Problems of the
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HAULIER and CARRIER INOW reach the mundane but practical and unavoidable aspect of furniture removal, namely, the estimate of cost. The basis for this must inevitably be the cost of operating the vehicle to be used, and I propose to start with a discussion and description of that factor, subsequently superimposing, upon the figures I have obtained, the additional expenses peculiar to furniture removal.
It Ls clear from what has already been written that a fairly wide range of vehicles must be taken into consideration if these articles are to be comprehensive. From the conversations (already published) that I have had with experts in this business, it has been proved that vehicles ranging from an ordinary lighttype 2-tonner to a 5-tonner or 13-tormer with trailer, may be considered as coming within the purview of the furniture remover.
Ells choice is, in the first place, determined by the kind of work that he proposes to undertake and, if it be extensive, he may find it necessary to use various sizes of vehicle, comprising, perhaps, one or more of each of the several types to which I am about to refer.
Cost data will, therefore, be required relating to the following types of machine :—(a) A 2-ton light-type chassis with Luton body or furniture-van body. (b) Six-wheeled light-type chassis (probably, but not neces sarily, converted from one of the foregoing four-wheeled 2-tormers), also equipped with Luton body. (c) Tractor-trailer combination, using as power unit a short-chassis light-type 2-tonner and having a low-loading body with a capacity of about 1,200 cubic ft. (d) A 3-ton chassis with a light Luton body. (e) A 4-ton chassis with reasonably light furniture body. (f) A substantial 5-ton chassis and furniture-van body of 700 cubic ft. capacity_ (g) A 5-ton vehicle as above, with trailer.
Before examining details of the
cost of operating these various types of vehicle, there is a matter of general interest which should be mentioned. Furniture removal is particularly the type of work in which estimates of cost should be calculated on the time-and-mileage basis. That, I think, will be clear without the need for further explanation.
There is, however, another point which should be discussed in connection with this particular aspect of the matter and that is the assessment of depreciation. In The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs, depreciation is calculated on a mileage basis, which method meets most conditions of operation and is applicable to furniture removing. At the same time, in view of the somewhat low mileage which furniture vans may cover in the course of a year, there is a tendency, for the vehicles employed to become obsolete 'before they are written off the books. Until recent years, this was not, perhaps, of much consequence. The design of that type of van did not alter with any rapidity and furniture removers were accustomed to use the same vehicle over a long period, suffering as the result of that practice.
Now matters are somewhat different. Designs have been changing rapidly and it is quite likely that, in the near future, further improvements will be effected which will tend to make vehicles out of date sooner than was the case at one time.
There are furniture removers who have kept their old solid-tyred 5-ton lorries and are now finding themselves left at the post, as it were, by their competitors, who have bought either speedier pneumatic-tyred vehicles, or are using altogether the lighter types of vehicle,
like those favoured by Messrs. Jelks, as was described in the previous article.
For the foregoing reasons, it will be better for the purposes of these calculations to assess depreciation in g point of time rather than mileage, and, for that purpose,
▪ I shall take the life of a light vehicle to be 3i years and of a heavier machine to,be six years.
As the first stage in these calculations I must indicate some approximate figures for first cost of each of the types indicated. These figures of cost are quoted less tyres, as is customary in calculating depreciation.
5.96 For the 2-tonner with Luton body-, £2i0; 2-tonner with furniture body, £300; light six-wheeler with Luton body, £420; tractor-trailer combination, £550; 3-tonner with 207 236 Luton body, 1680; 4-tonner with reasonably light furniture body., 1880; 5-ton furniture van, 11,000; 5-ton furniture van with trailer, £1,200. 138 192 108 114 800 960 240 288
The respective annual amounts for depreciation for these types of vehicle are as follow :-£71 10s.; 185 15s.; £120; £157 5s.; £194; £146 10s.; £166 15s., and £200. Calculated on a weekly basis, in pence as is usual with standing charges, these sums are equivalent respectively to ;-344d., 413d., 576d., 755d., 930d., 704d., 800d., 960d.
These figures appear in the table which accompanies this article. In exam
ining that table, readers will at once observe another point in which it differs from the standard to which they are accustomed in The Commercial Motor. There is no allowance for driver's wages. That item is omitted, because the driver is also a packer or stower or porter, or fills some other posi
tion. He is paid as such, or as driver, in accordance with the schedule which appeared in our issue dated December 30, and, in calculating the cost of the furniture-removal job, bis wages appear independently.
In the next instalment of this series I will outline a typical week's work of a furniture remover and show how to estimate the cost of a removal job.