OPERATING COSTS FOR A MUNICIPAL FLEET.
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interesting Figures for Vehicles Run by the Deptford Authorities.
MANY municipal authorities, as well as the manufacturers of the vehicles and appliances concerna, will without doubt be keenly interested in the statistical compilation reproduced below, which gives Co4sts and other figures relating to the operation of the fleet of machines in the service of the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford for the year ended March 31st last, these being prepared by the department of which Mr. H. Morley Lawson,
III.Inst.M. and . CE., F.R.San.I., M.I.Struct.E., the borough surveyor, is the head.
We have always found that municipal authorities generally are at all times willing to divulge facts and figures relating to their transport organization, and although private and public companies may deet to place themselves in a different category, in many cases they might well adopt the same procedure without detriment to their business and without competitors securing valuable information.
It is not necessary for us to say much concerning the tabulation, because the statistics are so clearly set out, but we would ask readers to remember when analysing the returns that the borough only covers an area of 21 sq. miles.
Of, the total fleet of 17 vehicles, nine are Halleys, eight being 3-4-tonners with tipping bodies, one of which is interchangeable with a watering tank having a capacity of 750 gallons. The other Halley machine is a gully emptier, which, in the year under review, dealt with 7,187 gullies, at an average cost per gully of 2s. 74. When one considers the difference in the number of loads dealt with and the number of days upon which each was at work, the cost per ton-mile and the inclusive cost per day for each Halley lorry engaged in
transporting dust, road sweepings and materials, must be deemed fairla uniform.
The Deptford Council was one of the first municipalities to employ S.D. Freighters, and four machines of this type are now used for the collection of house refuse. When originally put into service they were used in outlying and hilly districts. The working costs of these machines are given collectively in the tabulation, but the average figures per vehicle show that they are doing good work and giving satisfactory ' service.
Certain figures embodied in the return --the m.p.g. figures for example—may he
• criticised, but in this connection the trature of the work upon which ihe machines are engaged must be considered in its true perspective. The total cost of operatine' the fleet in the year amounted to 1.10,157 3s. 11d.