AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

The Value and Utility of Steam Lorries.

5th December 1907
Page 18
Page 19
Page 18, 5th December 1907 — The Value and Utility of Steam Lorries.
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

By a Manager with Four Years oY Experience.

In the belief that the condensed result of four years' experience in the running of a motor lorry should be of value to your readers, Mr. Editor, I will give you, to the best of my ability, my general opinions on the subject. Let me start with the fact that I am firmly convinced that, in replacing horses, the steam lorry can be made successful by the observance of four conditions : a good lorry ; a good driver ; good management ; and plenty of traffic.

There are so many good lorries on the market, at the present time, that comparisons are unnecessary. I have in mind the standard four-ton to five-ton lorry, with a trailer to carry three tons. These, to-day, are wholly different machines from what they were four years ago, and many parts which have proved too weak, or otherwise unsuitable, have been gradually strengthened, and changed, until it is safe to say that anyone who has run the older type of lorry, with any fair measure of success, is much surer of it under the new circumstances of use which the present type allows.

It appears to me that the four-ton steam lorry has passed through three eras : the time of the Liverpool Trials, 1898 to 19o1; the period of transition from the types there shown ; and the riper period ending in the late R.A.C. Triar.ml-sse who, like myself, had to " go through it " with a lorry built at the opening of the transition period had, it All freely hP admitted by experts, possibilities of exciting experiences which it would be difficult to conceive from the type of lorry which is being built and standardised to-day. I started with a bunch of such experiences, and these were, I am bound to admit, largely caused by bad drivers.

Running Costs.

One sees so many variations of this important element, that the intending purchaser must, at times, be doubtful whether a real standard will ever be reached, I do not think it can, as costs must vary with each user, and the better the management the lower the costs. Following, I give figures which, from my experience, may be taken as fairly reliable. We will assume that the four-ton steam lorry and trailer costs, nett, ,4:5oo.

Depreciation, 15 per cent. on ..,500 ... • £73

Interest, 5 per cent. on ,4;500 Insurance, including boiler and trailer 16

Driver, 3os. per week ... ... ... 78

Assistant, 205. per week ... 52 Repairs ... ... ... ... ... ... ... too Coke, 3ocwt_ per week, at los, per ton on, say, 48 weeks' running ... ... ... ... ... 36 Water permit ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 Oil, 4 gallons per week, at is. 6d., for 48 weeks, and grease Rent ... 15 Gas ... ... ... ... ... 3 Petty expenses, water outside boundaries, etc. 20

^

Total

-L440 I know that I have laid myself open to exclamations of horror and dissent from makers in my repair bill, and hasten, therefore, to plead my justification. First of all, I am prepared to admit that, for the first year, the proverbial 4:5o usually allocated to repairs by the makers will probably not be Cat. ded. I want, however, to advise those who can do so to have, in the first yk,,,„even, tle; following spare

parts in stock :—One back wheel, ; one front wheel,

; one back axle, LS; one front axle, ;C,4; one injector, ; two gauge glasses, fusible plug, a superheater coil, and a good range of nuts; and bolts, ;4;4. Although this .,42 represents stock, I debited my repair bill with the full amount, though I am bound to admit it appears to be a good deal of capital lying idle, but breakdowns are inevitable, and, if a wheel goes, one is in the position to replace it the same day, and thus keep the lorry going. Boiler retubing must come, with engine overhauling, and the bills for these are naturally heavy. What I want to show here, is, that it is no use to underestimate one's repairs, and, if one buys a lorry and keeps it hard at work day in day out, one should be prepared " to foot " any reasonable bill, and to make one's lorry revenue correspond on the credit side.

I regret that I am not able to give figures showing tonmile cost, not having taken those details. If of value, the following may be quoted as a typical year's figures—the result of running the lorry and trailer with rock-bottom prices for probably the lowest paying class of traffic :— Miles. Tons. Cost. Revenue.

6,254 3,820 .460

Now, take my 4440, and, having in mind that one should replace four horses, one will find that, on the very low average of £2 per week for upkeep of man, horse, and lorry, one has a total of .4'416 per annum. On an average of 48 weeks' running, one's costs of 4.440 would be a little over .4'9 per week, and that is my point. With five days per week running (Saturdays for cleaning), this means Li los. per day

to be earned as a minimum; in fact, taking the winter days when stoppages may be rendered necessary through frost or snow, and bad days which must inevitably occur through

breakdowns, per day is a much safer figure. I am convinced that any trader, with the necessary traffic, who can get down to common ground in this manner, has a daily, guiding basis which it should, of course, be his aim to improve as much as possible. I know that it is possible for the motor-lorry haulage of pertain traffics to earn twice .4.2 per day with ease ; on the other hand, we must take the lean with the fat, but I am safe in saying that it is a very poor class of carriage indeed which cannot earn, with comparative ease, under good management, this £2 per day.

Tags


comments powered by Disqus