Answers to Queries.
Page 27
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Our readers will be informed by the Editor on any Points connected with the construction or use of commercial motors. Where a direct reply is desired, a stamped and addressed envelobe should be enclosed : if a request for privacy is not specially made, any query and answer may be published.
Steam or Petrol?
[1,373] "HEA'VY LOADS" asks :—" Will you settle a dispute for me and a friend? Do petrol lorries haul trailers as successfully as steam lorries can? Ile says they do. Also, are there many five-ton petrol lorries at work in this country which regularly haul trailers? "
ANSWER.—Experience occasionally shows that petrol lorries can and do haul trailers successfully : the Bavarian mail and transport wagons (Milnes-Dairnler) provide one instance, and five-ton Ryknield lorries, which have steel rear tires and rubber front tires, often haul trailers between Burton and Birmingham. General practice, however, favours an increase in the size of the motor vehicle in preference, and it is an uncommon thing to see a petrol wagon with a trailer behind it. We should say that very few indeed of the five-ton petrol lorries are used with trailers, for ordinary delivery work, in this country. With steam lorries, of course, except in bad weather (frost, snow or very heavy roads), trailers are quite usual : we should say, therefore, that our verdict must be on the side of our Correspondent. Rubber-tired vehicles wear out the driving tires very much more rapidly with trailers.
Will a Two-ton Lorry Pay Here?
11,3741 "BOTTLERS" write :—" Would VOU kindly oblige by giving us your candid opinion as to the possibility of a two-ton motor lorry payintin our kind of business. The driver would have to solicit his orders, deliver from his load, receive payment for same, and, upon his return journey, pick up any empties. Our trade is in. . . .
" Vtre may say that our greatest objection to a motor is its possible breaking down. The distance we should be working would amount to about zoo miles a week.
"Would you also oblige by giving us the cost of running same, inclusive of everything, per week."
ANSWER.—We are of opinion that you ought to be able to make a van pay. Sufficient experience has now been gained to safeguard you against breakdown, but you would require to have your driver trained for a certain length of time, and, in view of the hilly nature of your district, we should recommend you to have a four-cylinder engine. You ought to manage to run at an inclusive cost of nd. per mile, after charging everything, including sinking fund, even on the small weekly average of 200 miles; if you could see your way to increase that mileage to something in the neighbourhood of 35o miles per week, the cost would go down to 61d. per mile.
A Hawker on the Look-out.
[1,3751 " HARDWARE STORES " writes :—" I should be glad to know if you think my work could be worked satisfactorily and cheaply by motorvan. I am by trade a hawker, employing three horse-drawn vans. The great difficulty, I think, would be the frequent stopping and starting, viz., on three days of the week I work in towns only, and stop and start, say, every so yards during the day, sometimes on a downhill grade, and in other cases on a uphill grade; the other days are country routes, through villages—a round journey of 15 miles a day.
" If you think a motoryan suitable for this class of work, would you kindly give me your opinion as to whether a steam or petrol motor would be more suitable, also the horse-power required to carry a load of to to x5cwt. at a maximum (level) speed of 15 miles per hour, exclusive of chassis or van body; also, is it better to purchase outright a decent second-hand van, or could a contract be made to work out at a cheaper rate."
ANSWER.—You could not make a contract for your work advantageously, but you might do well to buy a suitable second-hand petrol van. It would require to have a twocylinder engine, and to be of not less than r4h.p. If you drove the machine yourself and were prepared to take a little pains with it, and were also able to extend your rounds by increasing the mileage, such a van ought to pay you pretty well. We could advise you more exactly if you gave the horses' loads and weekly mileages.
About Motor Contracting.
1)1,3761 " INTEIVDING CONTRACTORS" again write :— " I lease accept our thanks for your reply. We shall appreciate any other information you can give us, in view of our contemplated operations, which will assist us in getting over the road difficulty, as this might be our greatest trouble. We cannot, however, gather from any user of a heavy motorcar fitted with solid rubber tires that compensation for road damage has been asked, neither can we imagine on what grounds such an action could succeed,
" Do you think that a four-ton petrol wagon, if fitted with rubber tires, will compare favourably with a steam wagon? " You are right in assuming that our previous letter should have read Lis 'per week,' instead of 'per day,' and that the total quantity to be dealt with in the case mentioned would be zoo tons per week.
"DO you consider we should be wise in hiring out a four-ton petrol lorry at an inclusive charge of 4-18 per week on a yearly contract, the approximate mileage being from 350 to 400 miles per week, running light for half?
" What is your opinion as to the advisability of our putting down motorcabs in a district like this? " Finally, will you let us have particulars of the Commercial Motor Users' Association."
ANSWER.—The only precaution you can observe, in regard to possible road claims, is to use roads along which other forms of mechanical transport also pass : you then have the defence that the heavier machines cause the damage. Failing such other traffic, the contingency is one which cannot be ignored.
Rubber tires may attract less attention at the hands of road surveyors, but you will appreciate that the fitting of them cannot reduce the imposed weight, and that is the point we had in mind, though, in virtue of the distortion of the rubber when travelling, the crushing effect upon road metal will certainly be lessened materially.
A four-ton petrol wagon will compare favourably with a steamer, if the former be run on rubber tires, provided you can get enough work to run it not less than 300 miles a week, and can earn at least is. 3d. per mile run.
The case of zoo tons per week, at a possible income of 4.15 per week, about which you enquired in yours of the 15th instant, is one which we should not consider remunerative at the earning you name. You must protect yourselves against lost journeys and claims from customers. We do not mean by lost journeys the results of mechanical breakdowns, but the results of undue delays et places of call, which may be serious. Your query re the hiring-out of a " four-tonner " for .4.18 a week, on a yearly contract, also obliges us to say that you are not suggesting a high enough charge for the mileage indicated. You ought to get, notwithstanding its being a yearly contract, a minimum of xs. 2d. per mile, and you would be safer to get is 4d.
We are not sufficiently well acquainted with the ---district to express an opinion on the prospects of motorcabs, though we are inclined to say that the roads would cause very heavy repairs upon any light vehicles of that type, and that tires would wear badly. Your request re the C.M.U.A. has had attention.