Problems of THE HAULIER AND CARRIER
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A Fortnight's Work of a Furniture Remover and Some of the Special Conditions Which Prevail in ' That Branch of the Haulage Industry. THE previous article, in which I dealt with a specific case of under-estimation of costs on the part of a motor haulier, was by way of being a digression. It was not called into being merely because the occasion was opportune, but also because it did occur to me that there might be a considerable percentage of readers not directly interested in furniture-removing who might be getting rather impatient of my devoting so much of this space, which belongs to hauliers in general, to the specific needs of a minority of them, I have still, however, one more of the series to write.
To be precise, it is hardly an article of the kind usually written under the heading "Problems of the Haulier and Carrier." It is a descriptive article and shows in detail the work which a furniture remover in the Midlands actually did during a typical fortnight. The details are set out in tabular form in the body of the article. They call for very little in the way of comment, being rather subject for study by the reader and helpful to those considering the possibilities of furniture-removal work as showing what they may have to do, Loading Space an Important Factor.
Two comments are necessary. The furniture remover who sent me the information tells me that he uses very large vans—probably the largest in the country—each having a capacity of 1,500 cubic ft. and having more than double the usual loading space. This is important as it has a bearing on the number of men employed and the time taken to load: The second point to note is that the schedule of work set down as having been carried out on the first Saturday is not strictly in accordance with this correspondent's information. He merely stated that on that day he had a job in the town (a small job, I gathered) but he did not give particulars.
It may farther be of interest to direct readers' attention to the fact that altogether 152f hours were worked in the fortnight, which is equal to 76* hours per week and 'that the total distance covered during c40 the fortnight was 758* miles, or 379f miles per week.
The correspondent who sends the information very kindly supplements it by some particularsiRof the conditions under which furniture removals are carried out in the Midlands. He tells me that the general
rule is not to pay employees for overtime. The practice in his district is to pay a standing wage, which is not affected according to whether the men have work to do every day in the week or not. If there be no jobs available they do not work, but are nevertheless paid. If the job be such as to involve long hours no recognition of the fact appears in the pay envelope. They are given a week's holiday with pay every year.
Rates of Pay and Variations from the Scale.
The exceptions are two in number. First, in the case of a driver and foreman travelling all night so that they may get back' in time to do another job the next day. In that case they are paid the equivalent of a day's wage or half a day's wage extra, the amount depending upon the distance travelled. The other exception occurs in the case of outside men temporarily employed. They are paid overtime but, of course, are not paid in the event of there being no work available on any particular day of the week.
The rates of pay are as follow :—A foreman who is also a driver is paid £3 5s. or £3 10s. per week ; a foreman, £3 per week; a driver, £3 per week ; porters, £2 10s. to £2 17s. ed. per week. It is the usual practice for drivers to assist in the work of furniture removal, either packing books or china or helping to carry the furniture. This distinction between the two classes of work is worthy of note, as it makes it possible to utilize the
services of a driver who might not be physically capable of handling heavy pieces of furniture. .
Drivers are, therefore, expected to have a working knowledge of the methods employed in the removal of furniture and, naturally, when a driver is being engaged that, fact is kept in mind. If a driver be taken on who has not hitherto had any experience of this kind he takes his instructions from the foreman and soon gets into the way of doing at least, the simple jobs of the trade.
The number of men employed depends more upon the conditions prevailing at the houses where collection and delivery are to be made, rather than on the distance. If the house be far away from the road, if there is likely to be a lot of window work or if, as sometimes happens, the van must stand in another street, then extra men are sent. The average, however, is four—a foreman, a driver and two porters.
This correspondent confirms what has already been stated in this series of articles, that it is lot usual to send a full crew of porters on long-distance trips. Six men as a rule turn out to load the van, but only the foreman and driver travel with it. Porters are engaged at the destination, usually from another furniture-removal 'contractor, and, the account is settled direct between the two concerns. In such circumstances, when men are away from home, an allowance of 6s. per night is made to them, plus 2s. garage rent for the van, .
Trade Union rates of pay. are not applicable to furniture removers, because of the difficulty which would arise owing to the irregular hours. According to this correspondent, the furniture remover's week consists of seven days of 24 hours each.
This correspondent also confirms the views I expressed in the opening article • of this series: that furniture-removal work Is not to be lightly undertaken. In his experience, he tells me, 75 per cent. of motorvehicle drivers will not have anything to do with it. One of the, difficulties he points out is that it never happens that the same conditions occur twice. Sometimes the work may be so difficult that eight to ten men are needed to remove the furniture from a house , of normal size, whilst, on another occasion, the same quantity of furniture can be removed with ease by four, or even three, men. Experience is mainly necessary in judging the conditions of any particular job and estimating what amount of time and how many men will be needed to do the work. Often enough the mere packing of things, like books and cases of china, may take as long as six hours.
One point does arise from consideration of these conditions and it is one to which I should like to direct the attention of those of my readers who are seriously considering_ furniture removals as a branch of the haulage business to which they might turn their hands. I have in mind the custom referred to above of paying men engaged in the furniture-removing industry a standing wage and of not knowing from one day to the next how many men will be required. One day four men will suffice, the next day eight or more may be needed. If eight men are always to be available, then, according to the foregoing schedule of wages, there will be a standing charge of from £21 to £24 per week on account of wages alone.
This is a serious item, one which must have fullest consideration when estimating the cost of any job. The man who undertakes furniture removals with only one vehicle is clearly going to be severely handicapped on account of this, as compared with another in a bigger way of business, who is able to employ, a smaller number of men par vehicle, using them with one or other of the machines according to the nature of the work. S.T.R.