Solving the Problems of the Carrier
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The Second of a Series of Articles on the Specific Problems of Agricultural Haulage. Calculating Rates for Livestock Transport
I1' is quite evident that this series of articles is timely. In the brief period which has elapsed between writing the previous one and penning this—the second ut the series--I have had several letters of inquiry concerning agricultural haulage, the majority of them being about the carriage of livestock—cattle, sheep, pigs and horses. All, these inquiries relate to the problem of charging, and there are Certain peculiarities of this class of haulage which make the assessment of rates rather more difficult than usual.
There is another particular aspect of this business which may be taken as proof, either that there is unusual difficulty in the way of assessing rates, or that hauliers as a body are constitutionally unable to agree. abotit the charges they should make for their work.. The haulage of livestock is easily the most important part of the work which hauliers carry out for farmers. Nevertheless, there is absolutely no standard of rates. Here and there I have occasionally been told that there is such a standard, but, on quoting elsewhere the figures given to me, they have been ridiculed lay some as being absurdly high, by others as being ridiculously low.
The principal difficulty is brought about by the variation in the amount of work which customers offer from
time to time. One farmer will ask for transport for three or four beasts and, when the vehicle arrives, will offer only a couple. He, nevertheless, expects the two animals to be carried at the same rate per head as was quOted for four. The deficiency in the loading is possibly due to no fault of the farmer. On the other hand, neither is this state of affairs the fault of the haulier, yet he is expected to bear the loss or incur the displeasure and diminution of patronage of the customer concerned.
Even the customer, who, having stated his requirements, usually keeps his word, expects to be quoted a price per beast per distance regardless of the number to be conveyed at any time.
Most hauliers who engage in this business work regularly for the same farmers, carrying their stock to and from markets, farms and abattoirs over a prolonged period. The farmer, :if he be given reasonably satisfactory service, is not prone to change. On the other, hand, he likes a regular Tate he wishes to know what it costs him to take a cow to the market town a dozen miles away and he strongly-objects if, on some occasions, when he has only one or two beasts for the market, he is expected to pay a little more for • the transport of the animals than When he has four or five.
With a. regular customer, the extent of whose business can be gauged, this difficulty can be surmounte.d by striking an average, by quoting a price per beast which, whilst not showing a profit on one :animal, or even two, provides CoMpensation in the way of extra profit when upwards of three animals are •carried. With an occasional customer this method cannot be used and a special quotation must be given to him, so that a profit is made on his particular job.
Another difficulty, with which I do not propose greatly to concern myself, is the variation in the weight of animals and, particularly, cattle. Most of the latter weigh 8-10 cwt. each, but if the customer happens to be breeding show cattle, that figure may quite easily be doubled. It is necessary for hauliers only to be acquainted with their customers and their activities in order to ;guard against the risk of under-estimating.
In calculating charges, the haulier must realize that the cost is that of running his lorry for a given number of miles. The number of cattle in the vehicle makes little difference to that figure. Generally, a cattle haulier's vehicle covers a fair mileage per week. (I have met cases of 1,500 miles per week and even 1,800 miles per week being covered on this class of work,
with, of course, duplicate drivers.) A. good average figure can be taken as 400 per week. In these circumstances, reasonable figures on which charges Should he based can be gleaned from The Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs, under the heading of "Minimum Charges per Mile." In the case of a 2-tonner, for example, The Commercial-Motor figure is. 81d. per mile run. Probably 71d. per mile would be sufficient in country areas. If five beasts constitute a full load, that is equivalent to 11d. per beast per mile for a oneway journey. In most cases, rates for the conveyance of cattle are -based on one-way journeys, as return• loads are often available.
Now, with a regular customer, the rate ought to be varied in accordance with the haulier's knowledge of his habits. If he likes to be given a fiat rate per beast, but is in the habit of offering occasionally only two animals as a load, then it is fair to charge him 3d. per mile per beast. At that rate there will be a loss on the conveyance of one animal, practically no profit on the carriage of two, but a gradually increasing gain on three, four, or five animals. If the customer usually offers full loads, he can accordingly be given the benefit of a reduction in the rates.
For an occasional customer the figure of 7-ld. per mile should be taken as the basis for a quotation, so that if he has only two beasts to be carried he must be charged at the rate of ncl. per head per mile.
The following are some typical problems which livestock hauliers have put up to me from time -to time There was one case in which the inquirer was troubled because clients were in the habit of asking him to go to a meet to collect horses, a distance sometimes of as much as 40 miles, keeping him waiting for an hour or two and then sending him back without a load.
What should I do," he asked me, "in a case like that? I've neither delivered nor collected a load, and there doesn't seem anything to charge for."
The answer to that question seems to me to be fairly obvious. The charge is for a vehicle running a given number of miles and waiting a given number of hours. No man can be expected to do that for nothing, or to make much of a reduction on the price which he would have charged had there been a load offered. The way to assess the charge is to use the time and mileage figures at the bottom of The Commercial Motor Tables. If the operator be in a country district, he can discount those figures by about 10 per cent., but any concession beyond that point can be only propitiation for a Valued customer.
Some idea of the rates which are offered for sheep conveyance can be gathered from this example of a haulier who was asked to quote for the conveyance of these animals in loads of 80 to 170. He was offered
7d. per head up to 80 miles, 8d. 120 miles, 10d. 188 miles, and la. 6d. for 290 miles. An average sheep weighs about 100 lb., so that 170 would be the load for an 8-ton lorry. The rates offered will show a profit, provided that loads be available regularly five days per week and so long as the average loading is not fewer than 120 at a time.
As regards the conveyance of sheep, the road haulier need not fear the competition of the railway companies. I had a letter from a haulier a short time ago who could hardly cope with the loads offered to him, with the result that some of the excess went by rail. He found his customer, however, anxious to persuade him to invest in vehicles which would enable him to take all the sheep that were offered. Notwithstanding the fact that the railway companies were cutting rates, he preferred to use road transport.
A difficulty experienced in some districts is that the farmer often asks the haulier to take a mixed load, but wants separate quotations for each type of animal. One inquirer is sometimes asked to carry a calf and two or three pigs on one journey and on another a couple of cows and a few sheep.
When allocating rates, in such circumstances, the proper course to take is to divide the charge according to the space occupied by the animals. If the vehicle be a 2-tanner, its capacity may be for five cows or 30 to 40 sheep. On that basis, assuming the price per cow to be 3d.. per mile, the charge for a sheep is about midway between Id. and Id. per mile. S.T.R.