The Art of Keeping Records of Operating Costs.
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IT is by no means an uncommon experience for L us, when inquiring into the uses to which some particular fleet of vehicles is put and into the methods of maintenance and operation, to find that no real steps are taken to ascertain either working costs or the full operating costs for the year. All too often the cost of running the road transport of the concern is looked upon as an overhead charge that is inevitable and not capable of modification, and therefore to be ranked with the rent, rates and taxes of the buildings occupied for the transaction of the business. But, whereas a change of premises is rarely called for and may not be advisable, for reasons other than that of economy, methods of transport require to be carefully compared, because each method offers certain advantages in time, convenience and cost, and each, again, presents certain disadvantages, and it is quite impossible to obtain a fair comparison between them unless the costs can be accurately stated. Moreover, it is not possible to keep a proper check upon expenditure unless absolutely correct records are kept of distances, time occupied and costs of running and maintenance.
We often find that the problem is shirked and that no useful information can be gained from such records as do exist, namely, those shown in the debit pages of the ledgers, because the mileage is an unknown quantity, matters that concern other departments of the business are mixed up with the accounts relating to transport, and the matter of depreciation has been dealt with arbitrarily and not upon the basis of experience and discovered facts. When this is the case, we always expect to find that none of the vehicles of the fleet is fitted with a mileage recorder and that any figures on mileage are merely guesswork and far from accurate.
It should be the aim of every fleet manager to compile a complete record of service and cost. Considerable assistance to this end and ample advice have from time to time appeared in our columns, and it is quite aft easy matter to prepare a simple set of forms which shall provide for returns from drivers, foremen and storekeepers giving all the necessary information for a record, which need not be elaborate or call for skilled assistance, but which at the end of each year's working will show the cost of transport in terms of the ton-mile and point to the spots where economy can be effected and greater efficiency attained. There is no better guide to average costs than the tables of operating costs for all types of vehicle published by this journal and issued free of cost to all applicants.