• HINTS FOR HAULIERS.
Page 15
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The " Skotch's " Inquiry Bureau—What He Will Do to Help the Haulier— A Comprehensive Answer to an Interesting Question.
THERE IS only one thing which I refuse to try to do for the haulier who writes in and asks —apart, of course, from lending him money and advising him concerning his love affairs—and that is, to find him loads. That is something which I do not think I can fairly be expected to do. If I except that, then I think I have, in course of time, answered every kind of question about haulage that can be asked. Not only that, but I have answered almost every one of those questions many times over, the inquirer being, of course, different every time. The latter is a matter which I have occasionally to impress upon the Editor, who has hinted more than once, not merely to me, but to the world at large (vide "One Hears. ") that I 'occasionally deal with the same problem twice. I have to do so. I cannot help myself. The frequency with which the same type of question crops up is simply amazing. I sometimes get. an inquiry from a reader—or a professed reader—the answer to which is actually in the paper which, presumably, lies before him. I can quote an outstanding example. I have just concluded (in last week's issue) •a long series of articles, the first of which appeared in March of this year, in which I have been explaining', in elementary fashion, how the running and working costs of a motor vehicle may be ascertained and recorded. Yet I received a letter in June, in which the writer, who professed to. be a constant reader of The Commercial Motor, asked if I would tell him. "the easiest way to keep records of costs "1 I assure you that there wasn't a sign in his letter that he was try
ing to pull my leg. .
Of course, I answered him, because, since in myview -there is a fairly sane reason for all things, even the most incomprehensible, it appeared to me that, although he was a constant reader of The Commercial Motor, he had not, as a matter of fact, been reading this page. I told him how he could get. the information he required. Obviously, I could not orplain the whole thing to him in a letter.
However, it should be clearly understood that this page, and the services of the writer, are entirely at the disposal of the hauliers who read it, and who are sincerely interested to such an extent as to prompt them to put pen to paper, either for the purpose of eliciting information, or to criticise any of the things which they see here. No question is too small, none too large. As little delay as possible is allowed to elapse between receipt of question aid posting of answer. Any loss of time is usually due to pressure of correspondence, each letter being dealt with, of course, in proper rotation. There is the usual condition that a stamped, addressed envelope must accompany each. query. With these few words, as the long-winded public orator would say, I will now turn to a rather interesting question which I have received from a south-country reader.'
Query 207.
A local toy factor desires an estimate for the delivery of his goods in three localities, one of which is 10 miles away, another 15 miles away, and the third 20 miles distant. Alternative quotations are requested.. In one, the use of a Ford tonner is. understood: in the other, a standard Ford 7-ewt. van. The load would be light but bulky, and would take from. i hr. to 1 hr. to load. Deliveries would occupy not more than a. quarter of an hour to twenty minutes as as rule.'
Now the first thing about this query to Which I feel
I must draw attention is the extent of. the information. It is not, as a matter of fact, complete, but it is, actually, sufficient. The principal trouble with most inquiries is that they fail to tell me anything : making bricks without straw was child's play in comparison with some of the things I am expected to do. Moreover, this correspondent offers more if I require it. The only thing which is not quite clear is whether the consignments to each of the three places named are full loads or whether one full-load journey covers three deliveries. In my postal reply I assumed that each consignment was a full load. Here, in order to widen the scope of the information,
propose to consider both ways. The problem divides obviously and easily into two parts : one in which we are concerned with a 7-cwt. Ford van, and one with a Ford tonner.
Taking the little one first. We must know, to begin with, how much it costs to run. Now, our last table of costs, published in the " Outlook" Number of The Commercial Motor, is, owing to reductions in cost, on the high side. In that, the running cost was estimated to be, on the average, 2.97d. per mile, and the standing charges L3, Os. id. a week. At present the running costs will consists of the following :—Petrol, 0.88d. ; oil and . grease, 0.10d. ; tyres, 0.64d. maintenance, 0.50d. ; and depreciation, 0.21d. Total, 2.33d. per mile. The standing charge is very little different, being £3 6s. 8d. a week. Assuming that his overhead charges amount to a couple of pounds and that he 'wishes to make a, week profit out of the vehicle, then his total standing charges are £7 6s. 8d. (standing charge for the lorry, £3 6s. 8d., plus overhead expense £2, plus profit £2.).
Now, we ean,,on the basis of the infOrmation eonfained in the letter, assume that, on the average, the time spent in loading and :unloading will be 11 hours. Suppose we allow 1 hours to be on the sate side. The ten-mile run will most likely take of an hour ; the 15-mile run one hour, and the 20-mile journey an hour and a quarter—each way. The total for each journey will, therefore, be : 3, 3-1, and 4 hours respectively. That means that it might be possible to squeeze three of the shortest trips into a day, but only two of either of the others.
Taking a five-day week, the following will represent fair charges :—The shortest trip could be done 15 times a week, so that, as regards total standing charges, each will cost nearly 10s. The mileage is 20, which is equivalent to practically 4s. Total 14s. Actually, I advised this inquirer to charge 15s. for this trip, putting on the extra shilling for a reason which will appear soon. The 15-mile trip will be done 10 times a week, at an expense.of 14s. 6d. for total standing charges. and 5s. 10d. for mileage. Total 21 Os. 4d. I advised the correspondent to charge only 18s. 6d., because the two trips do not occupy a full day. I reckoned he Would make the difference out of the above shilling on the shortest trip, and by squeezing inan extra run occasionally during the week.
The 20-mile run will cost the same in total standing charges, as the same number of trips are run each week, namely, ten. The mileage cost is 6s. 11d., and the total charge gl is. 5d. I advised a guinea. The calculations for the work with the one-ton Ford should be made in a similar way, basing them on a running cost of 3.58d. a mile ;_ standing charge 23 10s. a week ; overhead expense g2 a week ; profit £2 10s. a week ; total £8. The charges for the three trips should be 18s. 8d., £1 5s., and1 8s. respectively. TEE SKOTCTI. E31