departures in this connection, for it is certain that we should otherwise never have witnessed the demand for improved steels and other material, and for better service from the forge, which have changed the whole basis of the problem in so remarkable a manner within the last three years. It is small consolation, to those who lost money in road-carrying companies several years ago, when they are told that they were before their time, and that their heavy losses have helped those who followed, but there is no denying the fact that the early undertakings upon these lines, particularly those at Liverpool in the years 1902 and 1903, and at Bristol in the years 1903 and 1904 served to give many valuable lessons to the makers of such wagons, to train drivers for other people's convenience, and, above all, to furnish the necessary examples of concrete evidence to satisfy the Departmental Committee of the House of Commons, which was appointed by Mr. Walter Long early in 1904, that the 3-ton limit of tare must be abolished, and that other changes in the laws affecting heavy motor vehicles were vital to the continuance of the industry and the progress of the movement.
Beneficial Effects of Heavy Motorcar Order.
The closing days of the year 1904 brought the longdeferred improvements in legislation which had been foreshadowed in the Motorcar Act of 1903, and the new regulations took effect from the ist March, 1191/40. The principal changes of moment were :
(a) Maximum unladen weight raised from 3 to 5 tons.
(b) Minimum widths of tires increased from 4 inches (for any load) to at least 5 inches, with a sliding-scale in relation to wheel-diameters and axle-weights.
(c) Maximum speed for heavy vehicles with tires of a " soft or elastic " material, increased to 12 miles per hour if the back axle-weig,ht is below 6 tons, or to miles per hour if from 6-8 tons. (d) Overall width increased from 61to 71 feet.
(e) Definition of a heavy motorcar as one whose unladen weight is more than 2 tons.
The far-reaching and beneficial effects of this Order can hardly be exaggerated. It was issued at a time when constructors were in possession of extensive museums of broken parts, which had accumulated, to the accompaniment of irate letters, while their early customers were buying experience. It permitted those extra degrees of liberty to the designer which enabled him to embody the lessons of the past, and one of the most striking indications of the successful manner in which they have made amends for the past is provided by the presence in Bristol to-day and to-morrow of the finest collection of commercial motors that has ever been on the road.
Competing Motors and their Classification.
Sixty entries were accepted by the R.A.C., and 56 machines left London on the 9th inst. One to-cwt. van, of French make, had to give up the task on the second day, but 52 vehicles and 3 tractors left Chippenham for this city, by various routes, this morning. Of the 55 competing motors which remain in the trials, no less than 38 are of British manufacture, whilst to are of French and 7 of German origin. Other points about the classification are summarised in the booklet* which has been distributed (page ,7).
Petrol versus Steam.
It is desirable to direct attention to the contest between internal-combustion and steam. There are it steam-driven vehicles and tractors in the trials, compared with 44 vehicles propelled by internal-combustion engines : three of the latter type use paraffin as fuel, in place of the lighter spirit. Steam has hitherto been able to hold the field for 5-ton loads, and the present challenge from other quarters adds to the interest of the competition. It is, of course, clear that the internalcombustion engine, which requires no supplies of water on the road, and which can travel enormous distances on very small quantities of liquid fuel as compared with the weight of solid fuel which is required for a steamer, has peculiar advantages for long trips.
First Cost and Economy.
Merchants and Traders, at present, look askance at the first cost of commercial motors, which first cost they are prone —regardless of the greater mileage capacity of the mechanical vehicle—to compare only with the first cost of a horsevehicle and its horse or horses for the conveyance of an equal load. I am prepared to admit that any tradesman who is short of capital will probably be able to employ to better account in his own business such money as he has available, rather than to spend it in the purchase of a van costing £3oo-L;400, or more, but the pace in commercial enterprise to-day is not set by the small man. It is set by individuals and companies with some considerable resources at their disposal, and the question for them is whether interest and sinking fund on the amount of their original outlay are prohibitive, or reasonable, having regard to displaced charges. It is sufficient, nowadays, to charge depreciation on approved types of road motors at the rate of 124 per cent. per annum, so that, with interest added at the rate 5 per cent. per annum, we have fixed charges of •‘4;i7 tos. per ,too of initial cost yearly, and this amounts to about 26s. per week in respect of a one-ton van as existing prices run.
Load and Journey Performances.
The loads which are now on the platforms of the vehicles in Bristol are practically normal, but the tractors (class II) are hauling only 75 per cent. of the 8 Ions to which their makers are accustomed. It is, however, when one turns to the mileage set down for each day that one finds the whole of the figures to be very considerably below the best, and in some cases well below the average use to which similar machines are regularly put by ow.r.ers in everyday service. The Club has limited the lengths of the daily stages with a view to affording opportunities for local inspection, and in order to guard against the temptation to overdrive in villages, but there is no question that most of the vehicles and tractors are using more fuel per mile than would be the case if they were " let out " a bit more, and would show better all-round results as regards their effec tive performances, Vehicles Nos. 13, 14, 15 and 19, in class C, for which vehicles the legal speed is 20 miles an hour, but which are limited by the Club to a speed of 9 miles an hour, provide the most striking examples.
Working Costs.
The happy mean has to be struck here for the purposes of my address. A lecturer, and an .acknowledg-ed advocate of the commercial motor, is naturally exposed to the risk of an appearance of optimism, but it is my intention to give no excuse for that charge. It cannot be expected, on the other hand, that I should. put forward the worst figures : business men are not influenced by, neither do they copy, those whose undertakings are unsuccessful because of inappropriate choice or gross misuse. We are concerned today with fair averages, and not with the best or the worst.
The classification for the trials is before you, and I cannot do better than state the inclusive working cost per week for the mileages which are set down now, and many of which are greater than the simple multiple of the core sponding, distance for the Club's daily run.
.Class A, to-cwt, loads, for average of 400 miles week, an inclusive cost of X,322 per annum, or 3.7 per vehicle-mile.
Class 13, 1-ton loads, for average of 400 miles a wee an inclusive cost of .4;361 per annum, or 4.2d. 1: Class C, 3o-cwt. loads, for average of 400 miles week, an inclusive cost of ,41406 per annum, or 4.; per vehicle-mile.
Class D, 2-ton loads, for average of 350 miles a wei an inclusive cost of X;426 per annum, or 5.8d.
Class E, 3-ton loads, for average of 300 miles
week, an inclusive cost of per annum, or 7.8; per vehicle-mile.
Class F (petrol vehicles), 5-ton loads, for average 260 miles a week, an inclusive cost of £543 per annu or 13.1d. per vehicle-mile,
Class F (steam vehicles), 5-ton loads, for average 200 miles a week, an inclusive cost of .4;403 per annu or 9.3d. per vehicle-mile.
Class II (tractors), 6 tons behind drawbar, for av age of 200 miles a week, an inclusive cost of ,356 annum, or 8.2d. per mile.
These costs are based upon the experience of many us( and they include interest, depreciation, wages, fuel, star repairs, insurance and sundry contingencies.
Comparisons.
It will be observed that the ratio of increase of cost grc less as the load grows larger, and it should not be cn looked that the costs per ton will increase if vehicles not loaded as fully and as frequently as possible. It is v hard to make definite comparisons with horses, and that two main reasons : in the first place, horse maintena costs vary so greatly; in the second place, every purcha of a commercial motor immediately begins to serve r ground by road delivery. I may, by way of illustratior the first difficulty, mention that one of the largest and b known of London's big furnishing warehousemen ; stores finds that each of its pair-horse vans costs week, whereas I have met country carriers who have b able to maintain a pair-horse cart and its horses, to all expenses including wages and stabling, and to tn a regular 26 miles a day, at a total cost of only £2 week. Further, by way of illustration of the second po I may say that one may hear the most stolid declarati that a motorvan is working out " about the same," I withstanding the fact that more than so per cent. of I ground is being covered, in addition to the replacemen two horse-vans.
Two other points require notice. Fuel and tire costs petrol vehicles vary directly with the mileage. Thus, class D, as a mean, if only 220 miles were done in a in place of the 350 miles which are included in the c given, there would be a saving of -E,1 as. ltd. out of £8 45. shown, in addition to the saving on repairs lubricants of about another 8s. There is, therefore, a duction in expenditure when a motorvan is less busy t usual. The remaining point is the service which one get from such a 2-ton van, class 1) being again take' a mean, A total of 350 miles of road per week, with 2 loads at the outset, would require two vans, and two dri% and at least to horses, the cost of which would be if more than .4;8 4s. per week.
Turning to comparisons with railways, the avoidanc terminal delays, miscarriage of goods, damage in trai and excessive charges enables the motor to save money all hauls between JO and 20 miles in most classificati It is, however, only in the special cases of so-called gerous goods and of certain fragile articles, which placed in the higher railway classifications, that dista above 40 miles are surely profitable at present by r motor where direct rail communication offers.
The Driver Question.
This important question is now on a more satisfac basis, as a large number of men are available who I already had experience. Many users prefer to let their van-men take lessons for a week or so, and there are many cases where not a single new man has been eng: in consequence of the change from horse to motor. Conclusion.
The inherent and unique advantages which are possessed y road motors include : (a) Large radius; (b) elimination of dependence upon carriers and railways; (c) great economies where enough work can be found for them, and reasonable economies under many other circumstances; (d) unequalled advertisement value; (e) capacity to sustain continuous work at holiday times or upon any occasion of pressure; (f) ability to attract fresh custom by reason of the more frequent deliveries that can be made; (g) unrivalled dispatch in hilly districts; and (h) indifference to climatic conditions, such as excessive heat, or snow.
Their disadvantages may be summed up in the statement tat they are not yet so well understood of the people as are orses. They may fail in use from a small and trivial Rise, such as the breaking of an electric connection, which, tough not liable nowadays to occur more often than the reaking of a trace, is less easy to discover. They may, )o, be kept in the depcit because a tire has unexpectedly tiled, but whoever buys a motorvan should buy a couple spare wheels ready shod. Where a fleet of motors is purchased, failure is invited if competent supervision is not arranged, and who would spend five or tell thousand pounds in any other direction without making due provision for management? It is for this reason that the motor jobmaster has made his appearance in London, if not yet in the Provinces, and there are great openings for his activities, as a large number of prospective users are desirous to fix their maintenance charges at an agreed sum per annum. It is to existing haulage contractors and proprietors of motor garages that I look for a development of paying business for themselves in this matter of motor-vehicle running at a definite price per month or year, the trader buying the vehicle in many cases.
The hardest problem is the replacement of the one-horse van in the service of the small shopkeeper, but there is plenty of scope for commercial motors elsewhere, and most especially so where a straight-away run of 8 or 10 miles can be allowed before calls have to begin. Finally, I submit that the mechanical is steadily triumphing over the animal, and is bound to do so, as it has done in many other branches of industry and commerce, in the latest development of that which is second only to production—transport.