In Place of the One-horse Van.
Page 6
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A typical inquiry (dated 17th lust) reads:—" Having taken (h.? C Ill, now for some time, 1 have been interested as a tradesman in the descriptions of light vans for trade purposes. Are they adapted for country roads like we have here in West Dorset, rough and very hilly, or are they designed chiefly for town work ? Our loads never exceed 5 cwt. in goods, though it takes a very roomy body to take that weight in bread. Could you give me the names of firms that market a vehicle that you think would be suitable ? I have never seen a van, though a baker not far from here has taken delivery of a new ----van. By seeing a van you can form a better idea than by reading about it. You do not recommend buying second-hand pleasure chassis and fit up for the purpose. I discovered that in your journal.
" I should prefer four-wheelers to three, I think, and have a fancy that wire wheels are not the best for keeping clean, etc, where you have not very much time to spend. I daresay they stand the strain of work as well as the others. What one wants for trade is a vehicle that requires the minimum of attention and whose parts az e easy of access. No doubt you could give a few particulars as to the upkeep and life of such vzhicles, and I trust that you will be able to assist me in my attempt to investigate the merits of motor delivery."
We sent a direct reply to the writer of the above letter—a baker. Reference back to the series of articles dealing with light vans, which commenced in our issue of the 19th February last, and which series was continued almost without intermission until the issue immediately preceding the outbreak of war, will show him and other querists that the claims of the parcelcar and light van by no means affect only tradesmen in towns. We know the roads, valleys and hills of West Dorset very well indeed, and we have given this intending owner a list of vehicles which will more particularly meet his requirements, and from which he can make his choice.
The case for the lighter types of .motorvans, as substitutes for onehorse vans, has been a favourite -theme of ours for some years. We -took it in hand more particularly in an article which was published on the 5th January, 1911, and for which article we adopted the title which is again used at the head of this page. Few people realize how strongly that ease has since been developed, and how our forecasts of considerable extensions of demand for parcelcars and light vans has been justified by results.
What a Horse-van Costs Per Week.
If one asks the average tradesman or other horse-owner how much it costs him to keep a horse -or a horse and van, one will generally get a reply to the effect that it is "anything between 20s. and 25s. a week." These alleged costs are, .of course, a delusion ; they are, in fact, a tradition. Nothing is said -or reckoned concerning incidental .costs which cannot be avoided, and which have to be incurred by any man who has a business which re-quires him personally to remain at the receipt of custom. It is only to the case of the itinerant hawker, who travels about with his wares upon a cart which he has bought second-hand, and which cart is pulled by a horse which almost belies the description, that the supposed round cost of £1 per week can s possibly apply. We are not addressing those particular 4 knights of the road." Our issues and recommendations go forth to tradesmen, both large and small, with premises in their own occupation, and frequently with a considerable,sta.ff of assistants.
The true cost of a one-horse van is not easily fixed at this particular juncture of events. Tradesmen who have their horses left will, however, find it difficult to establish averages, either in their own experience or that of fellow tradesmen, which are to any appreciable extent better than the following :— The above inclusive and fair total, covering everything, for a one-horse van, enables its owner, in flat country, to run a maximum of 120 miles weekly. Some owners put the whole of the stable labour on to their driver, and maintain that the 3s. 4d. which we have included should not be there. We are willing to grant that in certain instances, but we have to point out that our figures include no provision for hiring at such times as any single horse is laid up, and that may be not infrequently. One item balances the other. In a hilly district, the weekly mileage, which can safely be undertaken by a single horse, may well fall as low as 80 miles. For the purposes of the next paragraph, we have adopted an average of 100 miles per week.
How many owners of one-horse vans realize that each vehicle, on the basis of 57s. 8d. per week as the inclusive " all in " cost, and the above-mentioned average of 100 miles of service, costs them fully 6id. per mile run, whether light, loaded or partly 'loaded 1 Very few, we are convinced. The cost is more than lid, per hour, on the basis of a 60-hour week, but not every " vanner " can stand up to more than 50 working hours per week, even when it is a wellseasoned animal.
How do the foregoing costs and performanCes compare with those which can be obtained, and are regularly obtained, from modern parcelcars and small vans?
What a Motor Will Cost Instead.
The parcelcar far a 5-cwt. load can do its work at an " all in" cost of 21d. per mile, given favourable conditions and a good weekly mileage—not less than 350 miles a week. The corresponding costs for a 7-cwt. van are 30. per mile, and for a 10-cwt. van, on solid-rubber tires, 9d. per mile—for not less than 350 miles a week. First cost ranges from £95 to 2220. Thus, when a tradesman can provide the work to enable the mall parcelcar or motorvan to work to its best advantage, at a high daily mileage, the horse costs are handsomely beaten. Many tradesmen, however, have so much calling and waiting to do, that they cannot get the mileage appreciably higher, certainly at the outset of their new departure, than 100 or 120 miles a week. For such mileages, any approved make of parcelcar or light van is certainly cheaper, whilst the 10-cwt. types of vans are on practical equality. For example, to travel 100 miles a week, the figures for a satisfactory 10-cwt. motorvan are as by the table onder The horse is almost equalled on its own low mileage, but the van is there to tackle higher mileages, as required. Each added 50 miles brings down the cost per mile ; the driver, at 100 miles a week, means 4. per mile—at 300 miles well
under id A horse-van is never cheaper than 5d. a mile "all in," and a, one-ton motor costs no more.