TRANSPORT TIPS FOR TRADESMEN..
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Particularly Addressed to Those Who are Replacing. Horsed Vehicles by Motors, or Contemplating So Doing.
IN PRINCIPLE everybody agrees that co-operation is desirable when it can be made• to lead to increased efficiency and a reduction of waste mileage; In practice, co-operation of this kind so often advocated is very difficult to put into force.
Co-operation Among Van Owners.
It may be suggested, for instance, that four traders, each having sufficient work for one van, should not each attempt to cover the whole ground with his own vehkle because of the waste mileage involved. Evidently, if the vehicles are pooled and
each one is used to carry the goods of all the four co-operating traders, the district over which deliveries must be made can be mapped out into four sections, one of which is allocated to 'each van. This means a much smaller mileage, and would quite. probably result, sooner or later, in the four vehicles adequately performing work which would otherwise have necessitated the employment of six or eight. When it comes to the point, however, there are many practical difficulties. Each van must take up a part of its load at the premises of each co-operator, or else all the goods for delivery must be sent to some central despatching point. Moreover, it is not in the power of one of the co-operating traders ' to commandeer one of 'the vehicles for a. special job t6 oblige a particularly important customer who wants an unusually prompt delivery, and in this way he may be handicapping hinfself as against a competitor who keeps a van entirely at his own disposal. It is not suggested that the difficulties need necessarily be insuperable, but the number of difficulties which must necessarily be taken into account
• • is so considerable as to lead to the question of whether the first steps towards full co-operation could not be more easily made in some other direction. ,
Co-operation in Purchase.
Very often it is found easier in various industries and trades to combine for purposes of purchase than for purposes of sale, particularly if the businesses of those who wish to combine are at all competitive. Looking at this possibility from the motorvan owner's standpoint, the principle would, in this case, be for a number of traders intending to rfurchase motorvans to get together and to agree, if possible, as to the type to be adopted by a11of them. The result might be the formation of groups; one group would decide on one ton vans of make "A," another group on 30 cwt. vans of make "B," and so on. Each group so formed would collaborate in respect of getting the necessary stock of spare parts. The co-operators would finance a. common store, from which they would draw as required at agreed prices. They would share the cost of storekeeping, and the result would certainly be to enable them to keep going satisfactorly, with a much smaller total investment in spare parts than would be necessary if they had all selected their vehicles independently and laid in their own stocks of replacements.
Co-operative Garages.
The next step along this line of development would probably be the running of a co-operative garage. The firms concerned would either purchase or erect a suitable building, in a fairly central situation, having regard to the positions of their own premises. They would share the cost of staffing this garage,
and an arrangement might be made under which the time spent on repairs of the various vehicles would be debited against their owners at an agreed rate. On the other hand, if all the vehicles were of the same make and approximately the same-age, it might be quite satisfactory to divide the maintenance costs up equally, though probably it would not be advisable to -attempt to do this in the first instance. For example, if one of the vehicles gave constant trouble, the owners of the others might be inclined to attribute this to bad handling by its driver or overloading by its owner, in which case they would resent being asked to share expenses equally. It all the drivers were employed in common, this particular difficulty would be partially eliminated, but we should have a new difficulty, inasmuch as all . drivers are not equally _competent or equally
• courteous. If one of them proved to be roughmannered, the owner of the van he drove would wish to -be in a-position to replace him at his OWil discretion. Taking such points into account, probably the best. plan would be to have the garage run in the joint interests of co-operators, but very much as though it were an independent business, 'making its charges against its proprietors as though they were unconnected with it. These charges ought to work out lower than the cost of seParately maintaining the same aggregate number of vehicles.
Spare Vehicles. .
At about this point there would arise the question of spare vehicles. One of the great difficulties in the operation of a single motor vehicle by a trader is that, sooner or later, a thorough overhaul becomes necessary. Occasionally there may be a bad
accident or breakdown, putting the-vehicle suddenly off the road for a fairly long period. This is extremely awkward if there is no reserve to fall back upon. Consequently, the owners of the co-operative garage would have to consider the joint purchase of.
a spare vehicle, which the group would let out to its individual members at agreed terms as and when
required. The manager of the garage would advise them as to dates for the effecting of thorough overhauls, so that these would not clash, and it would seldom, if ever; happen that two people wanted. The use of the spare vehicle at the same time. The exception might be at rush periods -when all the regular vehicles were more than fully occupied. The time of the • spare vehicle .would then be parcelled . out among the various co-operators, each being given an equal share of it. In practice, it might go round to their various establishments and collect what one may call the odds and ends of parcels for delivery
from all of them,
If co-operation could be taken up to the point indicated, then the co-operative use of the whole of the vehicles might; perhaps, follow without great difficulty. In other words, we should take as our final step what is so often suggested as the first step, and we should enly take it after prolonged association, the results of which would enable us to gauge in advance the possibilities of full cooperation without troubles 6id disagreements arising.. In the scheme outlined, the first steps at least do not seem to-involve any serious possibilities of disagreements, and, even if it were found impossible -to go beyondthem, at least some benefit would result from the limited . co-operation which they represent.