STILL ANOTHER READER'S LOG SHEET.
Page 23
Page 24
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"The Skotch " Completes his Analysis of a Set of Forms Returned by a Reader and Represented to Cover the Work of a Wagon for One Month.
REFERRING again to the log, sheet which appeared last week, the costs per mile which I calculated from the figures there given included running expenses only. There are still, therefore, standing charges to be considered before we can arrive at. a statement of the full working costs in connection with the vehicle which the log concerns.
Some of these standing charges are actually given in the log sheet, having been entered, as I pointed out last week, in error, under the heading of maintenance. There are:—(1) Insurance and licensing ; these are lumped together by our correspondent7 the figure for the two being 21. (2) Wages; this is stated to be 26, but, for reasons which I gave last week, I do not think it fair to debit the motor vehicle with the whole of the wages of two men. A proper proportion, it seems to me, should be full wage of the driver, 23, plus one-third that of the mate, making 24 in all. (3) Rent and rates of garage. (4) Interest on first cost of vehicle. Since my correspondent, in a covering letter, appears to have estimated hi s total cost of working on the figures given in the log sheet, in which no allowance is made for either of items 3 and 4, he appears to have overlooked these two. Rent and rates I will assume amount to 12s. 6d. a week ; this is in accordance with our standard table ; my correspondent can make such alterations as are necessary. Interest on first cost of the vehicle—reckoning present-day prices and assuming 6 per cent., being 1 per cent. above the Bank Rate—would probably amount to 21 a week in round figures.
The total standing charges per week are, therefore, 26 12s. 6d., and the sum for the period of four weeks which is covered by the log sheet is 226 10s. During that period 994 miles are run, and the incidence of the standing charges is, therefore, 6.4d. per 'mile. This must be added to the running cost, 8.1.3d. per mile, at which we arrived last week, in order to ascertain the total working cost of the vehicle, which, for the month in question, amounts to 14.53d. per mile. My correspondent, basing his estimate on the figures given in the log sheet, assesses his costs at 13d. per mile. The difference between us is due, on the one hand, to the fact that I have not taken into account the full wages of the driver's mate, and, on the other, to the circumstance that he has overlooked the necessity for including rent and rates and interestion first cost. He does not tell me what charges he is making for the work he is doing. A rough-and-ready approximation, once the working costs for a reasonably long period are known, is to double these casts, which gives a fair rate per mile for hire. The additional amount received over and above working cost is not, of course, all profit; that is to say, I am not suggesting that the haulier should attempt to obtain 100 per cent. profit. The difference is largely made up of establishment and other charges in connection with the running of his vehicle, arid of which no account is taken when arriving at the mere working cost of the machine itself. Calculated on that basis, the charge per mile for the work which this man is doing would amount to 2s. 5d., and his gross receipts for the period in question would be nearly 2120.
It is interesting to compare the result of this roughand-ready method with • that achieved by our own regular procedure for arriving at a fah charge. Referring to page 59 of the issue for August 30th of this tear, we advise, for a 4-tonner in which the running (not working) costs amount to approximately 100. a mile, that the charge should be based at is. per mile for the actual mileage covered, plus £20 a week. In our particular case the running cost is a mere fraction over 8d. a mile. The correspond lug mileage charge would, therefore, be 9id. ; this, for 991 miles, amounts in round figures to £40, add £20 a week for four weeks, and we arrive at the same total—namely, £120.
The correspondent who sent me the log sheet does not say what charges he is actually making; he states that he calculates that the tonnage cost in connection with the work he is doing with this vehicle is 7s. 7d. ; hut, as he gives no intimation as to the number of miles loaded, I am unable to check his figures.
This matter of completing the log sheets, particularly in regard to the number of loaded miles covered' by the vehicle, and also the maintenance cost, appears to be somewhat of a problem to users of the sheets; for, curiously enough, I have another log this week which has precisely the same defects, and, as a preliminary to discussing the matter, I propose to publish this second example together with a brief analysis of the information which the sheets contain, the analysis being on the same lines as that carried out last week in connection with the other sheet. The following are the figures (the vehicle being a 3-tonner):—Total period covered, four weeks ; total mileage, 860; petrol used, 160 gallons; oil, 12 gallons ; grease, 4 lb. ; maintenance, 6s. lOd. ; price of petrol, 2s. lid. gallon ; oil, 3s. lid. gallon ; grease 18. 2d. lb. ; miles per gallon, 5.38; cost of petrol per mile, 4.75d., against our standard 3.02c1.; cost of lubricant, 0.72d., as against 0.137d.; tyres, approxi
mately
mately Id. mile as against 1.60d. ; maintenance, 0.1d., as against 2.15d. (here, again, as last, week, I have to remind readers that maintenance cost may not be judged over a short period of time). Depre'elation : as this does not appear on the log sheet, 'I shall assume it to be as given in our standard table ; namely, 1.80d. Total cost of running, 8.37d. per mile, actually more than in the case of the 4-tonner to which we referred last week, mainly on account of the difference in the maintenance charges, but less than our standard rate of 9.24d. per mile.
THE ISKOT011.
10n page 664 we repeat an interesting announcement, first made in our last issue, of the fact that our correspondent who deals in our columns with questions concerning the administration of a haulage business, is prepared, on request, to visit any London haulier and discuss his problems. "The Skotch " is also willing to help with advice where desired. We intend to make no charge for this service, as we feel that it can be made of material use to our haulier readers, and to the haulage industry, for there are many who are not clear upon their costs and find it difficult to quote for business.—En. 61.21/.1