FACTORS to WATCH in BUII DING UP a RATES SCHEDULE
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IHAVE shown, in the previous article, that in order to obtain a minimum profit of 15 per cent, on cost, the operator must obtain 4s. 4d. per hour and 5d. per mile run for the 5-ton vehicle he is proposing to use for this job of hauling pipes and sanitary ware. These are the basic figures for the calculation of the price of any job which can be completed without working overtime. When 48 hours of the week have been completed the rate can be 2s. per hour ; the 5d. per mile run remains unaffected.
In connection with this quotation for the haulage of pipes, it has also been shown that the time needed for loading and unloading the four tons, which is all that can be got on to the 5-ton vehicle, is 1i hours in all, and that it is unusual for there to be terminal delays, waiting in a queue, waiting for a load to be ready, or anything of that sort. The charge for terminals in this traffic is, therefore, Os. 6d., being that for n hours at 4s. 4d. per hour.
• What the 16-mile Lead has Revealed •
Dealing with a 16-mile lead, I have shown that, at one extreme, allowing for traffic congestion at each end of the journey, and assuming that the driver keeps well within the legal speed limit of 30 m.p.h. throughout the whole length of the journey, the travelling time was 1 hour 40 minutes and the total time per round trip 3 hours 10 minutes. Three journeys will thus be possible in a day of Ai hours, and the price per ton, according to the above scale of charges, must be 6s. 7d., which is equivalent to 5d. per ton per mile.
At the other extreme, employing a driver who is expert and speedy in negotiating congested traffic and, moreover, does not take too much notice of the regulations concerning maximum speeds, the travelling time can be cut to one hour, and the total time to 24 hours. That reduces the rate to Os. Oid. per ton and 43d. per ton mile. Incidentally, four journeys can be completed within a 10-hour day and three, quite comfortably, in an 8-hour day.
The mean of the above two calculations, namely 6s. 4d. per ton, or 41c1. per ton per mile, is probably a reasonable rate, on the assumption that it must be cut as fine as possible, having in mind the fact that operators in this class of traffic are up against keen competition from the railways.
Now take another distance, say, 30 miles. The travele26 ling time is all with which we need concern ourselves, because the terminal delays are unaffected by the distance.
According to our previous method of getting at this time, four miles each way of the journey will occupy 20 minutes, that is 40 minutes in all. That is because it is anticipated that there will be traffic delays at the beginning and end of each trip. The remaining distance, 26 miles each way, will take an hour each way. The total travelling time is thus 2 hours 40 minutes and the time for the round trip 4 hours 10 minutes.
• Working Out the Rate • The rate is arrived at as follows: 4 hours 10 minutes at 4s. 4d. per hour is 18s. Id. Add for 60 miles at 5d. per mile, 25s. The total is 43s. Id., which is 10s. Ad. per ton or 4.3d. per ton per mile.
The expert and speedy, if not so law-abiding, driver will complete the journey, including the 14 hours for loading and unloading, in 34 hours, thus saving 40 minutes, which is equivalent to 2s. 11d, of the total charge. That reduces the price to 40s. 2d., the rate to 10s. Oid. per ton, or almost exactly 44. per ton per mile. The mean, namely 10s. 4d. per ton or 41d. per ton per mile, is the rate I propose to take.
Incidentally, it is important to note, before we turn to other distances, that it is barely possible to cover three journeys per day over the 30-mile lead. The slow driver cannot possibly do it, and the speedy fellow will need 101 hours. The average of about 31 hours is too long. It means that two journeys can easily be completed in a short day of 74 hours.
• What is Gained by Overnight Loading • Nor is there much to be gained by loading up overnight. That would save 45 minutes and the day's work would be completed in 84 hours, allowing for the extra time needed to return to the home depot after loading.
Next day it would just be possible to complete three journeys, allowing for the start accruing from the fact that the vehicle is already loaded and can get away promptly first thing in the morning. The time necessary will be 101 hours, making 181 hours in all for five journeys and thus adding a little to the cost. The amount is the price of 30 minutes, or 2s. 2d., which, spread over 20 tons, is about 11d. per ton.
The important point, at which I have been aiming for some time, is that there are critical periods in the rising stale of distances, at which it becomes just impossible to work in journeys without some waste of time. This distance of the 30-mile lead, seems to be the limit at which it is possible to cover five complete journeys in two days. A couple of miles more and there will be no point in loading overnight, because it will still be impossible to cover three journeys the next day.
• When Two Journeys are Possible • The difficulty is not so great, at this stage, as it becomes later. Take 35 miles, for example. A round journey will take from 4i to 41 hours (including loading and unloading). It means that two journeys will be possible per day, and quite comfortably at that. A day of 81 to 9 hours is quite long enough, and can, in any case, well follow one such as that in which the three 30-mile trips have been made, since that will, many a time, run very close to the maximum of 11 hours.
The cost of the 35-mile lead can be calculated as follows :-The time cost is that of 41 to 44 hours at 4s. 4d. per hour, which is from 185. 5d. to 19s. 6d. The mileage, 70 miles at 5d. per mile, is 29s. 2d. The total is thus 47s. 7d. to 48s. 8d. That is 12s. per ton, as near as makes no matter, or 4.1d. per ton per mile.
• Keeping an Eye Open for Critical Factors • It is necessary, in this way, step by step, to discover all such critical points. The next to look out for is that at which it will just be possible to complete two round trips in one day; a day, for the purpose of such calculation as this, must be taken at no more than 9 to 9f hours, certainly not more than 10 hours, It is unwise to work on too fine a margin and, in any case, unfair to the driver to plan work on a scale which will involve him in working, day in and day out, up to 11 hours, for remember that when he has finished his work he has still to get home.
We can get at the next critical point in this way. The two sets of terminal times total 3 hours. That leaves about 6 hours of the day for travelling. Allowing 25 m.p.h. average speed, there is thus 150 miles which Can be run. That is 75 miles for each journey, a lead of 37 to 38 miles. Again, it is necessary to determine what the rate must be.
This is fairly easy. There are 9 hours at 4s. 4d.. which is 39s. Then 150 miles at 5d., which is 62s. 6d. The total is 101s. 6d. That is for carrying 8 tons, and the rate is thus 12s. nd. per ton, or, once again, 4.1d, per ton per mile.
One complete journey can just be covered in a day if the distance be 200 miles out and home, that is to say, a 100-mile lead. That means a day of at least 9i hours, so that the price must be 94 times 4s. 4d., or 41s. 2d., plus 200 times 5d., which is 83s. 4d. The total is 124s. 6d. That is equivalent to 31s. lid. per ton, or 3.74d. per ton per mile.
• Distance Limit Coveted by the Schedule • It is just as well to recall here that our schedule of distances goes up to 120 miles. That seems to indicate that, at the maximum distance, the driver will have to be away from home at night, so that we shall in that way come to the next critical point, when subsistence allowance has to be added to the cost of the journey.
Actually, someone has suggested that it is just possible to complete even that journey in a day, if the vehicle be loaded overnight. Well, the 240 miles will take 10 hours, and with 45 minutes to unload there is 101 hours. It could be done, occasionally, if the route be an easy one, reasonably free from traffic or slow stretches. It cannot be done as a regular thing and, therefore, it is not a procedure upon which we should reckon when calculating our rates.
A dozen hours is a fair allowance for the journey and the price works out at 1585., including 6s. for subsistence. That is, as near as makes no matter, 40s. per ton and, which is interesting, almost exactly 4d. per ton per mile. S.T.R.