The Question of Weekly Mileage
Page 62
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
How a Prospective Profit Can he Turned into a Loss by Wrongly Assessing the Maximum Weekly Mileage Which Working Hours and Speed Limits Permit. Making Allowances for Overtime and Extra Pay
I HAVE been warning readers that, as the speed of vehicles
HAVE the total number of hours per week which a driver
may work are controlled by regulations, there is a definite limit to the extent of the work which a vehicle can do in a week or a year. A newcomer into the industry must have that well in mind when he is estimating for a job of haulage. I have shown both in theory and by example from experience that if any over-estimation occurs the operator may quite easily turn a prospective profit into a heavy loss.
Such loss may be cumulative if a binding contract has been entered into.
The danger becomes more serious if the haulier has not realized the full extent of the expenditure involved in the operation of the vehicle or vehicles concerned.
In dealing with most of the problems with which these articles are concerned, the principle involved is that I must not suggest, a procedure which will encourage the operator to break the law, In considering this subject it should he appreciated that there are three matters to be taken into account and these relate to weight, speed, and the hours the driver may work.' ' These items are related to such an extent that it is impracticable to deal with any one of them without at least some reference to the other two. .
The law as it concerns excessive speed is regularly and consistently broken by practically everyone who drives a motor vehicle. The fact that only a small proportion of the offenders are caught accounts for the frequency of the breaches which occur. Whilst I want to make it clear that I do not condone breaches of the law I am, nevertheless, compelled, in dealing with the subject of potential earnings, to consider things as they are, and not as they should be.
Hours of Duty The third regulation, concerning hours of duty for drivers, is the most reasonable of the three. In its original form it seemed harsh and it was anticipated that considerable hardship would result from its strict and rigid application. Subsequent modifications which were made as experience of its working accumulated, have softened its effect, so that now there is little at which to cavil. Its prime objective is, of course, to guard against the danger resultant upon drivers being in charge of vehicles while in an over-fatigued condition. Most of the cases reporting breaches of the regulations are comparatively innocuous and many of -them are the result of inadvertence.
Most of the inquiries which 1 have received are concerned with the maximum mileage to be reckoned on in connection with the operation of vehicles on long-distance haulage. That there is provision for 1,000 miles per week in "The Commercial Motor Tables of Running Costs" is criticized
by some of my readers.
The answer is that the circulation of the Tables is not confined to this country. It is true to say that they are in use in every English-speaking country. I am often asked to quote applicable figures in foreign currencies, and I receive inquiries from countries where prices of consumable .commodities differ from those upon which the figures in the
3328
Tables arc based. In most of the countries concerned the British limitations of speeds and working hours do not apply.
My point is that there are places abroad where it is legally possible to achieve weekly mileages as great as the maximum data embodied in the Tables.
According to my reading of Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act, a driver of a commercial vehicle may legally work 11 hours a day for seven days a week. He can, therefore, put in 77 hours per week at the wheel of his vehicle without breaking the law. If his average speed he 20 m.p.h., he can, theoretically, run for more than 1,540 miles per week.
If, therefore, loading and unloading be carried out outside the driver's hours, so that he has nothing whatever to do with it, being off duty in such a way that he has no waiting to do but steps into-the lorry on completing his period of rest, then he could quite easily exceed 1,200 miles per week without exceeding the limits of speed, If he does exceed the speed limit, 1,500 miles per week is wellwithin his capacity and that of his vehicle. Alternatively, if speeds in excess of the limit be agreed, then the 1,200 miles can he concluded in 50 'hours, raet a • five-day week.
Overtime Necessary It is, therefore, quite possible to attain the weekly mileages set out in the Tables, and my critics are completely answered on that point. They will probably agree that these mileages involve a certain amount of overtime and extra pay. Whilst that is not the point raised in the previous criticism, it is nevertheless a matter that must not be overlooked.
It was partly with the idea of emphasizing the importance of not overlooking the need for payment of overtime that the figures, " 44 hours" and "88 hours," were introduced into the Tables. In quoting from the Tables or in referring to them, I have frequently pointed out that where overtime is worked in order that a vehicle shall cover a predetermined mileage per week, then the figures of total cost, either per mile or per week, must be modified accordingly.
To calculate the maximum possible mileage per week is, of course, easy. For the majority of vehicles there are only two speed limits, namely, 20 m.p.h. and 30 m.p.h. In the case of vehicles weighing less than 3 tons unladen, they are not subject to the 30 m.p.h. speed limit when running empty.
The maximum weekly mileage of a vehicle allowed to travel at 30 m.p.h., assuming that it occasionally exceeds the limit, would be approximately 27 multiplied by the number of hours that it was on the road during the week. If it never exceeds the legal limit, the number of hours that it is on the road must be multiplied by 25.
In the.case of 20 m.p.h. vehicles,. the speed limit is more often exceeded than in the case of 30 m.p.h. machines. In eases where 20 m.p.h. is averaged, the maximum weekly mileage is 20 multiplied by the number of hours the vehicle is on the road. Where strict adherence is paid to the legal limit an average speed of approximately 16 m.p.h.. serves as the basis for calculation.