The Basis for at
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After-the-War Rates Schedule•
The Suggestion that the Road and Rail Central Conference Should Accept the Leeds Schedule, or One Like It, as the Basis for the Rates which' it will Standardize, Raises the Problem of Eliminating Classification
ACCORDING to all athiunts, tile Road and Rail Central Conference is considering the possibility of using a simple and straightforward rates schedule and eliminating the need for the classification of goods and all the complications it entails. If that be so, the moment is opportune for considering how such a schedule should be compiled and applied.
So far as roadtransport is concerned the logical basis of rates is, of course, cost plus profit. The former comprises all the expenditure involved in the conducting of the operator's business and, as such, includes as the major item the costs of operating this vehicle.
When Considering how best to build up a schedule of rates for road haulage, the first essential is to deal with this major item, leaving the consideration of what I might term " supplementary expenses "-for discussion at a later date.
Furthermore, if. as is reasonable, it be accepted that there is not a great deal of difference in the costs of operation of vehicles of the same load capacity, it is necessary to inquire in what way and to what extent does the character of the goods affect the cost of transport? If it be found that it has a considerable 'bearing on the cost of transport then the conclusionmust inevitably be that some form of classification is inevitable, unless provision can be made; in the way the rates are assessed, to cover this differentiation: '
Influence of the Principal Factors The following are the principal factors which have a bearing on this important subject:— . (1) Size of the vehicle which must be employed, as determined by the bulk of 1he goods and the magnitude: of individual consignments.
(2) The type of Vehicle, with particular regard to bodyworl(anicl equipment necessary for handling the' goods.'
(3) Ease or difficulty of loading or unloading, that is to say of handling the traffic at terminals.
(4) Liability to delays at terminal points, due to causes . other than merely time involved in loading and unloading. (5) Liability of damage to the vehicle, dug to*the nature of the goods, Erlich damage arising during either loading or unloading, or while in 'transit.
(6) The prospect of availability of a return. load of a character such as can conveniently be carried in the particular type of Vehicle which is necessary for conveyance
of the outward traffic. .
(7) Extra terminal delays and dead mileage involved in discovering and collecting these return loads. (8) Weekly mileage practicable under the conditions enumerated. . .
(9) The characteristics of the route over which the traffic .must he conveyed, namely, whether it is hilly country with narrow winding roads such as are to be encountered, for example, in Devon or Cornwall; ' whether the roads are fairly wide and straight and the country flat, as in parts of the Eastern Counties; whether much of the journey is through roads congested by traffic such as prevails in London and industrial Lancashire _and Yorkshire.
The foregoing are pot, perhaps, all the considerations ,nirt involved, but they are the principal. ones. In them is enough to indicate the difficulty and complexitx of the problem nresented in trying to eliminate classification from, a rates schedule for road hauliers. I-propose, however, to make some attempt to deal with that in this and some subsequent articles and will begin with the first and, perhaps, the most important factor, i.e., the size of the vehicle in relation to the load carried. •
There are those who suggest that reference to this factor, namely " bulk," is almost all that is necessary to differentiate-amongst various traffic with regard to the -rates which ought to be paid for their conveyance by road. It may be that as we proceed with this investigation it will be possible to confirm that such is the case.
As showing what is meant by this particular factor, let us compare the two extreme ,examples of traffic—on the one hand lead, and on the other hay or straw.
In the case of the conveyance of lead, the solution of the problem as to size of vehicle and its effect on rates is a.; simple one. Any 7-8Lton lorry will readily accommodate 7-8 tons of lead Of steel plates or similar traffic, and any 18-16-tonner will just as readily aCcommodate 15-16 tons of this heavy material. A plain platform lorry will suffice, if measures be taken to prevent the load from shifting.
The need for care in this connection is not, lioweVer, something which must be taken into account at the moment. At least, it is not a factor which has any need for conaideration in referring to the size of the vehicle. It has a hearing on the liability of goods to cause damage to the vnicle while in transit.
Effect of the Character of the Load
If the traffic, instead of being lead or steel plate, was wool or hay the conditions would he very different. Baled hay weighs about 16 lb. to a cubic ft., which is approximately 190 cubic It. net per ton weight. There most, however, be an allowance of 5 to 10, per cent. above that net figure to allow for the fact that gaps between the bales are unavoidable and that there is sure to be a ce,rtain amount of unevenness of loading, which will increase the gross cubic measurement of the space involved.
The platform space on a 7-8-ton lorry is ncit likely, except
• in unusual circumstances, to exceed 7 ft. 6 ins, in width and 22 ft. 6 ins, in length. That limitation is the outcome of time law governing widths and lengths of four-wheeled vehteles,ancl gives us a figure for the area of the platform of approximately 168 sq. ft. On such a platform it would just be possible to carry 8 tons of hay, if it be piled up to a height of 8 ft. That, however, is not practicable. In the first place, a load of that height could not be taken under many main road bridges in the country and, in any case, it would not be safe to pile theload to that height. In effect, therefore, it is not possible to put 7-S tons of this material on to a 7-8-ton lorry.
If the Vehicle be a 15-16-tanner the disparity between potential and actual load is intensified. The maximum platform area On such a vehicle, which, of course, would have
to be an eight-wheeler, is 7 ft. 6 ins. by25 ft., which is 187i sq. ft. The height of the load, if the operator were to attempt to put 15 tons on the vehicle, would have to be from 13 ft. to 13 ft. ins., which is obviously out of the question. Actually, it is doubtful if it would be safe to put 8-9 tons of hay on to a 15-16ton vehicle.
• It is correct to state, therefore, that if hay be offered as a 16-ton load it cannot be carried as one consignment, except that it is just possible to accommodate it on an 8-ton four-wheeler and trailer. The use of such an outfit for this class of traffic is, linwever, rarely practicable.
The point that I am endeavouring to make is that a 15-16-ton eight-wheeled vehicle is unable to accommodate, on tonnage rate, a full-rated load of hay or wool, as it can carry at the most 8-9 tons or, possibly, 10 tons of the material.
In the shipping world, as is widely known, this problem is solved by stipulating a limit of bulk to a consignment of goods, namely, 40 cubic ft. If a consignment offered as 1 ton is less in bulk than 46 cubic ft. it is accepted on the basis of is actual weight, b.ut if it exceeds 40 cubic ft. in balk then it is accepted only if the weight be calculated at 'the rate of 40 cubic ft. to the ton. A consignment, ther6fore, weighing no more than 5 cwt. would, nevertheless, be rated at 1 tan if its measurements came to 40 cubic ft.
There, has grown up in the haulage industry a similar but tacit procedure which stipulates a maximum of 10 cubic ft, per ton. There is no rule laid down about this, just as, of course, there is no rule laid down as -Le the rates which should be charged for road haulage.
Lam not overlooking the existence of the " Road Haulage arid Hire (Charges) Order, 1942," but I am not, in ails article, concerned with the effect which it may have. .
Applying this rule to the above-named example of hay, 1 ton would be rated at approximately 2 tons by measurement (allowing for the 5-10 per cent., loss of space to which I have already referred), and if the foregoing figures for basis of volume be accepted then the 15-16-ton eight-wheeler would actually accommodate a loael at its rated capacity.
Now look at some of the other considerations. Lead or steel plates would, in all Probability, be leaded or-unloaded in the factory yard, or possibly, at a dock side. The journey would be over main roads and loading as well,as unloading would not take long, probably being effected by portable or local cranes. Any terminal delays that occur would in all probability be incidental
and not regular. .
On the other hand, the hay would have to be picked up hi it stack yard: where it would be difficult of access. The roads leading to it off the main road would be soft and, maybe, even impossible of negotiation by the large type of vehicle and, in most cases, entirely out of the question so far a:. a lorry and trailer are concerned. That applies in respect of the.collection of the load. Delivery would most likely be at stables and would not present the same difficulties.
There are these further points in relation to the load of hay, which have an effect upon the rate to be charged and which do not arise with lead or steel plates.
The hay woad have to be roped' and
sheeted., so as to protect it against.the elements. The question of fire risk would have to be taken into account and most responeible hauliers would consider it .neeeSsary .to insure against that risk. In this connection, if we are considering standard rates, it will probably be concluded that the' standard will be at " owner's risk," the cost of insur• ance being added. . 'There does seem, on the face of it,to be ample reason, for differentiating. in the rate to be charged for these two' commodities, It .will be necessary, in a SalAequent article, 'to see if, by some means or other, the differentiation can be met without the need for preparing a complicated classification of goods.