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The Loss Arising from Unduly Heavy Bodywork.

2nd March 1926, Page 2
2nd March 1926
Page 2
Page 2, 2nd March 1926 — The Loss Arising from Unduly Heavy Bodywork.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

THERE is far more in securing good bodywork for any form of commercial vehicle that often comes to the mind of the man who is placing an order, and it has before now happened that a saving of £40 or £50 per body—when, we will say, a fleet of a hundred vehicles is being ordered—has been regarded as a matter for prime consideration. Price, of course, is not always a criterion of merit, but, in the absence of any other important consideration, it is a very good one and it is almost invariably better to pay the price asked by the coachbuilder who has a reputation for quality. Even a difference of but £5 or £10 may have a very important bearing upon the life of a body and affect the degree of satisfaction given by it. There is one really vital consideration to be borne in mind when placing the order for a body for a vehicle, and that is the matter of weight. A chassis manufacturer will always state clearly the maximum weight of the body allowed for fot the design of a vehicle with a given load, and he will also give the exact weight of the standard body he is prepared, to supply with a chasSis. Cheaper body construction, almost without exception, involves the use of poorer material and cheaper labour, and, in the net result, the body is necessarily heavier, perhaps by 5 cwt. or 6 cwt. If we take the life of a vehicle at the figure usually accepted for accountancy purposes, namely, 150,000 miles, it is obvious that the moving• throughout that period of an extra 5 cwt. will amount to the wasteful transport of 37,500 tonmiles and, on a low basis of one shilling per tonmile, the owner of the vehicle will be a definite loser in the course of the life of the vehicle of £1,875, which seems a very high handicap for such a small saving in first cost ; yet it is apparent to the meanest comprehension that a quarter of a ton cannot be moved all that distance for nothing. It is truly an instance of the operation of the policy of penny wise and pound foolish, The manufacturer of commercial motors is always being encouraged to reduce the weight of chassis to the lowest point by the employment of the most suitable materials and by constant improvement of design. There is no economy, however, if, after the weight of the chassis has been brought to the minimum consistent with efficiency and safety, unnecessarily heavy bodywork is fitted.

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