OVER 100-PER-CENT. VARIATION IN OPERATING COSTS
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T is now time to summarize these Ynriations in operating costs, to put there. together and to see what ferences are possible as between a. operator and another. This I ye done in the accompanying A study of them will, I am .e, be most instructive to anyone the haulage industry.
:able I gives in simplest form the .ual operating costs: first, the srage, in accordance with The mmercial Motov Tables ; secondly, ; minimum! in accordance with at has been discussed in the foreLng articles, and, thirdly, the To refer to a schedule of operating costs as being Lximum is, perhaps, a little dangerous. Sometimes I ye thought that the limit is, as gambling folk put it, he sky." I ought to qualify the maxilnum as, leed, I have in the table itself, by quoting it as -the
Lximum which may reasonably be expected. The ures in all cases refer to the average vehicle conacted for a pay-load of 3 tons.
For fuel consumption, the average rate is 10 m.p.g. and that, with petrol at Is. 4d. per gallon, is equal to 1.60d. per mile. Some operators obtain 14 m.p.g., but that, I think is the best figure that can be expected 5.n. ordinary service, so that 1.15d. per mile is the minimum. On the other hand, I know of many cases where 8 m.p.g. or 9 m.p.g. is all that can be achieved.
which gives me what I think can fairly be stated to be a maximum of 2d. per mile for petrol.
So far as lubricating oil is concerned, the average figure is 0.10d. per mile. With care, and in connection with vehicles which are economical as regards this item, 0.05d. may be expected, but that, again, is a mini mum if we are to consider the operation of a vehicle over any lengthy period. In careless hands, and with engines that are worn and leaky, so far as the sump is con-; cerned, the figure of 0.25d. per mile, which is set down as a maximum, is a common experience.
For tyres, as I have explained at length, about 22,000 miles per set is an average under fair conditions and that life gives 0.45d. per mile, ties figure taken from the Tables. Under favourable conditions-for . example, in case of vehicles always well driven and operating only on hard, smooth roads-this mileage may easily be improved upon and upwards of 30,000 miles' wear is no uncommon experience. That mileage gives the figure of 0.30d as the minimum : 0.75d„ the figure in the third column, is perhaps, not the maximum, but is the most that tyres should cost when operated in unfavourable circumstances• and given but scant attention.
The average figure for maintenance is 0.95d. per mile. There are many .cases where, given that drivers attend to washing, polishing, greasing and sundry small matters, and provision for maintenance is on a smooth and economic basis, the net cost, apart. from what is really paid for in drivers' wages, can be kept down to the figure of 0.30d. per mile, which is that in the
" minimum" column.
In the case of vehicles which must be maintained entirely independently, of any work by the driver, and particularly when bodywork is expensive and paint, too, of a costly description, needing frequent washing, varnishing every six months and expensive repaints, the figure for maintenance can quite easily reach the maximum quoted of 1.35d, per mile.
For depreciation the average is 0.60d., the minimum about 0.5Ckl. and the maximum should not exceed 0.70d.
Most readers will, I am sure, be surprised to note that the, maximum of total running cost is more than twice the minimum and one-third in excess of the average.
It is not necessary to devote much space to an explanation of the potential differences in standing charges.
That wages should differ, as between, for example rural area and London or Liverpool, is a fact. 12 and rates may be as little as 2s. 6d. in a rural a and quite easily 12s. 6d. in an industrial centre. Ins ance also varies widely. Interest on first cost would much more in an expensively painted and hod vehicle, and might easily reach the 4s. set out. again, there is a difference of 50 per cent as betw minimum and maximum total.
In Table II, I have calculated the cost per mile the cost per week for various mileages, in acc,orda with the procedure adopted in The Commercial Mc Tables of -Operating Costs. A study of these sta,tis is even more illuminating than of the bare cost figt set out above. They do exemplify, for example, futility of an operator arranging his charges so that revenuefrom the operation of a 3-ton lorry is no it than 344. or even 4d. per mile. Taking the n favourable conditions, the bare cost of operating vehicle does not fall to 4d. per mile until his wee mileage reaches 500. In the worst case, running miles per week and assuming maximum running c and standing charges, -the cost per mile is nearly 7ic
I strodgly recommend all my readers to consider t own experience, • to endeavour to judge whether t costs are at the minimum, or in excess of that le Having reached some decision on that point, they shE refer to the appropriate figure in Table II, recall they are charging per mile run for the hire of t vehicles and endeavour to calcu the margin available, if any, provide for establishment chai (with which I shall deal in a su quent article) and profit. If 1 follow that course they will be on the way to success. S.T.I