TRANSPORT TIPS FOR TRADESMEN.
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Particularly Addressed to Those Who are Replacing Horsed Vehicles by Motors, or Contemplating So Doing.
ONE of the first questions' that anyone asks himself when he begins to consider the advisability of using commercial motor vehicles, is whether, the conditions of his business are such that it will Ray him, directly or indirectly, to do so. , The idea ol direct, financial advantage appeals most easily to everyone.
How to Exploit the Efficiency of the Motor.
To form a, first judgment at this point, you have to consider what are the special qualities of the motor vehicle. These are, briefly, its speed, its big weight-carrying ca,pacity, and the, fact that it does not tire, le. the average retail business, the first and the thirc. points are the eutstanding ones. Taken together, they mean that, compared with the horsed vellicle, the moter can get through an enormous amount of work in the course of a week. By employ' ing extra drivers to work in relays, one can keep a motorvan going all round the clock, with the reservation that, time must be reservedfor a weekly overhaul.
The costs of operating a motor vehicle divide themselves Up naturally into two headings. There are some that are directly proportionate to the mileage covered. There are others which have to be met whether the mileage is big or small. The best economy is only realized when the full capabilities of the vehicle are exploited. Putting the thing in another way, the hest economy is only realized when the full capabilities of the vehicle are exploited.
Now, in some businesses, the work of haulage or delivery must necessarily consist of very short runs and a very large number of delays for partial loading or uhloading. In an extreme case, the delays for delivery purposes may be perhaps,fully three-quarters of the working day. Only a quarter is then left in which the motor can make use of its better speed . capabilities than the horsed vehicle. The advantage of the motor in sucha case is comparatively small. At the same time' its first cost is comparatively high and interest must be paid on the capital irisestment. Here, then, we have an example in which. there is not a great deal to be said iii favour of the purchase of a matervan.
Now take the opposite extreme. Supposing the work to be done consist& of a long journey of, say, 40 miles under full load and an uninterrupted return Journey under a return load, we have the sort of business which enables the motor to make the fullest possible use of its abilities. The horsed vehicle could not possibly complete the double journey in a day ; the motor can do it easily. Intermediate between these two extremes come the actual conditions in nearly every trade. The nearer they approach to the second extreme, •Ile absolutely certain it is that the, motor vehicle be a. good investments . more would
Loading and Unloading.
.A.s one of the great advantages of motor transPert lies iu the average speed with which loads can be carried, it is clear that really efficient service can . only be given by motor vehicles when their speed. capacity, is properly utilized. 'Supposing . a vehicle . averages 12 miles an hour, but; out of a 12-hour clay, eight hours are taken up in loading end unlciading, or in waiting for loads, then the net result is that the vehicle' only covers 48 miles in 12 hours, or an average of Baur miles an hour. Meanwhile, the driver is
paid as if his services were properly utilized, and many of the other expenses are no less than they would be if the distancescovered were double as great.
It is, then, far more' important to avoid loading and ii.oading delays when motors are used, than it was when horsed vehicles were used. Skilful organization, with this end in view, is necessary, and consideration should be given to all the various plans by means of which terminal delays can be reduced. In some classes of work, time wasted in unloading can be easily eliminated by the use of a tipping body. In some cases again, detachable bodiestean be used with advantage. In others, the arrangement aed height of loading stages may need alteration. In others again, we may use a tractor with an independent trailer rather than a self-contained vehicle. All possibilities of this kind must be carefully analysed if the best possible results are to 'be secured.
Extending the Scope.,of One's Business.
Have you really fully recognized, that the question of the adoption of motor transport in your ease is, probably, not merely one to he determined solely by estimating operating costs? If you have been. using horsed vans or lorries and start with the assureption that. you are going to use motervans or lorries in exactly the same way, then, even if your estimates • of cost are correct, your conclusion is qiiite likely to be wrong.
You will, of course, reckon to 'do the work with fewer vehicles when you use motors instead of horses, but it is quite likely that you could do it far more efficiently and with fewer vehicles still were you to recognize that the possession of motors gives you quite new powers. It is probable enough that, when these motors are put into service, your wholesdelivery system ought to be completely rearranged.
My point at the moment is, however, not scemuelr the desirability of re-arrangement by the planning of new routes over the old area as the possibility ol going further afield and creating totally new business. This opportunity should be coupled with the possibility of increasing the value of business in the old area by giving prompter service.
Let us take a rather parallel case. A railway may run motor buses to connect up a series of villages with a railway station a little way off. The idea is not so much to make a, profit out of the buses! as to bring new business to therailway.
In the same way, a traclerdmay buy and use motor vans, not because he expects the te reduce the cost of his deliveries, but in ordeie to extend into new fields and get custom front districts hitherto beyond his reach.
The horsed van is all very well for deliveries quite near home, but the mileage capacity of the horse is strictly limited. Consequently, in extending ote's i connection, the point s rapidly reached at which goods' have to be sent by rail. This means a great deal of handling, and very often a lot of delay. The average customer may not be in a hurry in nine cases out of ten. In the tenth case, inenediate delivery may be absolutely necessary. Recognizing this, he is apt to give the whole, of his business to some firm that can—when required—give the promptest possible delivery. For this reason he either goes Iota local house for his goods, or else to one which has the advantage of giving express delivery service by motors' of its own.