_ • HINTS FOR HAULIERS.
Page 13
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N/J l'" LETTER BAG indicates that a very keen interest is being taken by, users of commercial motors in the cost of running their vehicles. Not only do they desire to be told what those running costs ought to be—inquisitiveness on this score alone is a good sign-L--but a strong determination to know to the uttermost farthing what their own nmehine is, actually costing may also be discerned. ThZ ,latest phase of thi attitude is exemplified by a demand for a reliable system of accounting by means of which these costs may be arrived at with some measure of ease. Generally my correspondents are, in intention at least, .merciful ; they only demand tile, name and address of a compiler of account hooka who has wrestled with the prOblem and solved it in a manner which, in my estimation, is more or less satisfactory. 'Unfortunately for their kindly intentions, and •aLill more unfortunately for my peace, "'there ain't no sich animal," as the Cockney said when he saw the hippopotamus for the first -trine, and, in the result., I um condemned to rack my brains for .a .solution, even if it be only one which will " put my correspondents on for a: bit" until the account-book maker comes to
his senses: .
1.—An Accounting System for Running Costs.
The difficulty in the way of making up a standard ruling is probably that each different type of user calls for different headings. ,Again, I ant afraid, the general practice with the owner who runs his commercial Motor as an adjunct to his business, is to lump the expenditure on his transport and put it amongst ,his establishment charges', without inquiring too closely into the details, Fi' procedure which is to be deprecated on several grounds, in which, however, I do not propose to enter here and nom. \ The man who. looks to this commercial motor as the principal means whereby he hopes to obtain a livelihood,'desires tobe much ;better informed as to the whys arid 'wherefores of the ingoings and -outgoings, partimAarly the latter, in connection with his vehicles. It. is to him in the main that this article is addressed, althoughI recommend it to others whose interest in their motors does not, at first sight, appear so direct.
For the sake of simplicity I will, first of . all, deal w;th the petrol vehicle only, leaving the steamer to he treated briefly afterwards. The first consideration should be that of outgoings, that is to say, we niust first decide how the costa of operation should be compiled. As a basis for these calculations we cannot do better than take the. arrangement of running costs, as wale, n " Rurining Cominercial Motors for a Living." W,e have, therefore, to devise some method of ascertaining and recording, with a minimum of work, the fillIowing items :—Fuel. oil, tyres, maintenance and -depreciation. Cost of fuel, be it petrol, benzole or paraffin. A column is required for the quantity of fuel used, another for its price per gallon, and a third for the product of the two,, namely, price per gallon m.ultilalied b, number of gallons used, and the result of this. piece ormathematics being the cost of fuel for the,peried or mileage over which records have been taken. Three columns will similarly be required for oil, and three for grease. They will be made use of in the same way as those for fuel.
The next item on the list is the cost of tyres. If an exact record of the merlin; of each individual tyre is required, each 'wheel witla,sits tyre or tyres .must be entered separately, so that the mileage and behaviour of any tyre may be ascertained. I do not understand, however,' that any of my correspondents desire to go to such lengths, ancl•I shall not, therefore; enter into the matter With so much detail here.. In any case it is .generally, better to use a separate book for the independent tyre recoads and I may treat the matter in detail, also separat.ly. The most we need do, I think,.is to allocate a column for tyres, and to place in it any expenditure under that head. For maintenance, too, three columns are needed. One should be headed "Renewals," another' "Labour," and the third." Repairs." The first. is to cover any direct expenditure on spares, whether they are bought at the same time as the vehicle is pin- ' chased or later. Under this will come sparking plugs and ignition terminals, as well as new cylinders or crankcases.. The second is for a record of any time spent by your own cmpleaTees in dissembling and assembling any of the new parts which have to be
replaced or, repaired, and, if the latter, any time which
is taken. up by your -own men in carrying out the repairs on your own premises, and either entirely by your own men or assisting an outside repairman who is working to your order. The third cblumn is for charges incurred by having to call in the help of the repairer.
Depreciation is rather an intangible sort Ofoutgo. It is, however, inevitable, and the owner who does not make adequate provision for it is asking for trouble. In the running costs on which we are basing our calculations depreciation is set down as being a . fixed charge per mile; and it is calculated as though the vehicle were going to be entirely worn -out at the end of 125,000 miles. Now, you and I know quite well that the lorry will not be Useless at the end of that mileage, -or anything like it; otherwise we might anticipate a rather busy time after, say, the 100,000th mile, keeping the old lorry from falling to pieces on the road. No; the real meaning of depreciation' is that at the end of the mileage stated, with ordinary
luck and na-oderately.fair treatment, the lorry will be in such a state that the cost of its mantenance is
likely to mount up very rapidly, to such an extent as to make it. advisable to get rid of the Chassis and buy .a new. one, either of the same make or, if it he at all desirable, to get one back on the maker of your old favourite, of a different manufacturer.
The proper way to deal with this rather difficult item—I mean the depreciation, not the maker of the
lorry—is to make it an expenditure. start a special
account at your bank and pay into it, weekly, for each mile which your vehicle runs, an amount equal to at least one 1-125,000th part of• the cost of a n'ew lorry complete ,With all accessories and fittings, including. bodywork hut without tyres. This ameurit, which you
put on one side, and which you must make up your mind not to touch, will then be duly entered up as an expenditure in the colt-Mtn of our ledger under the heading ef "Depreciation."
All the items in connection with the running costs
of our lorry have now been dealt. with, but we have still two -columns to add to our table before it is complete. Naturally, the Mileage of 'the vehicle must be noted, and if there be more than one, then the number of the lor7 must be stated. If you possess more than one vehicle, number-them all up consecu
tively. Let the driver call his machine whatever he 'pleases, either "Annie Laurie," or, as is more likely -when things go 'wrong, names which the Editor will
refuse to print; you must number th.ern up and paint the mimber ,in bold figures on each vehicle ill a conspicuous position.