Transport Costs for Laundries
Page 52
Page 53
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
LAUNDRY proprietors should realize, in the beginning, that the costs of operating motor vehicles are likely to be above the average, as represented by the figures in The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating 'Costs. Extra expenditure is likely to be experienced in respect of two principal items, namely, cost of fuel and maintenance.
The reasons are twofold. First, the fact that the work involves a large number• of stops and starts per journey—and a -consequent low average weekly mileage—and, secondly, the need for keeping the van in the pink of condition as regards its exterior appearance, as well as mechanically.
The service which has to be rendered by a laundry van is almost as exacting as that of a London bus. The frequent starting and stopping which are characteristic of both these services are particularly hard on the transmission, the clutch, the gearbox and the universal units, as well as on the brakes. That is one reason why
the cost of maintenance is comparatively high. Again, as it is rarely practicable to stop the engine every time the vehicle comes to rest, fuel consumption is above-the average.
An important factor in 'increasing the cost of maintenance, is•the necessity of frequent,washing and .polishing. That item, in conjunction with the comparatively small weekly .mileage: Of a laundry van; has a great
influence on the cost of upkeep per mile.
If a van has to be washed and polished three times . .
per week at a cost of, say, 10s.., and if it covers only .240 miles during that week, the cost of ,washing and polishing alone is id. per Mile. Few laundry. vehicles exceed 240 miles per week ; many do not nearly approach that figure. Most of them have to be thoroughly w.ashed and Polished at least three times per week, hence the increased cost of maintenance.
Yet another factor is important in this regard. Laundry vans are usually smart in appearance, and are painted and varnished in a manner which not merely involves fairly high expenditure in the first case, but also necessitates more frequent varnishing and repainting than is considered necessary by the majority of van users. This also is a factor in increasing the cost of maintenance.
Withal, a laundry must, have motor vehicles. There is no other way in which the vast quantities of linen can be collected in time to be washed and .delivered in less than a week, which is the service that the average householder expects.
The most popular size of van in use by laundries is the 1-tonner. The average running costs of skiEh.,a van, according to The Commercial Motor, Tables .,of Operating Costs, total 2.23d. per mile. A van of this size engaged on laundry work will, for the reasons set out, involve an average expenditure approximating to 23d. per mile.
The standing charges are not affected to any considerable extent by the method of operation.-The figures quoted in the Tables may be taken as sufficiently accurate. It is true that the more expensiv&.vehicle does justify a somewhat larger allowance on account of the item of interest on first cost, but that is, in most cases, offset by some slight economies in other directions, particularly in respect of garage rent.
There is a point worthy of consideration by a launderer—one which cannot be decided offhand and one which needs only a passing reference here, as it is a matter concerning which the individual must come to his own conclusions. I refer to the question of whether the full wages of the driver may fairly be debited against the vehicle as cost of transport. It is, in some cases, held that the driver is also, to some extent, a salesman and, therefore, part of his wages may be debited against sales. On the other hand, many launderers send out a boy with each van, in addition to the driver, so that the additional expense probably offsets any accountancy saving considered justifiable for the reasons stated above.
I propose, in this case at least, to assume that the driver's wages are debited in full against transport. The figure in the Tables for the total of standing charges is 23 10s. 7d. per week ; 23 10s. will probably be sufficiently accurate. The total of the running costs, assuming an average weekly mileage of 240, is 22 10s. and the total cost to the launderer of operating a 1-ton van for that mileage is thus 26 per week.
The amount of work done by a laundry van is measured in terms of the number of parcels of laundry thqt it can collect arid deliver in a week. This factor naturally depends, first, on the popularity of the particular laundry in the district in which it works and, again, on the degree of congestion of the houses in the neighbourhood. A van can make a large number of calls Per day if, owing to the large number of houses, its radius of action is conveniently small. Conversely, if the population be scattered, the number of calls per day may be fewer, whilst the mileage covered may be greater.
In the London suburbs, as many as 80 calls per hour is regarded as a usual figure. That figure is reached probably only in certain favourable times of the
clay. It is, nevertheless, safe to assume a total of 1,200 calls per week, all for 26, or slightly less than lid, per call. If it be assumed that the average revenue per parcel of laundry is is. fid., the total revenue from the work collected by that van is 245 per week. The cost of transport at 26 per week is thus equivalent to 13/ per cent. of the total revenue.
I recommend all laundry proprietors and transport managers to obtain a copy of The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs from the Editor of this paper. Single copies cost 6d. each, but special quotations are made for quantities. The Commercial Motor Operating Costs Record, referred to on the previous Page, will also make a strong appeal to the laundryman who wishes :to keep an accurate account of his transport costs and to avoid wasteful expenditure. . S.T.R..