Questions Answered
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operator states that an old 7-tonner which he has been sing on purely local work must now be replaced, so ether than demote one of the older vehicles of his ; fleet to similar duties he is considering the possibility g a 3-ton articulated combination for the purpose. He r some indication of the likely operating costs.
ming that the tractive unit, or mechanical horse as this :ommonly referred to, is coupled to a standard platform the unladen weight of the outfit will be around 3 tons This incurs an annual licence duty of £46 10s., and the proportion of A-licence fees for both tractive unit tiler, the equivalent standing cost per week becomes 1d. As with the other four items of standing costs this ion is based on a 50-week year to allow for two weeks he vehicles may be off the road for major repairs or holidays.
total cost of wages to the employer is assessed at ;. lid, on the assumption that the vehicle is based in e 1 area as defined by the Road Haulage Regulations and that a basic 42-hour week applies. This amount eludes the appropriate addition for the employer's ce contributions and an adjustment to permit holidays y.
and rates in respect of garaging the vehicle amount to . per week, and vehicle insurance the equivalent of 4d. a week based on an annual premium of £90 I8s. .ovides for comprehensive cover relative to A-licence ning a nominal rate of five per cent, interest charges on al outlay of £1,287 (the combined total for tractive unit iler) will amount to £15s. 9d., so giving a total for the ns of standing costs of £15 14s. 9d. a week. On this work a vehicle would normally do a relatively low and, in this instance, an average of 200 miles a week allowed. The resulting standing cost per mile will 18.89d.
particular reader specified a petrol engine and assuming
supplies are purchased in bulk at 4s. Id. a gallon, sic per mile would be 4.49d., when an average, of t. is maintained. Lubricants are reckoned to cost 0.24d. C.
a set of tyres costing £126 and providing a mileage life 0, the resulting tyre cost per mile is 1.0Id. Maintenance e of washing, servicing and repairs, is assessed at 3.06d., epreciation adds 1-90d. per mile. This latter calculation 3ed by first deducting the equivalent cost of the originai
f res from the initial price of the vehicle, with a further in relative to an ultimate residual value.
otal for these five items of running costs is then 10.70d. or £8 18s. 5d. per week. Added to the standing costs tiltingtotal operating cost is 29.59d, per mile, or , 2d. per week.
the average weekly mileage is low, any variation can iubstantial effect on the total operating costs, Thus, in ticular instance, if the average weekly mileage drops to resulting operating cost per mile is increased to 49.83d. ame amount of standing costs (£15 14s. 9d. per week) ill to be met but spread over a reduced mileage. ively, if the figure was increased to 300 miles a week, operating cost then becomes 23.29d. per mile.
So far these estimates have been calculated on the assumption that only one trailer would be in use. if, however, one or more spare trailers were also purchased a considerable improvement in the amount of traffic moved could be achieved in the right circumstances. The actual cost of additional trailers for this 3-ton tractive unit would be around £330 and a method of calculating the additional cost was described in this series on September 6. Whilst the figures then given related to a 10-ton trailer the principle remains the same.
CERTIFICATE OF FITNESS When giving the operating cost of a 31-seater coach recently, mention was made of the fee payable for a certificate of fitness, and a reader writes asking for further details as to the effect of such certificates.
Before a bus or coach is put on the road the intending operator must obtain a public service vehicle licence. These are issued by the Traffic Commissioner of the appropriate area and are personal to the holder. Such licences are, in fact, the Traffic Commissioner's confirmation to the travelling public that the vehicle concerned is satisfactory for the work it is proposed to do.
But before a p.s.v. licence can be issued a certificate of fitness must be obtained, except in the case of a vehicle adapted to carry Ids than eight passengers. These certificates are issued by the certifying officers attached to the appropriate traffic area headquarters after they have been 'satisfied that the vehicle concerned complies with prescribed conditions as to fitness. These arc detailed in Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness) Regulations 1958, under the sub-headings of stability, suspension, clearance, brakes, steering and other items of equipment and construction.
PATENT APPLICATIONS "How do I apply for a patent?" is the substance of another inquiry.
Relative to the United Kingdom, an application for patents can be made by a person claiming to be the first inventor or by his assignee. But whilst an application to which a company is a party should be made under seal, partnership or other unincorporate bodies cannot apply as such but must apply in the names of the partners constituting the firm. Moreover, the application must be signed by all such partners.
Regarding what may be patented, an application for a patent must be in respect of an invention which is a manner of new manufacture, or a new method or process of testing applicable to the improvement or control of manufacture. Patents will not be granted where no material product of substantial character is realized or affected by the alleged invention. Amongst other reasons for an application being refused is when it claims as an invention a substance which is mixture of known ingredients possessing only the aggregate of the known properties of the ingredients, or claims a process producing such a substance by mere admixture. Moreover, an application for a patent must be restricted to one invention. Several distinct matters are not deemed to constitute one invention merely because they are all applicable to, or may form' part of, an existing machine, apparatus or process. Application for patents should be glade to the Comptroller, The Patents Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.2. All applications and cOmmunications must be in the English language and applicants must apply in their real names. No models are required, but applicants must use the appropriate stamped forms.
LINER TRAIN COMPARATIVE COSTS A long-distance haulier is endeavouring to assess the likely effect of liner trains, if and when they materialize, on his sphere of operation and asks for details of the comparative costing given in the Beeching Report.
Although commonly referred to as the Beeehing Report the actual title is "The Reshaping of British Railways" and is obtainable in two parts from H.M. Stationery Office. York House. Kingsway, London, W.02, price El net. Part One contains the report, whilst Part Two consists of the relevant maps.
The details relative to the liner train are given in Appendix Four at the end of Part One.
It is stated that the overall potential for growth of liner train traffic over the next 10 years, with a growth rate of 3 per cent per annum, is of the order of 39-42 tn. tons by 1973. A broad pattern of movement over thc country as a whole by groups of routes is made up of London-Midlands-South Lancashire (12 m. tons). South Wales/Bristol-MidlandsYorkshire-Tyneside (5.9 m. tons) London-Yorkshire-Tyneside (3.6 in. tons) South Wales/Bristol-South Lancashire-Scotland (3.2 m. tons) London-South Wales/Bristol-Plymouth (2.8 m. tons) with the balance distributed on other routes.
After addition of collection and delivery costs, the estimated direct costs per capacity ton are reckoned as 15s. 9d. per ton direct rail costs (with 16-ton container) as compared with a claimed 19s. per ton by road. At 200 miles the corresponding figures are given as 17s. 9d. 'for rail and 32s. for road, whilst at 300 miles the margin in favour of rail is claimed to be 24s. 9d. per ton, i.e. 14s. 9d. per ton as compared with 44s. 6d. a ton by road.
A further series of figures are given basedon a combination of 75 per cent rail utilization and 80 per cent road utilization, or alternatively 50 per cent rail and 60 per cent road. But in all cases when a 16-ton-capacity load is moved a margin in favour of rail is claimed.
A recent purchaser of "The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs' asks for further information as to why "interest" should be included in operating costs and how it comes about that the total standing cost for a small 5-cwt. van amounts to £12 7s. 3d. per week, whilst the total operating cost per mile is 35-26d. at 100 miles a week and 19.52d. at 200 miles per week.
Regarding interest, if an operator makestise of savings already invested to purchase a vehicle then until an amount equivalent to the interest he was already receiving on his previous investment is earned, it cannot be considered that he is making a true profit on his transport operation. Even if he were to break even in this respect then there would_ he no justification for taking on the responsibility of running a vehicle without additional reward. Alternatively, if the situation were not reached when earnings covered the original interest, then obviously he would be better off leaving his money as formerly invested.
Despite the smallness of the particular vehicle quoted, it should be noted that the figures of £12 7s. 3d. given as total standing costs include the equivalent of an adult driver's wages of £10 13s. 11d, for a basic 42-hour week. This extract, incidentally, highlights the high proportion of labour costs to total operating costs in the transport industry generally. Additionally, the whole basis of arriving at a total operating cost is dependent upon a known weekly, or yearly, average mileage. Where this is small the corresponding operating costs per mile would be high, as the standing costs remain the same irrespective of mileage.
But even where the average mileage is known within reasonable limits, there can be certain types of jobs where the actual journey mileage (as d:stinct from weekly mileage) likely to be incurred is not known with sufficient accuracy to formulate costs and charges. For this reason a final section in each of the several tables is included so that a minimum charge based on combination of time plus mileage can be quoted.