OPINIONS
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and
QUERIES
BAD-OPERATORS RUIN HAULAGE BUSINESS.
[5485] Further to letter No. 5482, in your issue dated October 28, I also am up against it in the same way, so I give my case.
I was asked for a price per ton for an 80-mile lead and quoted 14s. A few days after I rang up to see if the goods were ready, and the reply was that the firm in question would like them taken straight away, they were sorry, however, but their price was 9s. a ton. The job was refused, and the goods were carried by another haulier, whilst my lorry was standing for days as I had arranged nothing else for it to do.
Now this sort of thing happens continually, and it is difficult to keep going. I pay my drivers good wages, keep the lorries in first-class order and am attempting to run a reliable business. I know that I am playing a losing game at present', but my attitude at the moment is such that if I cannot make it pay this way I would rather give it up and get a job myself than employ youths and run vehicles that are a danger to all other users of the road, wherever they go.
Get this type of operator off the road. Enforce the law regarding wages and hours and you will do more to stop this rate-cutting than in any other way.
Perhaps S.T.R. will be good enough to say what he would do if he were in my position, as I value his views very much. ALSO PUZZLED. Nottingham.
COSTING FOR LONG-DISTANCE HAULAGE.
[5480] As a reader of The Commercial Motor for the past five years, I should be very pleased if You would kindly inform me as to the minimum cost per mile, working off the lorry in four years. Also the minimum cost per mile working off the lorry in 2 years, when running a 4-5-ton Commer a distance of 260 miles and returning empty three times a week, if this be possible in the time lawfully allowed.
I should also be pleased if you would give me the standing costs and tell me what licence I require to deliver my oWn goods; the total cost per run and the maximum load allowed by law on a vehicle of 50 cwt. unladen weight.
The run would be during the night, the time I should allow being 15 hours.
Thanking you for the great assistance given by yout
journal.' A. A. TATTON. Nottingham.
[According to your figures you are proposing to run this vehicle 1,560 miles per week. That is 80.000 miles per annum, Under these conditions I cannot recommend you to consider depreciating the vehicle over four years. By the end of 21. years it will be time to replace it for this class of work. You will have to employ two drivers, and the cost per mile for running the vehicle only will be approximately 44d. This cost is made up of standing charges as follow:—Licence, 12s.; wages, 138s.; garage rent, 10s.; insurance, 8s.; interest, Be.; total £8 16s. per week. Running costs per mile:—Petrol, id.; oil, id.; B4 tyres, id.; maintenance, lid.; depreciation, id.; total 3d. The cost per journey will thus be £9 15s. The law states that the maximum gross weight of a four-wheeled vehicle must not exceed 12 tons. You would appreciate that if you took that into consideration you could place 9i tons on this vehicle without breaking the law. That, of course, is quite absurd, and our recommendation to you is not to exceed the loading permitted under the manufacturer's guarantee. You require only a C licence if you are to carry nothing but your own goods. That will cost you £1 5s., and will be good for five years.—S.T.R.]
WHERE SPEEDOMETERS ARE NECESSARY.
[54871 One of our members was recently pulled up by the police in a certain town and told "not to go there again unless he had a speedometer on the vehicle." I shall be glad if you will give me a ruling as to speedometers on commercial vehicles.
L. PATRICK, Area Organizer,
Stoke-on-Trent. Associated Road Operators.
. [The ruling as regards the use of a speedometer on a commercial vehicle is that every motor vehicle registered on or after October 1, 1937, other than an invalid carriage or a vehicle .which cannot lawfully be driven at a speed exceeding 12 +m.p.h., must be equipped with a speedindicating device, which shall show, within a margia of accuracy of plus or minus 10 per cent., when a driver is travelling at a speed in excess of that given in the First Schedule to the Road Traffic Act, 1934, or, where no such speed is prescribed, 30 m.p.h.—ED.]
WILL THIS MIXED OIL BE HARMFUL?
154881 If we are not asking too great a favour, we should like your asstance and advice on the following: Through an accident six pints of penetrating oil were mixed with 30 gallons of our engine oil. Will it be safe to use this mixture in our petrol engines, the oil being a medium grade? Do you think that it will harm the bearings ?
Until we get to know from a reliable source we will obtain a fresh supply of oil, but we do not like the idea of wasting a comparatively large quantity. E.S.
Halifax.
[You can use the diluted oil without fear of serious trouble resulting. Most penetrating oils have a mineral base and, in some cases, graphite is added. Should the oil pressure he slightly lower, this would he due to the slightly lower viscosity of the oil, hut it is .doubtful whether such a low percentage of dilution would be noticed.—ED.]
TEST DRIVERS AND RECORDS. , [5489] Will you please advise me if it be necessary for drivers of goods vehicles to carry log sheets in the following circumstances ? Vehicles being driven only for test purposes by mechanical staff who are not employed in the capacity of drivers, also khen driving the tractor units of articulated vehicles when it is impossible to carry goods.
There does not appear to be any provision for filling in forms under these conditions. As one can be fined for omitting a.m. or p.m., it does not seem that the familiar phrases " Round the Houses " or " Destination unknown " will do.
The only wording pointing to the need for carrying log sheets is the statement that all drivers must carry them. When a man is stopped at the wheel it is difficult for him to explain why he should not be required to fill in the sheets. H . G. B . Ilford.
(This point is covered in the regulations as follows:—" No holder of a licence shall be required to keep the records prescribed by these Regulations in respect of the driving by him of any vehicle authorized under that licence on journeys which are in no way connected with any trade or business carried on by him." Our interpretation of this is that there is no necessity, in the circumstances you mention, for the driver to keep records.—En.i DEPRECIATION ON BATTERY VEHICLES.
[5490] As fairly new readers of your journal we
should like to express our appreciation of it. We operate under a C licence only.
There is one question which arises out of an examination of your cost Tables and on which we would like your opinion.
On comparing the running costs of 6to 14-cwt. petrol and electric vans we find that the depreciation in the case of the electric vehicle is very much greater for small mileages than for petrol vans.
The manufacturers of electric vehicles all tell us that we should expect a life of at least 1.0 years, which makes the annual depreciation of the most expensive to be only £25 per annum. We assume that you are working on a life of only five years. Will you kindly let us know whether, in
your opinion, this is accurate M.H. Pontypridd.
[The explanation of the seeming discrepancy you have observed in reference to electric vehicles is given in I he last paragraph of the explanatory text which accompanies the Tables. You will note that depreciation includes the provision for replacement of the battery, which is usually reckoned to be necessaty every third year.---S.T.R.] LIMITS ON LENGTH OF LOAD.
154911 Will you please forward to me any information you have regarding the length of loads allowed on vehicles, also whether it is compulsory to have the unladen weight and speed marked on the near side of the vehicle, if the said vehicle is not carrying goods, e.g., sand, ballast, ashes, etc., for sale ?
I am referring specifically to the Act which came
into force on October 1. J,P.
Birmingham, 6.
The overhang of a vehicle must not exceed SO per cent. of the overall length. In the case of a vehicle registered before October 1, 1938, the overhang must not exceed 7-24ths of the overall length. This applies only to the vehicle, the lead may project further, the only limit on that being the provision that a vehicle must not be loaded dangerously. The unladen weight and the maximum permissible speed of the machine must be marked on the near side of the vehicle if it. he ceter 21 tons unladen weight. The class of goods carried does not affect this regulation.—Eo.]