Maintenance What It Costs
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/N the early days of the road haulage industry, most of the haulage businesses were of the owner-driver type: rhese men not only drove their own vehicles, but also kept them in reasonably good repair. It was, indeed, to help them that this series of articles was started. They were written to help the lorry owner back from the First World War with a gratuity and some knowledge of how to drive a lorry and keep it in good condition. That knowledge came, in the first place, as the result of serving in the Army Service Corps.
It was realized that these men, entering the haulage industry, would have plenty of experience in handling and mending the vehicle, but little or none in running a business. They could operate their vehicles, but were completely ignorant of what they were costing and, therefore, had not the slightest idea what customers should be charged.
Times have changed a good deal since then, but the ownerdriver is still with us and I am glad, for the sake of the industry as a whole, that they will still be with us for many years to come. However, there are reasons why they are, in some ways, a thorn in the flesh of the industry as a whole. They are in a position to cut rates, and some of them make a habit of doing so, when they regard their wages as profit.
Can Do Harm
Where they are few and far between, their effect on a local rates schedules is insignificant—after all, they can carry only one load at a time and there is no need for their larger competitors to worry. Where they are many, however they can do plenty of harm.
One aspect of the problem which has not had anything like the attention that it perhaps deserves, is the further savings these owner-drivers think they make by doing their own maintenance. They do that work on Sundays and, to all intents and purposes, carry out most of their mainten .ance and repairs at no cost for labour.
Time and time again I have been told by these small operators that they do not need to charge so much as is recommended in ' The Commercial Motor' Tables of Operating Costs," as they do their own repairs. It may be as well, therefore, to look into this question and try to ascertain, what, if any, savings are possible by doing the job at home, to find out how much difference this makes.
Considering, first of all, the cost of operation of the vehicle, of the 11 items scheduled only two are directly affected, namely wages and maintenance. I say directly, because it may well be that all the running costs can be inadvertently affected by the amount of attention that the vehicle receives, and this, if the owner looks after it himself; may be either more or less than it otherwise might be.
The attention paid to the vehicle may be more if he has the time and opportunity for doing the work, because he will n2.4 do it more efficiently, so far as his knowledge goes, than any paid assistant. Alternatively, it may be less efficiently, because he will be able to attend to it only irregularly and when he is tired.
Of these two items I need only consider one at length— maintenance. The other, wages, has been referred to so frequently in this connection that there must be few of my readers who do not know exactly what my views are. The business of operating a vehicle for profit is one which involves an investment of capital and entails heavy responsibility. If the owner-driver refuses to accept the dictum that there must be an item " wages" in his costs schedules, and if he accordingly reduces his charges, all that he is going to make for himself from the running of the vehicle and the conducting of his business as a haulage contractor is the equivalent of a driver's wages—possibly even less. •
Why -Own, a Vehicle?
I would ask, Therefore, if he is content with that remuneration, why he should shoulder himself with the expense and responsibility of owning the vehicle? Why should he not, with a contented mind, take a job as a driver under some other haulage contractor who will be left to face those difficulties?
Consideration of the other item, maintenance, may not be dismissed so easily. First of all we have to get firmly into our minds what is meant by the term. I have often evaded giving the detailed answer to that question by saving that it covers every item of expenditure in connection with the operation of the vehicle except those already set down under the other 10 items. That is the easiest way to answer the question, because in detail there are so many items of cost covered by this one heading that it would take up a lot of space to mention them ail.
The following is a brief list of the principal items: greasing and oiling. meaning attention to all the grease nipples on the chassis and the periodic replenishment of the
supplies of lubricant. in the crankcase, gearbox ahd rear axle casing; adjustment of the braes and other devices connected with them, for example the checking and replenishment of the fluid in the hydraulic system; testing of the front-wheel alignment; and decarbonization, more familiarly known nowadays as "top overhaul."
After these comes what I might term a minor overhaul, in which the operator carries out some of the more important maintenance operations. At longer intervals, a thorough inspection of both body and chassis is necessary.
Turning back tci less complicated maintenance operations, there is the refacing of the brake shoes to be taken into our reckoning, and a similar operation in connection with the clutch. Then there is the more or less regular washing and polishing of the vehicle.
-Finally, there is an item which I must cover by the word
sundries. Under that heading there comes the purchase of -. all sorts of-odds and ends, each small but perhaps totalling a large sum in the course of a year. I have in mind such items as the topping-up of batteries, replacing lamp bulbs, new lamp glasses, and straightening of niudguards which have been dented in some minor collision and repaired
without -recourse to the insurance company. . •
• Now; comes the question—what do these things cost? Let us assume, in the first ease, that all the various operations of maintenance enumerated above have to be paid for as they are executed by a garage proprietor.
Need for Greasing Greasing and chassis lubrication. is needed once per 500 miles or more, according to the'rnake of the chassis. It is not likely to be-done more than once a week, which means that if the vehicle is covering 400 miles a week that figure will become the standard, no matter what the instruction book may recommend. The cost, if the work is carried out by the local garage will be at least 5s.
Brake adjustment is necessary, or certainly advisable, at intervals of mat less than 5,000 miles. There is bound to be difference in practice not only because of the design of the chassis but also on account ofthe kind of country over which the vehicle travels, and the way in which the machine is driven. I shall take it that the cost is 12s. per occasion.
The emptying of the crankcase, gearbox and rear axle case and their replenishment is .a more expensive set of operations: it takes time and there is'a ,charge .for materials to be made. Taking an average of 5,000 miles for theengine and 7,500 for the gearbox and axle Case, the charge .for the engine will be £2 and £1 10s. for the other components.
The cost of decarbonizing isagain determined by the methodof use and the age of the vehicle. Nowadays it is Valve-En:wiling rather than carbon -accumulation which determines the interval. The time necessary for the carrying out of the operation may differ widely because of the degree of accessibility. I am giving an average figure of 10,000 miles as a fair period, coupled with the warn
ing that the cost may vary greatly. The charge I shall assume to be £2 10s.
I come now in the question 'Of overhauls. In the enumeration of the iterns covered by the term maintenance I mention a minor and • a general overhaul. I should, perhaps, he _ more explicit and make it clear that by minor overhaul I really mean engine examinaticln,
and by_generat overhaul a thorough eXamination and repair of the chassis and bodywork.. It is the experience of comthercial-vehicle users in every class that engine overhaul is necessary at least twice as often as for the rest of the• chassis.
would be absurd for meta pretend to give precise figures for the cost of either a minor or general overhaul. So much depends on the work .being done by the vehicle and upon chassis design. There must be something allowed for the skill of the garage proprietor in making out an account which will be acceptable to the owner of the vehicle concerned.
Engine Replacement Probably_ £60 will cover the cost of the engine overhaul or of a reconditioned unit and it will be necessary after 50,000 miles. p far as the major overhaul of chassis and bodywork is concerned, I propose to take it that it becomes necessary after 100,000 miles and will cost £220 or so, including the fitting of ,'á second reconditioned engine.
The next item is one which the self-respecting haulier will desire to have done fairly frequently and that is the washing and polishing of the vehicle. The cost of this will, to a certain extent, turn upon the type of body with which the vehicle is equipped. (1 should, perhaps, emphasize that in, the cost figures quoted I have -in .mind a petrol-engined 6-tonner running 400 miles per week.) A van body, for example, will cost more to wash than a platform. If I take 10s. per time I shall be fair to the garage proprietor who is supposed to be doing the job. It will not be done more often than once a week.
The brakes have. at fairly long intervals, to be refaced. The period which may be allowed to elapse between one refacing and the next depends upon a good many factors. I assume that the cost is about £5 10s., and the interval 10,000 miles.
It should be borne in mind that I am not considering only new vehicles; on the contrary, I have in mind vehicles which have done a year's work or more. 4oreover, whilst it is not likely that all the foregoing items will be wanted, there is always the chance that most of them will. Experience has shown that they may, in a year's hard running, amount to £25 or so. That is for a mileage of 20,000. S.T.R. (To be continued.)