TRANSPORT TIPS FOR TRADESMEN.
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Particularly Addressed to Those Who are Replacing Horsed Vehicles by Motors, or Contemplating So Doing.
Waiting for Perfection.
THERE ARE PLENTY of traders who ought to have been using motorvans for some time past and, had they done so, would have been steadily saving money and extending their businesses, but who are constantly putting off the change, perhaps because of reluctance to face the cost, and
• perhaps because they expect big improvements in motor vehicles to take place if they wait a little longer. Of course, if any really revolutionary improvement were to be effected, the value of older vehicles not incorporating it would be automatically reduced, and depreciation would, therefore, have to be allowed for at an increased rate.
In practice, however, improvements almost always take place gradually, and very seldom suddenly. Even if, some really great idea is worked out and proved sound, its general adoption is nearly always a matter of years. Suppose, for .instance, that some much improved and inexpensive form of transmission were devised, we should not find everybody adopting it at once. In a year or two the sale price of vehicles not embodying it would suffer, though 'probably not to a very great extent.
At the present moment, it is urgently necessary to find some fuel alternative to petrol. Suppose the discovery were made of a new fuel needing an engine of different design, the present type of engine would be gradually. superseded. The process would, however, be a long one'. Months, and probably years, would elapse before the new fuel suppiy could be created in sufficient quantities. Then would come the business of arranging for its distribution, and, until the distributing system was quite complete, there would be plenty of people who would find it necessary to stick to petrol, because they could get it when and where they wished. In all probability, the new fuel would, at first, be mixed with petrol or benzole, so as to be usable in an ordinary petrol engine. The engines of new types of vehicle would be gradually modified to give better results with the mixture. At the same time, the mixture would be gradually altered in proportions to include more and more of the new fuel. Thus, the whole development would be a gradual one and there would be no risk of having to regard a comparatively new-and valuable vehicle as obsolete and valueless.
The same kind of argument can he applied to almost every possible development, and, thus, we see the folly of sacrificing the gains which could be secured from now onwards by adopting motor vehicles at once, because of some vague idea that, by delaying, we shall be able to secure something far more efficient and, therefore, far more profitable.
Too Many Forms.
In these notes emphasis has often been laid on the importance of keeping complete records of the life and work of every vehicle. -Essential as this is, we must remember that We live in an era at which the filling up of forms threatens to become our main occupation. The more forms the driver or the clerical staff have to deal with, the less time remains for other 'useful work.. Consequently, while we must make sure that our records comprise everything that can really be of considerable use, we must be equally careful to make sure that we are not keeping men busy in the filling 'up of forms that will never be seriously used. During the last few years, so many people have been engaged in military work, or in Government service, that there is a real danger of B28
extensive formalities being introduced and perpetuated through force of habit. In a huge organization like that of our military transport during the war, it may have been necessary to keep, with scrupulous accuracy, records that would be quite iiuperfluous in the ease of a firm owning only two or three vehicles.
Insurance.
A trader beginning to use motbrvans must make certain in advance that he is thoroughly covered in respect of insurance. The risks, if this precaution is not taken, are incalculable. First of all, his driver ,must be covered under the Employers' Liability -Act. Next, he must insure the Vehicle against accident up to the extent of total loss. He must also be insured against fire and theft. If passengers are carried, there is a big liability in the event of accident, and' for this reason traders are warned that it is a very risky business to let out the van, when it is not' required for its ordinary work, to carry, say, a party. of holiday-makers who pay for the Nse of the vehicle. The motor .owner must also he insured against damage to other people and to their property. Suppose, for instance that the van, being driven rapidly out of a side road, came into collision with a motor coach or a horsed char-aehancs, which was thus diverted from its course and overturned. Not only could the coach owner claim against the van owner for damages to his vehicle, but every passenger injured in the accident could claim also, and, if the injuries were considerable and the van owner uninsured, he might well find .himself ruined. This example is taken in order to show the folly of taking out policies which only. -cover liability up to a strictly limited extent. Another minor point is that the policy should cover liabilities for damage done during the processes of loading or unloading. It should be provided in the policy that, if costs in the nature of legal expenses are incurred, the insurance company will pay them. If there is any intention of drawing trailers, this should be stated in the policy when taken out, and the risks involved fully covered.
In practice, the simplest procedure is to take out a comprehensive policy which covers all the necessary risks in the one document and for the payment of one premium.
It must always be remembered that the possession of a fully comprehensive policy does net entitle the motor owner to assume that; if he maintains his vehicle badly and accident results, the insurance• company will pay. Mechanioal breakdowns are not included, and the best insurance against them is a thoroughly well-organized system of overhaul and maintenance. •
Pefrol Prices and Vehicle Efficiency.
The higher the price of petrol goes the more important is it to employ only vehicles of the highest possible standard. Since 1914 the price Of .petralins risen by a greater percentage than the first cost of vehicle, and, therefore, petrol now figures -as a bigger percentage item in the accounts than it did six years ago. Moreover, there is every prospect that, while vehicle prices will become stable and may . even debrease, petrol prices will continue to rise; these rises being possibly .sudden and considerable. .The more costly our fuel becornes,.the more important will it be: to make' certain that we are notwasting. the power 'obtained from that fuel, either by imperfect carburation or by transmission losses; due either to the worn condition of the machinery or its inferior quality.