UNLADEN WEIGHT: WHAT IS IT?
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The Question as to the Inclusion or Exclusion under the Term " Unladen Weight" of Fuel, Oil or Water, or of Accumulators is here Debated.
IN THE NEW SCHEME of taxation 'proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, there appears one short note of peculiar significance, which has, nevertheless, attracted very little attention. It 'reads as follows: ':" In ascertaining the -unladen weight of electrically-propelled vehicles, the weight of accumulators is to be excluded."
In this connection be it noted that all eomnfercial goods-carrying vehicles are to be taxed upon the basis of unladen weight. Now, it is obviously most undesirable that unladen weight should be defined in one way for purposes of taxation and. in another and differing way for the purposes of regulations as to the use of vehicles upon the eoad. The unladen weight has to be clearly marked upon every carrying vehicle, vehicle, and, if two different unladen weights are to be stated, confusion is bound to follow. Thus, though the Committee which has fathered the scheme of taxation has not yet gone so far as to consider the regulations which are in futitre, to govern the use of road vehicles, it would appear that they have already 'decided a point which is both controversial and important and have committed themselves to what, in some quarters, will be regarded as a very illogical decision.
The accumulators of electrically-propelled Vehicles are the receptacles in which is stored that from which the power used to propel the vehicle iS drawn. From this standpoint, the accumulators correspond to the petrol tank and its contents, or to the coal bunker and the solid fuel supply of a steam-propelled vehicle. It is open to argument whether we ought not also to include in the comparison the water used for cooling purposes in connection with the petrol engine and fo1 conversion into steam in the ease of the steam engine.
Similar Treatment for All Types.
The one clear point is that it is certainly not fair, in arriving at unladen weight, to. disregard. the weight of the fuel and its receptacles in one case and not to permit a similar deduction in other oases. The whole subject, as already indicated, is controversial. The number of electrically-propelled Vehicles in use is, comparatively speaking, so small that nobody worries very mach about the definition of unladen weight in their ease, except in so far as it may establish a principle which must in fairness be applied to all other. cases. The acute difference, if it exists at all, Which. we are unwilling to admit, exists broadly between those interested in the steam vehicle and those interested in the petrol vehicle. The weight of the fuel and water supplies of the latter are .negligible compared with those required for the ordinary type of steam lorry ea' tractor.
The argument of certain of the petrol Vehicle interests may be illustrated as fellows :—No ' Vehicle can travel on the road without carrying supplies of fuel. If one type has the advantage that its fuel is light, then; for purposes of taxation, this advantage Should be reflected in the amount payable. If unladen weight be taken to include full fuel and water supplies, then a petrol vehicle may come into a lerwer taxation category than a steam vehicle, though both weigh the same when their fuel and water supplies are absent. Thus, if we neglect fuel and water supplies when arriving at unladen weight, we may conceivably throw upon the petrol Vehicle an excessive burden of taxation, unfair to it as against the steam vehicle.
In point of fact, when one examines the actual figures proposed, it does not appear that this argu
meat is likely to have much practical significance. There are very few steam lorries which do not exceed four tons unladen weight, whether fuel or water be included or not. Any vehicle which exceeds that limit pays the maximum tax.
Moreover, it may be argued on the other side that, though unladen weight is a more convenient basis of taxation than total laden weight, it is tha. •krden weight that may be expected to be proportionate to the road wear resulting from the use of the vehicle. The petrol vehicle, because its fuel and water supplies are light, has a bigger margin between tae unladen weight., excluding fuel and water, and the maxim-Urn laden Weight permitted by law. This margin is utilized for the carriage of a larger useful loan, and the ability to carry this larger load is the natural reward that the petrolyehicle gets on account of the merit it possesses in respect of-the lightness of its fuel and water. When we take this consideration into account, it does not appear that any real unfairness would result-to the petrol vehicle if the official definition of unladen weight were so framed as to exclude the weight of water and of fuel,
The Choice of a Correct .Definition.
If this last contention be accepted, then it is difficult to see any substantial objection to framing •a. definition in which, these items would be excluded. On the other hand, if we frame an inclusive definition, the result may conceivably amount to a severe and undeserved hardship imposed upon steam vehicle interests. Before leaving this question of taxation as affected by the definition, it should be painted out that there must be in existence a Considerable number of petrol vehicles, the unladen weight of which comes close up to the dividing line between the various categories for taxation, and will go just above the line if fuel and water be included. Thus, if a vehicle weighs a few pounds short. of two tons it will pay £21 a year, but if we take in the weight of the petrol and water it will be above two. tons and will pay X.i . a year. Thus, there seems no point in advocating a definition which can only tend to increasetaxation, which we already regard as more than. Sufficiently high. Let us now consider the argument of .the steam vehicle interests point by paint, and finally end9avour to arrive at a satisfactory definition. First of all, the word `.` unladen" certainly means "without load," and it can hardly be . argued that when we put coal into a bunker or water into a. tank we do not put load on to the vehicle. Evidently, the Ministry of Transport Committee acquiesces in this view, because it states that unladen weight is the fairest indication of load capacity. This would not be true if the weight of fuel and water were included, because, then, the greater we made the unladen weight the smaller we should make the useful load capacity. In another place, the Committee, in defining a. tractor, stipulates that this is an engine which does not itself carry anyTload, except such as. is necessary for its propidsion oi equipment. This obviausly implies that the materials necessary for propulsion are to be regarded as load. Thus, it would seem that., if we finally adapt a definition in the opposite sense, we roust upset all the ecirielusions of this Committee and start de now to apportion the burden of taxation among vehicles of various types. The next point raised by the steam Interests is that the definition hitherto in force has not included the weight of water or fuel. They have built their vehicles with an eye to this definition, and, if the definition
were changed, drastic changes in their design might be necessitated and various very useful types of vehicles might be driven out of existence. It would. be a mistake to lay too much stress on this argument, because the regulations governing the use of vehicles are now uittler revieW, and the new regulations, evidently, might provide increases in legal unladen weights balancing the decreases resulting from any change/ of definition. Thus, for instance, a road locomotive' instead of being limited to 14 tons, might he limited to 17 tons weight, in which case manufacturers could go -on building, exactly thesame types as at present.
Next, we have the argument that, if the'accumula-, tors of electric vehicles are to be excluded, the same treatment should be accorded to the sources of power of other vehicles. This is a. just contention. Next comes the fact that the inclusive definition would involve complications in practice. • How full must a boiler Or abunker be wheOthemachine is weighed.? Presumably the boiler must:be-full to the normal steam level as indicated by the gauge glasses. 'It would. be' not soeasy to say how full. the bunker must be. If it is to be as full as it will hold, we should be encouraging manufacturers and users to providesmall binikert for weighing purposes, and perhaps-but not necessari157—for regular use. This would be bad for the efficiency of transport, or else would encourage soniewh4it underhand practices.
Now, leaving, for the moment, the question of fuel and water, we come to the allied question of whether special fittings,. such as 'drums, jib-cranes and the like, should be included in unladen weight. It seems to be to the advantag'e of the whole movement that they should be excluded. One can. imagine instances in which vehicles specially equipped with cranes, tools, circular saws, electrical machinery and so on would be
made altogether /illegal if such fittings. were to be included in the definition. Possibly, thesteam vehicle would be more often affected than the petrol vehicle, but . the latter might also become affected at any time, and there is no point in manufacturing traps
into which we -ourselves may fall. • There is one more general argument. This is that, if we can come to a common agreement on the principle of live and let live, we are creating mutual goodwill among sections of motor users, any one of whieh may have power, at any time, to harm or benefit a-nother. So far as possible, we want to pull together, even though this means some degree of compromise and a little bit of self-denial.
Finally, as to the definition which ought to be adopted. We are brought to favour what may be called the exclusive rather than the inclusive defini-tjon, and it seems desirable that the definition adopted should not be any more vague than can be avoided. If we leave. it to the Ministry of Transport to prepare a list of articles for exclusion or inclusion and to vary that het from time to time, we shall find a vehicle coming into one taxation category one year and into another one the next year. It is very difficult to get a perfect definition. Probably, it is impossible, and the following is suggested only as a basis for discussion:— "In calculating the weight of a vehicle unladen, the weight of any water or fuel or of any storage batteries on electric vehicles for purposes of propulsion shall not be included. Neither shall any articles carried upon the vehicle, even though -permanently attached thereto, not forming essential parts required to render the vehicle suitable for use upon the road. and only capable of being utilized when the vehicle is stationary,,or the power available upon the vehicle is diverted frompurposes of propulsion."