ARE YOUR COSTS ABOVE THE AVERAGE?
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EVERY reader must, not once, but many times, have heard the expressions,
the average man," "the man in the street." Both terms are used in the same sense and are intended to present the same meaning. But I would like to ask : has anyone ever met the average man? And I can answer my own question: no one ever has, because there is no such person.
The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs indicate the average expenditure needed to run commercial vehicles of every type and size. It is just as unlikely that anyone will find a vehicle, the operating costs of which are
Solving the Problems of the Carrier
exactly those set out in the Tables, as it is that the average man will be encountered. Time and again have I met men who have said :— "My running costs are the same as those in the Tables: that is, the total is the same, but I find that my petrol costs are rather more than you suggest. On the other hand, I save a little on tyres. My garage rent is less than is set down in the Tables, but I pay a little more for insurance, and so on," Again, another operator will tell me that he cannot reduce his costs to so low a figure as those given in the Tables. It may be that he operates in hilly country ; his fuel and oil consumptions are above the average and so are his maintenance costs, because he has to spend
a good deal on brake facings. Yet again, another operator, voicing the same opinion, discloses the fact that the types of vehicle which he uses are more expensive in the first place and more costly to maintain than the average.
Arduous Duty Increases Costs.
Take, for example, the case of a haulier operating vehicle's for a laundry. His customers require vans of a particular type—perhaps those streamlined vehicles which have become so popular among launderers. The lettering embodies a considerable proportion of gold leaf, which necessitates revarnishing at periods of six to 12 months. The vehicles have to be washed and polished daily. The exigencies of service are such that the operator must make certain that every vehicle is quite fit and ready for the road each morning of the week, six days per week, 52 weeks of the year.
So far as maintenance operations on the chassis are concerned, the haulier must carry them out well ahead of the time when they must become really necessary He must of necessity map out his maintenance routine in a fashion which entails expense considerably above the average.
It will be of interest quickly to go through the 10 items of operating costs and speculate as to possible variations due to differences in working conditions, as the outcome of other particular features of operation which have an influence on costs. For the sake of
simplicity, I will take data for a 34onner, that being a popular _size of vehicle.
First, petrol consumption: the average rate
10 m.p.g. and, at 16d. per gallon, is equal to 1.600, per mile. Now, I know of cases in which 3-tonners operate at the rate of 14 m.p.g. I know of others which consume a gallon for every eight miles that they run. The difference may be due to any of a score of reasons, in which the condition of the vehicle itself is prominent. The way ii which a lorry is driven can affect the petrol consumption by nearly 100 per cent.
If the driver accelerates through the gears every time he starts from rest, by the simple process of holding the accelerator pedal fully down until he reaches top gear, and then continues to drive in a similar fashion, pulling up, occasion arises, only by a similarly ener
getic use of he brake " pedal, it will be found that 7-8 ra.p:g., "is.. the 'maximum .figure... "Especially will that be so if -the work entails. fairly frequent stops
and starts.' • On the other hand, if the driver beorie of .themoreconsiderate type, his„, achievement in respect of petrol consumption will be some 14 m.p.g. or more. Here, again, especially will that favourable result be possible if, as a rule, his journeys be over comparatively long distances and mainly On non-congested good-class highways. I might add that the petrol consumption of quite a number of vehicles also depends, to some Extent, upon any partiality which the driver may have for cleaning his hands with that fuel.
• The same contrast in petrol consumption results from a comparison of the experience of, say, those engaged in door-to-door parcels delivery and of long-distance hauliers making direct runs of 100 miles or more each
-way. .
So far as the second item of running costs is con' cerned, that of oil consumption, it can be stated in the first place that, comparing vehicles alike in construction' and in state of wear, the oil consumption varies almost in direct proportion to the petrol consumption. Rapid acceleration, frequent use of the intermediate gears and high speeds on the road involve increases in the consumption of lubricating oil, in something like the same proportions affecting petrol consumption, with, perhaps, a bias iu favour of greater consumption of oil.
A big factor in oil consumption, however, is the age of the vehicle. In this connection, I would recommend operators who keep detailed figures for the day-by-day issue of oil to individual vehicles to note how the consumption steadily rises as the vehicle ages. Frequently, comparatively new 3-touners cover 1,000, 1,200 or even 1,500 m.p.g.; 300-500 m.p.g. is just as common in the same type arid size of vehicle when the mileage exceeds 30,000. Moreover, the rate of oil consumption continues to increase until a rebore and engine overhaul have been effected.
Now we come to tyres. The wear on tyres is affected by the speed at which the vehicle is run, by the frequency with which it is overloaded, •by the condition of the vehicle itself and by the care taken of the tyres. If a set costs •40 and the owner's average experience of tyre life is 24,000 miles per set, the cost per mile is 0.40d., or a little less than the figure quoted in the Tables. That the figure in the Tables exceeds this amount is due probably to the fact that so many operators disregard each of the above four factors whichhave a bearing on tyre life.
As an example of what overloading may do, I might mention that I have seen figures for the wear of tyres on 3-tonners which showed a life ranging from 4,000 miles to 11,000 miles, and 11,000 was the maximum in that operator's fleet. It is no exaggeration to say that the figure for tyre cost on a 3-tonner may be. anything from 0.25d. to 1.d per mile. The figure in the Tables (0.45d.) is merely the average of all the data accumulated over a good many years, but with particular respect to the past five years, during which period, it might be noted, the cost of tyres has increased and the mileage to be expected has slightly decreased.
Maintenance is, perhaps, the most difficult item of all to discuss, so far as this particular aspect of it is concerned. For that reason I propose to postpone that discussion until I have dealt with all the other items. Most of them I expect to deal with in the next article. S.T.R. n9