Entries for the C.M.U.A. Parade.
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Many early entries for this year's parade bad already come in at the time of our going to press (Tuesday evening). Any owner who can let his van, wagon or tractor take part will be welcome, subject to notification of his entry, but we do not anticipate the arrival of vehicles or tractors from a larger area than that which is embraced by, say, a 30-mile radius from Charing Cross. Entries, we learn, will be accepted from any owner, whether he belong to the Association or not, and it is now certain that " teams " of two motorbuses each will he sent in from a number of London motorbus depots. This healthy rivalry between the several companies and garages should prove an interesting new feature of the parade, the entry list for which will remain open until the morning of Saturday, the 23rd instant. Although there is no occasion for hurry in the matter, it will much facilitate the work of organization and examination if all who intend to support the parade will put themselves into early communication with the Secretary, Commercial Motor Users' Association, 1, Albemarle Street, W., and so that the needful bonus may be supplied to them.
Depreciation a Question of Mileage.
The point cannot be enforced too often or with surfeit of emphasis, that depreciation is now a question of mileage. It was necessary, six years ago, to advise the setting-aside of so much per cent. per annum upon the first cost, and that for several reasons. In only rare instances was it possible to discover a five-year-old machine still at work: many had gone to the "scrap heap" before that lapse of time; other makes were not that old. Type and detail were largely matters of experiment then: even the steam lorry had not settled down in those pre-HeavyOrder days. Sinking-fund provisions were, in consequence, very much in the nature of guess-work allowances. Some owners, at 25 per cent, yearly, put by more than was required ; many more, however, at 35 per cent., were too optimistic. Nobody ventured to hazard a mileage charge, for all felt that obsolescence was the predominating factor, apart from the risk of serious mechanical or structural failure after six months of use.
There has, during the past five years, been a gradual strengthening of the case for a mileage charge to the exclusion of a lump-sum allocation each year. Fewer and fewer people have made experimental purchases, as the movement has progressed, and one is fully justified, today, in ignoring the risk of forced realization at the end of, perhaps, one year of service. Orders are now placed after closer scrutiny, upon exact information, and with reference to proved value; construction has been simplified and standardized ; there is no longer the old degree of dependence upon drivers and the personal element generally. Omnibuses, lorries, tractors, vans and wagons continue, now, to carry out the imposed duties, in all parts of the country, with efficiency, in spite of the fact that they were first put on the roads at dates varying from four to eight years back. The older dates, of course, apply almost exclusively to steam wagons. It is, therefore, with cumulative evidence of the kind within our knowledge, that we have decided to insist that a change from the percentage to the mileage system of depreciation is the proper course for all owners whose motor bookkeeping is worthy the name. Working costs per vehiclemile must otherwise be inaccurate and irregular.
Average life is the basis of mileage depreciation, and records are not wanting to show that from 100,000 to 150,000 miles of running are to be obtained from any modern commercial motor of approved make. Proper maintenance is, of course, an essential factor ; neglect of the "stitch in time " surely brings untoward consequences in its train. We accordingly repeat our lines of six weeks ago, from an Editorial comment on " Dwindling Horse Traffic," and we do so because their publication under that heading has probably not allowed them to catch the eyes of all our supporters.
" So long as it was necessary to write off from 15 to 25 per cent, per annum for depreciation, for exactly so long was it. impossible to hope that commercial motors could economically replace horses where there was not a full day's work or there was much idling. This warning has become less and less necessary, during the past two years, and it is about to be consigned by us to the limbo of forgotten things. Proper construction now has its sequel and concomitant in a genuine appreciation of maintenance requirements, and for that reason, amongst others, as has been protested in our pages by 'Homoc' and other writers, it is fair to substitute for the old-time fixed depreciation per annum, which had no regard to mileage run, an allowance strictly in proportion to mileage. Subject to adequate maintenance, we see no reason why a purchaser today should make provision for sinking-fund on a basis of less than a life of 150,000 miles of service on rubber-tired wheels. This means, after allowing for residual values, say, 0.5d. for a one-ton van, 0.7d. for a two-ton van, and 0.9d. for a three-ton van. With 100,000 miles as the basis for a steel-tired five-ton steam lorry, it becomes 1d. In these circumstances, the motor can be shown, now, to be the cheapest of all instruments for road transport: if the mileage be low, and delays be not serious, the motor does the work quickly, arid labour can be released for other duties ; if the idle hours be. many, the low mileage still brings its relief to the standing charges. Hence, for the man who can get money cheaply—not for the small shopkeeper to whom a few hundreds of pounds may mean very much more in stock or other parts of his business—the motor is the best choice. We are confident that an awakening to this aspect of recent developments is imminent. It is now wrong for the. owner who uses motors for long-distance work to conclude that they won't pay on town work."
Our repetition is due to the above-named possibility of oversight, and we are indebted to a well-known user of vans, who privately endorses the opinion given, for the suggestion that we should "say it again." We invite users to communicate particulars of 'longest lives " to our correspondence columns.