HINTS FOR HAULIERS.
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An Occasional Chat on Subjects and Problems of Interest to Those Who are Engaged, or About to Become Engaged, in Running Commercial Vehicles for a Living.
Highway Authority's Levy.
INOTE THAT a correspondent, whose letter appeared in the issue of The Commercial Motor dated February 17th, points out that, in dealing with. the matter of char-a-banes costs recently, I oini■sted to make any mention of the mileage' fee payable to the Highway Authority under Section 20 of the Local Government Act of 1916.
I thank him for the-reminder. I knew of the Act, of coursb indeed, I bevel paid the fees myself—but had not realized that it would apply to ordinary char-a-banes work. I had previously had experience of it only in connection with bus work, when I desired to ply for hire anywhere along the route which I intended to traverse. Personally, I fell into good \ hands, and, only had to pay a penny a mile. It is quite true, nevertheless, that the highway authori-ties are taking their pound of flesh in this matter, particularly when the authority concerned is the county council : the city and borough councils. are not so grasping. In the notes, which are subject to criticism, I was considering a case where, the owner of the char-k-bancs would not desire permission to ply for hire outside the town in which he would make his headquarters. I had assumed that, in such a case, the necessity for payment of the fee would not arise. Since reading the criticism to which I refer, I have again read the Act, and although I would be glad to hear from an authoritative source that I am wrong, its wording, which I give below, would appear to leave no room fer any inisthke. It calls for payment in any event.
" . . . . IS shall not be lawful . . . for
any Omnibus to ply for hire on, or vse, any route which has not been regularly used by omnibuses plying for hire . . . except with the consent of the highway authority liable for the maintenance and repair of the.highway along which 'omni bus route runs, . . . the expression omnibus ' includes every omnibus, char-k-bancs, . .." . plying for hire or Itsed to carry passengers at separate fares."
I have italicised the words which seem to me to make the Act applicable to chars-h-bancs working under the conditions which my former correspondent had in view.
Referring now to the previous article. My correspondent in that case reekened on a' mileage of 7,040 during the season. Assuming that the authority charge him threepence per mile throughout, the total cost will amount to 288. His anticipated profits, which we variously estimated at 2480, £735, and 2855, according to circumstances, will therefore be diminished ley that amount as a maximum, and the new figures will be, £392, £647, and 2767. As a matter of feet, I imagine that the difference will be less than' this, as not all highway authorities are charging the full threepence; some, and I anticipate that amongst them will be those in the. neighbourhood of pleasure resorts, may do without the charge. Charssaebance are a big attraction at pleasure resorts, and this should more than balance extra road costs.
A Driver's Daily. Report. Sheet.
The form which follows is a Liverpool reatler'e euggestion for a driver's daily report sheet. It will he noticed that it differs from that which I advocated earlier in these articles by having provisien for the recording of the various jobs on which the 032 driver works during the day, as well as the essential information, from which assessment of the running cost of the lorry may be made. It will be remembered that I deprecated this course in my own article, as I have found that the less you ask a man, often more or less illiterate, to write on the form, the more are you likely to get him to do properly. It is impossible, however, to lay down any hard and fast line, and the form which is now suggested is quite a good one. It could advantageously be used by a driver who is Carrying out a sort of jobbing commission. It is also auggested that the storekeeper elicedd sign the form, presumably when he issues the stores, and that the foreman should initial it each evening. It might be found worth wile to leave a space. for the signatures of the various clients . concerned.
In Case of Accident.
Accidents happen daily, even to the best of us, and one may happen at any time to one of your lorriee. To be prepared is, as I have been told, half the battle and, as injudicious action on the part of your driver may involve you in more trouble than is really your due, it is as well to take steps to avoid it if possible. Each man should be properly instructed as to the procedure which he must follow in the event of an accident. He must, above all things, keep his head, if he is, after the accident, fit to act. The first matter he should attend to is to ascertain the names of one or two bystanders who witnessed the accident, so that, if necessary, they may eventually be called as witnesses. He should make a note of anything which, at the time, appears to have a bearing on the case. He must not treat to hiss memory, but record at once anything which occurs to him. Particularly
should he Make a note of the respective positions of all the vehicles and persons concerned in the accident. If the mishap occurs at night, observe the condition of the lamps, their number' and how many are alight. Ascertain, of course, the names of th6 drivers of all vehicles concerned, and take a note of the registered numbers of the machines as well as a few other particulars of them. The date, time and place of the accident should, of course, b*; noted. An American contemporary of this journal, The Commercial Vehicle, reproduced, in a recent issue, a Jonm which a user in the States asks his drivers to • -complete in the event Of their meeting with an Weldent. I give it on this page. It appears to be complete except that it leaves rather a lot to the driver to note in the space left fer description of accident. It might possibly help the driver if specific questions, which would necessarily be broad in their application, were put on the form, such as, "What Were you doing when the accident occurred? " "Were you on your correct side of the road?" "If not, why not? " "What was the driver of the other vehicle doing ? " " Was le on his correct side? " " If not, why not? ' " Were your lamps lit I " " If not, why not?" "Were the lamps on the other machine 141' • " If not, why not?" It is always a matter for doubt as to how ranch to leave to the discretion of the driver in Such cases, but it seems to mo that, by putting specific questions, no harm is done, for the unintelligent driver can make use of a them, while they do not curb the active exercise of the intelligence of the other.
The important thing is to get the driver to make his notes at once, while the whole thing is fresh in his mind, and not to leave it till later, when he may forget, or at least be doubtful about, some point which may eventually prove to be vital. Above all, impress upon your employee the necessity for curbing his tongue at the time; he must not give your ease away, neither must he prejudice it by making any offer of compensation or other gift, however much he may feel, at the time, that he hos been in the wrong, THE SKOTCH.
Answers to Queries from Hauliers.
L.Replies to letters will always be sent by post. Those which.may help other /makers will alec be reproduced here.—Ed. "C.M."1
" Evergreen."--7--Hire Charges, 15 cwt. Van.
Your charges for the hire of a 15.-cwt. van should be midway between those which are given in "Running Commercial Motors for a Living ".for 10-cwt. anH.1. 1-ton vehicles, nainely, is. 3d. per mile, or 7s. per hour, plus 10 per cent.increase due -to rises in the cost of petrol and wages ,since that pamphlet was printed. That is to say, you. should now charge, as a minimum, is. 4-1-d. per mile, and 7s. 9d. per hour. Charge by the mile or hour, whichever is the greater. Suppose for example, you had a little jab to do which took you four hours, but, owing to loading delays, or at least to some stoppage which was no fault of yours you only travelled a dozen miles during the time„ !then charge by the hour, your amount for the work being 31S.. If, however, the work involved mainly long-distance running, and, you were 'able to cover, say, 75 miles in the four hours, then your bill would be 75 times Is. 4-id., or 25 2s. lid. These are two extreme cases. It will not be very often that you will be able to cover 75 miles in four hours. They serve, however, to illustrate my meaning.
"Agricola."------Tractor Driver's Wages.
A man who can drive a tractor, who has mechanical aptitude and knowledge and who is, in addition, acquainted with the tools and implements of the farm will be well worth at least 23 10s. per week, if you can get him for that, which I doubt. A minimum price for rolling land under the circumstances you name would be thre-e shillings per acre.
"Stubbs."-----Undercharging for Haulage.
eannot understand how contractors in your district can possibly contract for work with a threetonner at less than two shillings per mile, or even for slightly more than that sum. They-are either very new to the game, or they will very soon be out of it. Consider for a moment. The running costs of a vehicle of the size named amount to 10.34 pence a mile. The standing charges equal 26, so that if 200 miles a week are covered, the total working cost will be is. 5-1. per mile, exclusive of all working and establishment charges: in connection with the business itself, in which should be included, in a small concern, provision for the hiring of a spare lorry to enable contracts to be kept, in the event of your own breaking down. A firm in a big way, with many lorries, would have one or two extra.
It is possible, of course, for beginners in the haulage trade to make mistakes in their understanding of cost of working. It was to help them to avoid such errors that the articles which are now embodied in the book "Running Commercial Motors for a Living" were written. For example. Suppose a man reckons his running cost as being made up oT petrol, oil, and tyres only, with a little for lighting and cleaning materials, ignoring the fact that something should be set aside weekly to pay for maintenance and depreciation. Suppose, too, that he. insured the wagon when he bought it, and, for the first year, considers the insurance money as part of the first cost, and does not realize that it is up to him to make interest on that first cost before he can commence to take profit on his undertaking. His running costs will then be only, so far as he can see, '8.2 pence per mile, and his standing charges 25 per week, so that the total working costs will appear to him, for a 200-mile week, to be only 1.s. 4.2d. per mile. Even then, he is not making the work pay ab Ss. per mile. When the above-mentioned book was written, 2s. 6d, was a minimum charge for a threeton lorry. Since then, 'petrol hasggone up in price, and wages have risen, so that you would be quite justified in asking 2s. 9d. per mile.