AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

Road Carrying by Contract.

30th March 1905, Page 13
30th March 1905
Page 13
Page 13, 30th March 1905 — Road Carrying by Contract.
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

An Opening ler the Individual Carrier.

The days of uncertainty as to cost and performance are, happily, now things of the past. The pioneers have, during the last six years, made available all that is needed either as a warning or a guide. .1 bright era has dawned for the commercial motor, and the industry is established upon settled lines of development and application, at least as regards the 4-ton or 6-ton wagon, with which this article deals. The light parcel carrier, the delivery van, and the intermediate lorry to convey from two to three tons of load, provide separate classes tor later treatment. We are able to say that the 5-ton steam wagon has emerged from the uncertainties of trial and error. It is well understood to-day, is capable of yielding a good return to its owner, is a reliable product of engineering skill, and is the workmanlike outcome of long experience. The benefit to be derived from extensive use over a period of years has accrued to the heavy motor industry in a large degree, for the behaviour of many hundreds of these commercial motors has been under systematic observation since 1898. Many thousands of pounds were spent to demonstrate the fatuity of motor haulage under the terms of the 1896 Act, with its rigid weight limit of three tons unladen, and the incontrovertible force of evidence has resulted in the increase to five tons unladen, which came into operation only a month ago. All who used steam lorries prior to March 1st did so at their own risk, because the machines might have been stopped by the authorities owing to the excess of weight unladen over the old limit of three tons. The suggestion that the heavy motors could have been registered and used as trac tion engines involved a license, three men, and great structural alterations in the wheels and tyres. The change in the legal tare makes it " plain sailing," because the machines can be used with wide tyres and sufficiently large Loads to pay well without breaking down the structure; whilst the necessary alterations are few and small on account of the special provisions which entirely differentiate the motor wagon from the traction engine. This means halving repairs, eliminating delays on the road, and the carrying of an extra two tons of goods which is all profit. Under the old conditions, except where illegal machines were used at the risk of detection and abandonment of the service, it was barely possible to earn a margin of profit after providing for reasonable depreciation. We are, therefore, in a sound position to recommend

'rim_ IMMEDIATE ADOPTION of the well-proved steam wagon for carriers' vehicles and available, and the merchandise. It wants only the men to come forward and to take up the means, ready to their hands, of earning for themselves a competence and a regular income. Our object is to confine this article to the definite proposition that a man, with or without the co-operation of friends, can usefully invest 45oo or 600 in a single motor wagon and, by personal services, secure a return of L250 a year from that capital sum. We have before us the results of two years, from a wagon admittedly inferior to what is obtainable to-day, though its tare weight is much above three tons, where the foregoing nett income has been exceeded. The man drives himself, stores the wagon in a shed, and has no " top " charges whatever. The daily journey averages only 27 miles, with loads both ways, and the revenue has been over ,56o in 12 months. Against this there has been charged depreciation at the rate of 25 per cent, per annum on the original cost of .53o, coke, oil, and sundry stores, repairs, insurances, and rent (,C5 only), the aggregate coming to .4'265 xos. This example is from the Manchester district, where fuel is cheap—gas coke costing only /3s. a ton—and where a return traffic is generally available. The secret of the success is that the driver is the

owner and, accordingly, trebly careful. Instead of a relatively paltry live per cent. interest from the local hulloing society, :me he at work drawing the standard rate of wages in the mill (for he was a cotton operative and not an engineer), he and his friends have been able to divide between them

AN INCOME OF i;295 A YEAR,

with interest now coming in as well on the ,4;265 that has been put to reserve, out ot earnings, towards tne replacing of the machine when it is worn out. ft is true the wagon has been engaged on contract jobs. That is the key to the situation. It eoes not pay to be at the beck and call of occasional customers who take offence at refusal although their business is unremunerative by reason of its very irregularity. The revenue has averaged .4;2 4s. 6d. on 504 working days in the two years, there having been several periods of rest to fit local holidays. The load has seldom been more than 44 tons, and the rate for the 12 miles has been 6s. one way and 5s. the other per ton. We feel satisfied that there are innumerable opportunities all over the country for a live profit to be made this way, especially as motors can now legally carry six tons and cost very little more per day than for four tons. Self-interest will insure it, and it is not a hard task to learn to drive a steam wagon or a petrol wagon. At present the former holds the premier place for heavy haulage. We are prepared to answer any queries, as to particular fields of operation, working costs or probable revenue for specified conditions, how to arrange the rates for different loads, etc., either in the columns of "Tits COMMERCIAL MOTOR "or by post, for the guidance of our readers, on this interesting aspect of the question. For example, if any reader contemplates starting with one or more wagons, and if he has not the full amount that is required to effect the purchase, we are ready to advise him exactly how to proceed to obtain the vehicles on the hire-purchase system without his having the price put up or being charged an unfair rate of interest. We publish an illustration of a similar wagon which has been doing excellent service during the last six months between Middleton and Manchester. It has lost the few days stated through bad weather, and not from any trouble with the machinery or want of loads. It is one of the type exhibited by the Lancashire Steam Motor Co., at Cordingley's Show of 1904, where the first two orders were taken from men who intended both to run and drive them. Now that wooden tyres are coming into vogue, and other forms of "

winter" wheels, losses dueto snow will disappear.

Tags

Locations: Manchester, Middleton

comments powered by Disqus