TRANSPORT TIPS FOR TRADESMEN:
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Particularly Addressed to Those Who are Replacing Horsed Vehicles by Motors. or Contemplating So Doing.
THE degree of success attending the delivery of goods by motor vehicle depends firstly upon two principal factors; •namery, the vehicles themselves and the organization created in support of them. The work of good vehicles may be ruined by bad organization.
Some Essentials.
On the other_hand, the most perfect organization imaginable must he ineffective if the vehicles employed donot possess certain essential qualities. It is proposed briefly td discuss four such essentials; namely, reliability, durability, economy, and appear, ance. With the exception of the last named, these qualities more or leas overlap one another. Bad reliability is generally, though not necessarily, an indication of poor durability. Again, bad reliability means constant expenditure on repairs and maintenance, militating againat good economy. Economy, in turn, cannot be realized to the full if, owing to bad durability, a very high allowance has to be made for depreciation. So far, howeeer, as it is possible to separate these four qualities and to consider them singly, the writer suggests that reliability is the most important. of the four.
Reliability Placed in the Forefront.
Bad reliability •means not only the dislocation of the motsneuser's organization and the piling up of expenses which ought never to have been incurred, but also means dissatisfaction of customers, and this is the reason why I regard it as more important them; durability or economy. A machine which gives good service so long as it lasts, but does not last long, is a cause of disappointment to its owner but not to his customers. Similarly the customer isinot concerned with the economy of operation of the vehicle, except in solar as the costs of transport have to be covered by charging more for the goods. The customer does not care whether a, van will run 15 or 25 miles on a gallon of petrol, so long as it always turns up punctually to deliver his goods. The unreliable vehicle, on the other hand, is a eakike of endless annoyance amongst customers. It breaks down under load, and causes irritationssnumerically proportionate to the number of parcels on board at the time. The customer is. not concerned with the cause of the breakdown, ils:nt only with its effect„ which is that he gets inferior service. If this occurs on two or three occasions, he will probably take his custom elsewhere, and the permanent and regular profit on this' accountis thus lost, to the trader. It is easy enough to get a reputation for lack of.punotuality and for not consulting the customer's convenience. It is extremely difficult to get rid of such a reputation and to re-establish goodwill. The customer, once bitten, is twice shy.
'Economy and Durability.
Thus,. the loss of trade due to lack of reliability is uncertain in amount and may be very considerable. On the other hand, the loss of profit due to poor economy of a vehicle in respect of fuel, etc., represente a limited amount of money which can be more or less accurately assessed. Similarly, poor durability, although it involves high depreciation allowances, does not occasion permanent loss of goodwill of unknown but great value.
Appearance an ImportantFactor.
In certain trades, I should be inclined to regard the appearance of the delivery vehicles employed as being of more importance than their durability and economy, and second only in importance to reliability. It is useless to have an elegant and handsomely painted' raaphine which is constantly breaking down. The mere striking its., appearance, the mote people are likely to observe its lack of reliability. On the other hand, given that good reliability is maintained, appearance must still not be neglected. For one thing, a striking-looking machine is a valuable advertiaement and, as such, help to create goodwill. It gets the name of its ewner known over an increasingly large area and so tends to bring business his way. A machine which is merely dull in appearance is valueless as an advertisement, but one that is dishevelled or disreputable to look at is positively detrimental. It gives the impression, very probably correct, that its owner's methods are unbunnesslike and not noteworthy for an excess of cleanliness. In the catering trade, for example, this would be fatal,
The Vehicle as a Means of Assessment.
Another point with regard to appearance is that, so long as people are inclined to judge others by their apparent prosperity, the use of machines which look like makeshifts, or even of quite respectable machines the cost of which is known to be very low, leads to the inference that the trader can afford nothing better, and is, therefore, not doing particularly.well ; which is assumed to mean that his business is not very efficiently conducted, or has not enough capital behind it. •
• The maintenance of good appearance in respect of good vans that, have been well finished in the first instance is a matter of organization, but the production of good. appearancei in the first place by a little extra
,expenditure ;on paint and varnish is a matter of policy. One. sees many vans on the road which possess no advertising value in favour of their owners
and a certain number the advertising value of which is negligible. Generally speaking, the cost of secur ing good appearance is comparatively so small as to represent thoroughly remunerative advertising expenditure.