TRANSPORT TIPS FOR TRADESMEN.
Page 15
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Particularly Addressed to Those Who are Replacing Horsed Vehicles by Motors, or Contemplating So Doing
IT IS AN AXIOM of road transport that, given a .' full load in every case, the bigger the unit ern, ployed the lower is the cost of transport per toil • mile.
Comparative Ton Mile Costs.
A 5-ton, lorry will run fully loaded at a total cost of about is. 6d. per ton mile under the same conditions which would involve the cost of about Od, a ton mile for a 1-tormer and perhaps is. 2d. per mile for the 34,onner. Thus, if we ;could get a. full load all the time, we Might be able, by using a 5-tonner, to carry goods at a cost• of about Vid. per ton mile. If we use a 3-tonnor under the same conditions, we cannot expect a result much better than 5d. per ton mile, and, if we use a 1-tonner, the cost per ton mile will he again almost doubled.
On the other hand, it is equally an axiom that the lighter the type of vehicle. the ,lower will be the operating costs per Mile, provided that the vehicle is..not overloaded, Suppose we were to cram Iwo tons into a 25-cwt. van, the result might be that for a time We should save money as against the ordiaary 2-tonner.with the same load. After a time, however, the effect of the excessive load would begin to be apparent. The, repair bill would mount up, and the vehicle, would depreciate rapidly. It is equally had economy to overload and to underlo-ad; If the load to he dealt with seldom, if ever, exceeds two tons, it is absiird. to use a 3 or 4 tonner, even if one happens to be obtainable cheap in the secondhand market. The running of such a machine, half loaded means perpetually dragging about the roads a lot of dead weight, increasing, the consumption of fuel io-td the cost of tyres, and, probably, doing unnecessary injury to the road surfaces and foundations. When loads vary very. much from. day to day, the choice of a vehicle of the right load capacity. becomes very difficult. If a vehicle is Selected as being big enough to deal with the largest load that eve!' ha.s to be taken, it is extravagant on three. days out of four, when the loads are much smaller. If the vehicle is only fitted to deal with the average load, it is likely to be overloaded whenever the average: load is exceeded, in order to evade the necessity of the second journey.
Six Wheelers.
An exhibit at the Royal Agricultural Show which attracted a good deal of attention was a six-wheeled vehicle so designed that the rear portion is capable of' lateral movement relative to the front portion. For explanatory purposes, the method may be described as a four-wheeled lorry with a turn-table mounted over the rear axle, and g., two-wheeled' trailer attached through the medium of the turntable. The load-carrying body is a part of the rear portion, and the weight of the load comes well over the rear axle of the front portion. Legally, the Machine is a six,wheeled vehicle, and it may be asked what, advantage is secured as against an ordinary motor lorry or tractor, drawing a two or fourwheeled trailer, Or, for that matter, over an ordinary four-wheeled vehicle, having "a body of equal capa city, The practical merits of the six-wheeler are very much mixed up with legal regulations. As the law at present stands, if a trailer be drawn, the speed limit must not exceed five miles an hour. The axle weight on any axle of a heavy motorcar must not exceed eight tons, and the sum of the axle weights must not exceed twelve tons. Evidently it would be only common sense tto permit a 'larger total weight if that weight is properly distributed over a number of axles. In the meanwhile, the six-wheeled vehicle has a higher legal speed than a tractor and trailer, and can certainly carryilarger weights than a four wheeled vehicle without undue injury to the road.
The Choice of a Van Body.
I have recently seen it suggested that a trader should always fit his motor vehicle with " the smallest and lightest. body compatible with the average load required to be carried." I must say I have my doubts as to whether this advice is sound. Needles to say, no one would advise fittingan unnecessarily large body, which needs extra power -to pull it and materially increases wind resistance. If, however, one goes to.-thetother extreme, and fits the smallest body capable of dealing with the average load, then, -whenever the load exceeds the average, which must be fairly frequently,, the body will be too small, and a second journey with the surplus load will be rendered necessary:
To. my mind, it is wiser to fit a body big enough to take the largest load that one is likely to 'wish to Carry at ono time. The space occupied by a load of given weight may vary considerably in the business of a general trader. and, if one has, let us say, a 30 ewt. vehicle, one is not getting the best possible economy if, owing to the body being unusually small, only about 10 cwt. can be carried when the goods to he. sent out happen to be.light but bulky. It is better to go out sometimes with a part load, than to be frequently in difficulties because the load which is available, and which the vehiclais quite able to bear, cannot be got into the space provided for it.
Adapt the Delivery System to the Faster Motor.
It is certainly a fact that the very merits of the motor vehicle are frequently the oans.e at itbeing run to poor advantage. A motor van is put on to the road and little or no thought is given to the question of reorganizing thedelivery system., so that the van will cover a full mileage with as full as possible a load. Despite this carelessness, the intrinsic advantages which it possesses over horsed transport are so considerable that the owner may .be well satisfied with the results achie,Ved, and, being satisfied, may not trouble to make them any better,even though this could be done easily.
Many users give very little thought to the question of facilitating loading and unloading with a vie* to. saving time. They go on using loading stages of an inconvenient height, necessitating unnecessary manual labour in the transference of the goods between the loading staige and the vehicle body. They give no thought at ell to -the possibility of doing most, if not all, of the loading work while the vehicle is on.the road. This is possible if alternative detachable bodies are employed. Another scheine that could, fairly often, be *Orked is to pack the goods into containers of standard sizes, which can quickly be run into position in the van body, _and much time saved at the terminal point. The plan is not, by any Means, always a good one. The question depends entirely on the character of the deliveries to be made, but the point is that this and other time-saving schemes; because they are not always applicable, are frequently ignored by people who could apply them quite easily.