THE USE AND ADVA1N OF THE LIGHT VAN.
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The Factors of Speed and Quic Guarding Against nd Unloading. The Need for I How to Do It.
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HOWEVER, one looks at it, the advantages of the light motor, van, or wagon, are great, irrespective of where in the scale is the size of vehicle employed, and on this latter point it may he mentioned that there is really a wider range of useful sizes in the light—i.e., under 30 cwt.—motor truck (as all types of commercial vehicles are called in the States) than in the heavy one, for we. can have anything—from the little. sidecar or tricycle type, carryfag a couple of hundredweight only, up to the substantial 30 cwt.. equipment. The particular size and type of the vehicle to be employed will, naturally, vary with the size and nature of the business.
In ,which latter connection I may relate a little story: About 12 years ago I was showing the little Parsons van, carrying 2 ewt., at Olympia., and. a man came up and inquired the load capacity. I told him. "Too big," said he. "What! 2 cwt. too big ? " "Yes—for my business." "And pray what is your business, may I ask?" said I. "Well, I am a diamond merchant! " was the reply, and, it is needless to say, 1 agreed with him. The size of the van must be ruled by the class and nature of the business, and here it may be mentioned that the chief value of the light van, whatever form it takes, is expedition—speed, if you will. The Americans have, during the past two or three years, recognized this more fully, I think, than we have done, and one firm over there have built. up a large trade with what they term a speed truck," which is a light van for about ,12 cwt. loads, fitted with large pneumatic tyres • and a h enough engine to enable it to average 25 m.p.h. The success: with which this introduction has met has stimulated other makers to work in the. same direction, and this factor—the factor of speed—is very largely responsible for the growing popularity of the giant pneumatic tyre in the States for, use on largerand heavier equipment, whilst the wide adoption of unpuncturable air tubes is largely removing the objection to the use of pneumatics in,. all classes of truck work by increasing their reliability.
Speed, then, within limits, is the one great advantage of the light van, as, indeed, it is also in the motorcar itself ; for, few, if any, would use motorcars if they were no faster than horse vehicles.
The advantages, therefore,.of the light van may be summed ap, as compared with the horse van, as greater speed of doing the work, and consequent increased werk which can be accomplished per-man. With wages where they are at present, this, is a much more important point than formerly. In addition to which, we have increased work which can be done per unit of vehicle equipment, and this factor goes largely to offset the greater capital cost of the motorcar. If there is constant work for them to do, few horses can work all day and every day, and few light van horses, such as are used in light-butchers' carts and similar fast single-horse outfits, can trot with their loads more than 10 or 12 miles in the day, and this, if there is a full day's work for them to do, cans for the employmentof two horses per vehicle, even if it has to -Carry no more than a hundredweight or two. And it is the same with the two-horse van—the 20-25 cwt. vehicle. For constant all-clay work two teams of horses are required for each vehicle, whereas the motor truck of similar load capacity will travel approximately three times as fast, and the same vehicle will not only work all day, but go on for an. hour or two's overtime, or all night even upon occasions, if required,'provided the mart power is available to drive it.
In the field of purely motor work, the light van scores over the heavy one, also on this factor of speed, and with many businesses where speed of delivery is important, it will often pay to run several light equipments instead of a smaller number of heavy ones. It is true that, in this case, the tonMileage per man will be less, although this actually May not be the case, as it often happens that considerable time is lost in getting together a load for the larger vehicle, whilst a load for a light van can be quickly got together and the vehicle can be off on its journey whi_Nt the larger-load wagon would still be waiting at the store. This advantage of the light van over the heavy one is particularly emphasized in those trades which deal in goods of a perishable nature, or goods which deteriorate by keeping, and the importance of the customer or branch shop receiving goods for use or sale always in the freshest and best condition may outweigh the. factor of straight ton-mile cost. A firm in such a business would find it more advantageous, for instance, to make daily ton deliveries to its more distant branch establishments than to make two-ton deliveries every Other day.
In the working of any motorvans, whether large or small, and whether single vehicles or a fleet are employed, if the beet results are to be obtained organization is most important. It will be readily appreciated that, as the advantage•of the naotorvan over the horsed equipment is essentially in its greater speed of travel and the consequently greater amount of Work which can be done in the day, it is important there should be as little dead time-i.e., standing time--as possible, for, of course, a motorvan has no advantage over a horse van when it is standing waiting for a load or being unloaded; whilst, on account of its heavier first. cost, and the consequent idUsaess of the larger -arnount of capital employed, the motor is, when idle, at a disadvantage 'n18 with its older competitor. Hence, every effort should be made to cut out idle or standing time a-s much as possible. It is a very old problem and has always affected every form of transport. • There are many ca-uses of lost, Or wrongly used, time, and by the detection and elimination of these. math lost time can be cut out. These ca-uses are' not by any means all attributable to the driver. For instance, the van may be quiteunnecessarily held waiting for the people at the other end to unload, or load, or to give the driver his clearance note.'A route may take in a level erossing, at which the ' vehicle may be frequently held up, and causes of delay may be found in easily-remedied defects of the . vehicle, or its equipment, which can be:put right if known. So far as the driver is concerned, he may : be addicted to stops for unnecessary "refreshment," or for chats with pals, and he may not be assiduous in his endeavours to overcome the delays caused by others, whilst he may also, upon occasion, be not averse to running his van a few miles on a little journey of his own, at the owner's expense for fuel and tyres, and the loss to his employer's service of the time as well.
Such time losses can only be eliminated when they are known to occur, and the owner of any road trans-port wagon will be pounds in pocket at the end of the year by fitting one of the several recording instruments which are to be had at a cost of from £10 to £20. These show all stops made, when made, and for how long, and some show speed and mileage as well. They are well worth the 'money, as may be gathered from the experience of a Banbury firm I know, whose vans formerly made Leamington and Coventry respectively day-long journeys and usually with some overtime thrown in as well, but now, after fitting these tell-tale instruments, the vans are doing, not one, but two journeys a day to each place, and all overtime has been cut out as well.