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Difficulties of the Overseas Haulier
Page 94
Page 95
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S.T.R. Outlines Typical Inquiries from the Empire and Abroad which Show the Conditions Under which Haulage
is Carried Out Overseas
0 NE of the most interesting features of the work of dealing with hauliers inquiries is that which is brought into being as the result of letters from overseas. It is interesting in two ways, and the first is to note what a widespread audience is reached try those who speak through The Commercial Motor. Hardly any part of the globe is untouched. The other and equally interesting part is the light which is thrown upon the conditions of haulage in far-off countries.
An inquirer from Guatemala, in Central America, for example, tells us of conditions which, although probably equalled in other parts of the world, are, nevertheless, sufficiently near to the unique, so far as normal experience is concerned, as almost to justify that epithet. He is obviously one of those who must make their way along stony ground. In his letter he says that the roads which he has to negotiate are, in the main, cut out of the solid rock.. They are, therefore, hard enough, as he admits, but, in 'many places, are "rather rough," an account of the fact that "large boulders stick up in the road."
Hauling Logs in Central America.
He wants a vehicle for the haulage of logs over a lead of about 1i miles along this road, on a downward gradient varying from 1 in 20 to 1 in 4. 'He is Of the opinion that his needs will best be met by a lorry having ample power, but low-geared, as only moderate speed is required.
He adds that pneumatic tyres are essential, because solids do not give sufficient traction to enable the vehicle
to climb back again when it is empty. He suggests as a rough specification a maximum speed of 8 m.p.h., and ability to climb gradients of 1 in 4 with a load of about a ton, that being the weight of a two-,wheeled trailer, -which is essential in the transport of these logs.
The writer states that he has for some time been of the opinion that a steam wagon would be most Suitable for the purpose, preferably an old-type single-speed Sentinel. He has plenty of charcoal or wood fuel at negligible cost and ..water available at points not more than half a mile apart.
He stressed the importance of good braking. He asked whether the engine in reverse might be used as a brake, if it were good policy to do so, and whether or not it led to increased cost of engine maintenance. "Is the type of steam wagon named one equipped with good brakes?" he inquired, adding: "What is likely to be The average life of driving chains, boiler flues, and superheater coils?"
As most readers will anticipate, I agreed that he could not do better than buy the type of machine he had in view. I suggested the wisdom of arranging to have special chain sprockets so as to reduce the gear ratio to something more nearly in accordance with his requirements. I advised him that there was no objection whatever to the c44 use of a steam engine in reverse as a brake and that no increased maintenance "would be likely to result. Indeed, there would probably be a certain amount of economy in brake facings, having in view the nature of the work. in any event, I added, "the Sentinel steam wagon has excellent brake equipment."
As regards the three specific inquiries with which his letter terminated, I gave him the opinion that if reasonable attention were given to the parts in question he might expect to have to renew the boiler tubing and the' superheater coils at intervals of two or three years and that the driving chains should last for 10,000 miles.
The old problern of steam versus petrol, which used to occupy so much of the time devoted to transport discussions a few years ago, in this country, is the subject of an inquiry from Rhodesia. This is from an engineer who has before him the problem of transport in connection with the construction of a dam wall and 40 miles of canal. His vehicles will have to haul 12,000 tons of stone from quarries distant from one to three miles from the site of the work and about '3,000 tons of sand over the same distance.
A further 30 tons of sand will have to be dumped at intervals of 25 yds. throughout the length of the canal (by this I assume he means 30 tens for each 25 yds.) and cement at the rate of a bag to every foot. That, be it noted, equals 211,200 bags of cement.
Petrol or Steam?
The engineer is turning over in his mind alternative propositions; first, that he should, in the beginning, commission two 3-ton and two 7-ton petrol vehicles, 'or,.'for the larger machines at any rate; wood-fired steam wagon's.. The country, he says; is virgin, thickly wooded,' and timber fuel is obtainable for--the cost of cutting, the cost being approximately 1s per chord, stacked at the roadside. As an indication of the amount of fuel required, he states that a traction engine consumes l chord per day of eight hours when used as a stationary engine driving a stone-breaker.
-Petrol costs 3s. ed. per gallon and one make of 3-tonner covering 28 Miles per day uses six gallons of petrol. The reads are poor, and practically non-existent during three months of the rainy season. Coal costs £3 15s. per ton, but has to be brought from the railhead 62 miles away, and "seems to be out of the question." Petrol supplies must be brought from the same point, but sufficient tor the purpose could be hauled by a 3-ton lorry making one journey per week.
Part of the work will involve sending the whole fleet to the railhead (as above) for supplies of cement, timber
and reinforcing iron, and, if steam wagons were used, wells would have to be sunk and wood stacked at frequent intervals. Two to three months must elapse from the time of cutting timber to its being sufficiently dry far use as fuel, during which • time it is liable to• be attacked by. white guts, with the resultant loss, of about 10 per Cent. Apart from that disability, this fuel is cheap and the supply is endless.
In this erase I could not agree with either of the inquirer's suggestions. In view of the necessity of the whole fleet having to travel 62 mileS over a road, along which Wells would have to be sunk and timber stacked for the use of steam wagons, I deemed it wise to veto that type of vehicle.
On entirely different grounds I considered his choice of self-contained lorries inappropriate and recommended him to purchase two petrol-engined tractors and six 8-10-ton trailers, three for each tractor, using the trailers on the relay system. In addition, he should have a 3-ton lorry for his petrol transport.
From British Columbia oomes an inquiry from a firm of manufacturers ot common bricks weighing, incidentally, 6 lb: each. • The average haul is over a distance of five miles of macadam and uneven roads. Fuel costs 82 cents per gallon, wages total $4 per eight-hour day, of which $* are for the driver and $14 for the mate. The capacity of the plant is 30,000 bricks per day. The firm are at. present using -American-made 2-ton lorries, but are wondering whether some type of tiactor-trailer outfit would not be more suitable for the purpose.
In this case, the obvious advice was the purchase of mechanical-horse type of equipment, with a minimum of three trailers per motive unit. With such eqnipment it would be possible to convey 3,000 bricks per journey, and, allowing three-quarters of an hour per round trip, the whole output of the factory could be moved in 74 hours.
Conditions in Uganda are indicated in an inquiry relating to the conveyance of cotton. This inquirer asks for an estimate of the cost per ton-mile and the standing charges of two Morris-Commercial vehicles. He gives the following data : Ile accounts for the somewhat high petrol -and oil consumption by the fact that the native drivers are careless, but adds that a considerable amount of petrol is lost by evaporation. He says that it is usual to see petrol vapour coming out of the air holes in the filler caps of his vehicles.
I told him that his running costs for the two vehicles were 3.83d. per mile for the 1-tanner and 4.52d. per mile for the 30-cwt. machine, and that tilestanding charges came to £2 18s. 3d. per week and £3 17s. 1d. per week respectively. Assuming 850 miles of running per week, the net cost per ton-ritile, if the vehicles be loaded only one way, is 11.66d. for the 1-tonner and 10d. for the
30-cwt. outfit. •
An inquirer from Nyasaland wanted me to draw up a complete set of tables of operating costs, the same in substance as those published by The Commercial Motor, giving me as a guide a considerable budget of figures of cost of supplies, consumptions, tyre mileages and so on. His letter is chiefly interesting for the fact that it indicates that tyre mileage there seldom exceeds 6,000.
He suggests that interest on first cost should be charged at 10 per cent. per annum and that operators must keep a stock of spare parts valued at not less than about £100 per vehicle if continuous operation is to be expected. Haulage is up to 70 miles over fair metalled roads. Another inquirer, from New Zealand, sends a letter which, so far as the actual inquiry is concerned, is not of general interest, hut it embodies the following useful information as regards detail cost: