Long Leads- Heavy Vehicles Further Compariso)is Betu eat Various Types of
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Vehicle Are Made lyv Our contributor IN the previous article •I showed that the cost per hour and the running costs per mile of a 6-tonner were 7s. 10d. and 51(.1., a 71-tonner 9s. and 6/d.; and a 14-tonner 12s 11.d. and nci. •Although there is an estimated allowance for overheads, there is no provision for profit in these figures. These two factors have an important bearing upon the relation of lead Mileage to terminal delays. The bigger the vehicle, the higher the standing charges, which means that it is less econothical to operate a big vehicle if the standing time be high in 'proportion to the running lime.
This was borne out in the previous article when I took 10 mins. per ton plus 10 mins. for loading time and allowed half an hour at each terminal for waiting. The terminal time cost 4s. 6d. per ton in respect of the 6-tonner, 4s. 7d. for the 71-tonner and 5s. 21d. for the 14-tonner. On a short run, the effect of increasing the proportion of standing time is more noticeable with a 14-tonner than with a smaller vehicle.
I dealt with leads of 10, 40 and 90 miles in the previous article. This week I shall take a distance of 180 miles. The 6-tonner will need 7 hrs. to travel the outward distance so that it will take nearly 11 hrs. for the vehicle to be loaded, travel and be unloaded. The next day, the lorry will return to its starting point in 7 hrs., take on another load and deliver it-unloading being left, in all probability, until the next day. In this way, the lorry will work about 9 hrs. a day and the total time will therefore be 18 hrs.
Assessing Expense
The cost, at 7s. 10d. an hour, will be £7 Is. At a cost of 51d. a mile; the 360 miles of travel will total £8 5s. Taking 14s. for Subsistence allowance and sundry expenses the sum of these three items.is £16, equivalent to £2 13s. 44. a ton.
The 71-tormer will need 10 hrs. for travelling time. On the first day, allowing 2 hrs. for loading and 9 hrs. for travelling, the driver will be 162 miles on his way before he must put up for the night. Next morning he completes the journey in an hour and takes another 2 hrs. for unloading and waiting. In the remaining 8 hrs. of the day he should cover 144 miles of his return journey, leaving 36 miles which would occupy another 2 hrs, of the third day.
The round journey has taken 24 hrs. and the cost for that at 9s. an hour is £10 16s. Running costs at 61d. a mile for the 360 miles amount to £9 15s. and with £1 9s. for subsistence and expenses, the total cost is £22, equivalent to £2 18s. 811. per ton.
The differenee between the time taken by the 71-tonner and the 14-tonner is affected by loading and unloading times
only. On that basis, the total time is 26 hrs., which at 12s. 11d. per hour amounts to £15 15s. 3d. The running cost, at 910. per mile comes to £13 13s. 9d. and £1 9s. for subsistence and expenses makes a total of £30 18s., equivalent to £2 4s. 2d. per ton.
It is clear that the 6-tonner is easily the most economical vehicle on short leads, the 14-tonner coming more and more into its own as the lead mileage increases. The 71-tormer, judged by economic considerations alone does not compete with the other two. It must be 'borne in mind, however, that there must always be the traffic available to justify the use of a 14-tonner, otherwise the whole object of employing this type falls to the ground.
Cutting Terminal Delays Now let us assume that as the result of more efficient organization at terminals, the time taken for loading and unloading is reduced to 3 mins. per ton plus 10 .mins, and that only 15 mins. are taken by occasional delays. In the case of the 6-tanner, the loading time will be 18 mins. plus 10 mins., 28 mins., plus .15 mins., making, say, hr. in all. The unloading time is assumed to be the same, so that 11 hrs. will be.taken for terminal delays. At 7s. 10d. an hour that is I Is. 9d., or Is. 111d. per ton.
The 71-tanner will need 22/ mins. plus 10 mins. plus 15 mins.-95 mins. altogether at each end, costing 14s. 3d. or Is. 1014. a ton. The I4-tonner will need 42 mins. plus 10 mins plus 15 mins.-21 hrs. in all, costing 27s. 31d. or Is. 111d. per ton. Notice the saving per ton that can be effected by cutting terminal periods, The 14-tormer is seen to be no more at a disadvantage in these circumstances than the 6-tanner.
Applying these savings to the lead mileages I have previously referred to, on a 10-mile trip the total time for the 6-tonner to make a round trip will be 11 hrs. for terminal times plus 1 hr. for travelling. At 7s. 10d. an hour, that is 19s. 7d., to which must be added the cost of 20 miles at 51d., 9s, 2d., making a total of £1 8s. 9d. for the round journey, or 4s. 91d. per ton The 74-tonner will take 11 hrs. travelling and with terminal delays I obtain 3 hrs. 5 mins. for the round trip. The cost at 9s. an hour is £1 7s. 9d., and the cost of 20 miles
at 61d. is 10s. 10d. The total cost is thus £1 18s. 7d.. equivalent to 5s. 2d. per ton.
The 14-tonner will take 21 hrs. for loading and 1 hr. 50 mins. for travelling, a total of 4. hrs. 5 mins., which at 12s. 11d, an hour is £2 9s. 6d. Twenty miles at 9id. costs . 15s. 21d. and makes the total cost £3 4s. 81d., equivalent to
4s. 71d. a ton. The 14-tonner, therefore, is the cheapest vehicle to operate even ovei this lead.
On the 40-mile lead, • the 6-tonner will need 3 hrs. for travelling 80 miles and 11 hrs. for terminal delays, total 41 hrs. The expense, calculated as in the foregoing example, is £3 1 Is. lid., equal to 12s. a ton. The 71-tormer will cost £4 17s. 44., 13s. per ton. and the 14-tonnei£7 8s. 9d., 10s. 7d. per ton.
The 14-tonner, however, will take 71 hrs. for the complete journey, and it mien be reasonable to charge for 8 hrs., in which case the cost would be £4 17s. plus 80 miles at 91d., £3 Os. 10d.. £7 17s. 10d., equivalent to I Is. 6d. a toll. Even so, the 14-tonner remains the cheapest vehicle.
The figures for the round journey over a 90-mile lead are for the 6-tonner, £7 9s. Id, £1 4s 10d. per ton; for the 71-tonner, £9 16s. 6d.. Li 6s. 3d. per ton; and for the 14-tonner, £14 5s. 4d. almost £1 Os. .5d; Per ton. Over the 180-mile !earl; the cost per ton for the 6-tonner is 12 125. 10c1., for the 71-toaner. £2 4s, 8d.. and for the 14-tonner £2.
Let uS now assume that the two heavier vehicles would be able to travel at a legal speed of 30 m.p.h. For the 10-mile lead, the costof the 6=tonner would remain at 7s. 5d. per tun. The total journey time for the 71-tonner would be reduced from 5 hrs. 20 mitts, to 4 hrs. 50 nuns. The cost of this time at 9s.per hou: is £2 3s. 6d., to which must be added 10s. 10d. for 20 miles at 61d., giving a total of U 14s. 4d. for the round journey. The cost per ton
becomes 7s. 3d compared with the previous figure of 83.. and is seen to be less than that of the 6-tonner.
The total lime for the round journey for the 14-tonner
will be reduced from 7 hrs. 40 mins. to 7 hrs. In the majority of cases. this will still necessitate a full 8-hr. day being chargeable, but taking 7 hrs. as the basis for calculation, the cost per Lon would be 17s. 2d.
A C-licensee has asked me the cost of running an 8-tonner over a 300-mile lead. He does two journeys in a 75 hr. week. My assessment is as follows : The standing charges are as follows: licences, £2: wages. £13 15s.; garage rent. 8s.; insurances, 16s.; interest on capital outlay, £l (the vehicles were acquired used and cheaply); nominal overheads, £2; total, £20 2s. per week. Taking the running costs as 8td. per mile, I get £41 5s. for L200 miles per week. The total cost is thus £61 7s. Assuming the carriage of 16 tons, that is equivalent to £3 16s. 8d. per ton. §.T.R.