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Comparative Working Costs.

21st November 1907
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Page 2, 21st November 1907 — Comparative Working Costs.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Mr. Henry Sturmey's Views on 15-cwt Vans.

The Motor Side.

We will begin, as before, with the matter of capital expenditure, and here a considerable variation may be made in the total of the outlay by the selection made. The investor may select elaboration and complication in the shape of four cylinders and pneumatic tires, at a cost of 6350 to £450, or he may go to the other extreme and adopt the cheapes.., single-cylindered, pleasure-car chassis he can buy, and put a van body on it. I will take an intermediate line, and select a solid-tired, two-cylindered van, which can be bought for about £275. Efficiency is obtainable without the expense of pneumatic tires, and the complication of four cylinders is out of place, and quite unnecessary, for a 15-cwt. load. This will be the main expense. In addition, there vill be the registration fee and number plates, and a small outfit of voltmeter, cleaning cloths, sponges and a few other items, which will leave the account approximately thus :—

It will, therefore, cost the trader more in the first outlay, to install a motorvan, than to invest in two vans with their complement of horses, though it will cost him less than would be the case where he buys a third van with its equine and other equipment. Let us see at what this may reasonably be expected to work out.

First, we have wages of driver. Now, of course, one driver will be all that will be needed, as against two or three with n two or three horse-van outfit. "To look after your van properly, a highly-skilled chauffeur at £3a week at least will be an absolute necessity," according to the " wet blankets " of the commercial world, but, let me tell you, as a practical man, that such statements have no foundation in fact. If you had a vehicle constructed as simply and as fool-proof as possible, you can draft one of your present van inen into the work, provided he is reasonably intelligent, and is a steady and willing man. He will already have acquired road knowledge, and also an eye for measuring openings in traffic, so that half his education as a mere vehicle-controller will have been finished. The starting, stopping, acceleration, retardation, and steering of a motor vehicle are quickly learned, and, with one day's tuition, it be will take things quietly and go slowly at first, he can fairly be trusted to go alone. With a gear having frictional engagement, the only thing he really has to learn is his engine, and, with an instruction book, a little ordinary intelligence, common sense, and a few hours with an expert, he will get along all right, though it would be money well spent to give him a month in a good motor school at engine lore. It will be an encouragement to such a man to make himself proficient if his wages are advanced, which is only fair too, as he has greater responsibility, so we will put him down at 255. per week.

Now, to the cost of fuel, which is the equivalent of the fodder account with the horses. We cannot take any hardand-fast figure for this for calculation, as prices are continually altering—the trade price of petrol (ex store) has been dropped from as. id. to x id, per gallon since June—and it also varies in different parts of the country, according as they are near or far from the distributing centres. Some difference, too, will be made according to the grade of spirit used, and, at present prices, about 2d. per gallon can be saved by using coal-tar spirit, or benzol, whilst, by using paraffin, a considerable further saving may be effected, though, for the class of trade in which light delivery vans are chiefly used, this fuel has considerable drawbacks. It will be seen, therefore, that, between paraffin at 7d., benzoll at is., and petrol in a remote country district at as. 4d. there is a good bit of difference. For our calculation, however, so as to be as fair as possible, and to "give the horse a chance," we will take it at is. 2d., which is a fair, average price, rather on the high side, and a price which is greater

than petrol can be bought at to-day in most towns. In the early part of this article, I suggested 15 miles to the gallon

as a very fair average reckoning, and with this to go upon, and with the same annual mileage-12,48o—as we had taken our horses to be doing, the cost per year is easily reckoned.

Next to the fuel comes the lubrication, and upon the attention which is given to this a great deal of the suc cessful working of a motor will depend. We can get oils at various prices.

down to about 25. per gallon, but, as the quality of the oil used is vitally important, T. take a good quality oil at 2s. gd. for calculation. This can be used too sparingly, or it can be wasted by excessive supply. A .frienct of mine who drives a four-cvlindered, 2oh.p. car, tells me that he runs his vehicle over ',zoo miles on a gallon of oil ; but then he is an expert, and, for van work, we should use a lower gearing, which means that our engine will be turning faster, so I won't expect the driver to get anything like this result. I will give him a gallon for every 400 miles, and throw in 15s., for grease, for the grease-caps and axleends, and I don't think I'll be very wide of the mark.

A tnotorvan, of the size we are dis cussing, takes up but little room, and the tradesman may very likely be able to find housing-space for it on his own premises, without any special additional expense, but, if not, I take it it shed can be rented in most country towns for a five-pound note. Let us take it at that.

One of the most serious items of the motor user's expense which, like fuel and oil, is largely dependent on distance run, is tire renewal. In a district where the roads are of exceptional badness, coquetting with mademoiselle " de pneumatique " may be excusable, but, the worse the roads, the greater the wear on the tires whatever they are. If a car is selected which is a van body built on a pleasure-car chassis, pneumatics are a necessity, in any country, for the simple reason that it will not hold together long without them. Any vehicle, to give reasonable satisfaction upon solid tires, must be specially designed and constructed with a view to their use. Our cost of running will depend very largely upon our selection. The first cost of pneumatics and solids, for x5-cwt. loads, is pretty much the same : the inflated tires cost a trifle more, but the lasting qualities of the two are very different. I have known an air tire on a steering wheel to run im000 miles before it was worn out, and I have known 6,000 miles to be the record on a driving wheel, and this on pleasure cars, and, then, the makers of the tires were very proud of the exceptional performance, but, with careful driving and great luck, about 4,000 miles as an average is a very good performance, and 1,500 to 2,500 miles is very much nearer the mark. On the other hand, under reasonably-light loads, with large enough tires, solids have been known to run 14,000 or 15,000 miles, and 5,000 or 6,000 nines would be looked upon as but a mediocre showing, whilst makers of the best tires, when assured as to the circumstances of use, will often sell on a to,000 miles' guarantee. I think, therefore, as we are considering the case of a solid-tired vehicle, we will take to,000 miles for the purpose of our calculation. If the buyer has a preference for pneumatics, he can fill in his own figures from the data given above. Upon this reckoning, it must not be forgotten that the first set of tires is included in the price of the van, so that the user's expense in tire renewal will not commence until the ;first set is worn out, and the cost of the first year's running will consequently be that much less.

The cost of the annual repainting and "doing up of the body of the van will be pretty much the same as for a horse vehicle. We will take it at a little more, whilst, as to the repairs that will be required to the chassis, if, by using an epicyclic gear with frictional control, or other gear always in mesh, we eliminate the troubles Of the sliding gear, we have only an occasional rebushing of a hearing, here and there, and the engine to worry about. Hence, except for a " smash up" which may equally well occur with a horse van, Z15 ought to cover the cost of an overhaul and the few replacements that will be required to the mechanism. The occasional services of a really intelligent and competent garage hand for a look-over and adjustment will be money well spent in the first year of the car's work, until the driver has grown used to his vehicle, but this will be more than balanced by the first set of tires, so we will add nothing on this score. In addition to this, we have a 5s. fee for license, and we must reckon interest on capital invested, as before, at 5 per cent., whilst we will take depreciation at a greater percentage than that reckoned for the horse-vans or horses, and we get the following result :— The above calculation being made for the same mileage as that of the horse-vans in the previous reckoning, we divide by the mileage, 12,480, as before, with the result that we get, as the result of the working by motor, a cost of

4.671). PER MOTORVAN MILE,

which, compared with the 5.28d. of the horsed outfits, gives an advantage in economy over horses of more than id. a mile, or, in the aggregate, .4'13 los. per annum.

So far, so goodIt will be seen we are doing the same work with our motor as we have been doing with our horses, at a slight saving in cost. It has, however, been proved to satisfaction that the use of a motor vehicle almost invariably leads to increased trade, and the mileage we have taken for our calculation is quite an insignificant one ; the van could as easily average 36o miles a week as 240. In other words, another 20 miles a day can be dealt with regularly, without increasing the plant—an impossibility with horses. Supposing the business to require this, we shall increase our fuel, oil, and tire bill in proportion to the mileage, but our other charges will remain approximately the same, so that, if we make additions of so per cent, to these items in our little sum, and divide it by the greater total mileage of 18,720, we get, not 4.67d. per mile, but 3.65d., a saving of a further id. per mile, or, in the aggregate, some ;5;127 less in the annual cost than would be required were the same total mileage served with horses, as, in that case, the plant would have to be increased proportionately, and the mileage cost would vary but little. If, then, additional trade, necessitating the extra mileage, is the direct resultant of the employment of the motor vehicle, the profit on the additional business done should also fairly be credited to the motor.

Conclusion.

In both the above calculations, I have shown that there would be a direct saving, in the use of the motor, but, supposing there were no saving effected at all, and, on the other hand, a slightly increased expense, is the tradesman that much worse off? I think not. Let us see what he gets :— (A).—The uncertainty and trouble of horses is avoided. (B).—One man instead of two with whom to deal.

(C).—More expeditious delivery of goods, which means greater satisfaction to customers.

(D).—The ability to do extra work upon occasion, and to extend the area worked.

(E).—A far better advertisement than the hot-Se-van provides, especially if it is the first motorvan in the _district.

(F).—The almost certain increase in 'trade, resulting from the three last advantages.

Are not these a sufficient and ample justification for the adoption of the motor in business? I think they 'al:C. Ldo not think the comparison is in any way far-fetched. I have endeavoured to make it in every way a fair one ; indeed, if anything, to be more than fair to the horse. If there are any serious errors in rny view of the situation, I shall be glad to learn them, for, if horse users are content, to-day, to continue to live in a " fools' paradise," I have no desire to keep them company.

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