The Vital Need for Accurate Costing
Page 58
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
T" processes of the law are more and more sharply dividing the ancillary user from the haulier. They will always. however, have in common the wish to obtain the best posSible service from their vehicles, at the least cost.
An indispensable means to that end is knowledge cf the cost of vehicle operation. Further, that cost must be ascertained in respect of each machine, not merely for purposes of comparison between one vehicle and another, to learn which make or type is the most economical, but also to serve as a check upon waste,
For a complete check, however, some standard by which the performance and cost of these machines can be measured is desirable. The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs, which are distributed free of chatge witn this issue, represent such a atandard, compiled from the experience of all classes of user and embodyisag figures relating to all types of vehicle.
The user can set his own figures by the side of those taken from the Tables for a similar vehicle. H his results differ widely from those of the Tables, the wisdom of inquiry into the cause is indicated, although, if the ascertained expenditure be in excess of standard, there is not necessarily cause for alarm.
The figures in the Tables are averages embodying data relating to a B44
wide variety of conditions of use. If the operator's figures be in excess, it may be that the conditions are more arduous than average. On the other hand, the fact -that the ascertained figures of cost are below those in the Tables is not necessarily a matter for self-congratulation. Here, again, circumstances must be taken into account.
It is wise, too, in such an event, to make sure that the costs, as compiled, are complete. Indeed, this is one of the most important uses of the Tables, in that the series of items embodied in them serves as a guide in compiling actual costs. The operator, by checking his own accounts against the headings in the Tables, can make sure that nothing has been omitted..
These Tables are of considerable assistance to all classes of operator in many ways other than those indicated above. For example, there is what I might term a period of incubation in any system of road-transport costing, during which two important items, namely, the cost of tyres and maintenance, are unascertainable. The latter, indeed, cannot definitely be stated in terms of cost per mile or cost per week until the vehicle is nearly ready for disposal.
During that period, the figures in the Tables may safely be used in lieu of actual figures, so that it is possible to know with a fair degree of accuracy, even in the first week of use, what the actual cost of operation of any vehicle will be throughout its life. With this information as a basis it is possible to ascertain, in the case of a merchant, the cost of transport of his goods; in the case of a haulier, the cost of operation of his vehicle as a foundation for the assessment of charges, and, in the case of a passenger-vehicle operator, figures for cost on which a schedule of fares may be built.
Finally, as the . • figures give information relating to all types, the Tables can be used as a guide to the selection of the most suitable and economical type of vehicle for any particular class of work; with their aid, one can decide whether it might be better to use a number of comparatively small machines, or a smaller number of large vehicles, whether the articulated pattern, or tractor and trailer, or even vehicle-and-trailer should be preferred. • The Tables serve as a guide to the selection of motive power—steam, petrol, oil or electricity. Even the .taxi-cab and hire-car operator has not been overlooked and he is presented with data which will be of service.