Answers to Queries.
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Was the Motor Transport Once Under the Control of the Royal Engineers ?
[42987 Trrgeant).—The Mechanical Transport, when it was orignaally established, in connection with the South African War, was under the Royal Engineers. The Royal Engineers remained predominant in the matter until about the year 1904, ,after which date the superior authority was gradually vested in the A. S.C.
Running Costs for a Fivewtonner.
[4299] (Agent).—We have mailed you a copy of our pre-war cost sheet iek keu.et and steam wagons. The all-round increase, uncier present, conditions, as regards labour, fuel, maintenance, etc., is such as to necessitate the addition of 40 per cent. to the old costs, in order to be on the safe side. You will be aware that Welsh steam coal is almost unobtainable, and that " smoky" coal sometimes costs as much as 40s. a ton.
Considering Steamers for Charma-Banes Work.
[4300i (Removers and Repairers).--The London steam motorbuses are built by the National Steam Car Co., Ltd., of Chelmsford, Essex. They are run with success.
You have the alternative, additionally, of equipping your motor char-h-banes with coal-gas, and we would recommend you to obtain particulars of the flexible gas-holders which are supplied by Messrs. Andrew W. Barton Bros., of Beeston, Notts.
Strengthening Private Bridges.
[4301] (Northern).—There is no doubt that the cost of strengthening private bridges will have to be divided between the interested parties. Your suggestion with regard to the railway companies has behind it the force of equity, GO far as an ex parte view can be expressed. The railway companies may possibly have some other view. We think the County Councils should bear the major portion of the cost, in respect of any bridge which carries a highway which is part of a trunk road, in conjunction with the Road Board; or any new fund into which the Road Board Fund may hereafter grow. As to local roads very often the strengthening of a bridge is for the peculiar benefit of a particular individual, or a few individuals. Possibly provision should be made, in the case of local roads, for placing some of the cost upon the vehicle-owners who benefit. There will, of course, require to be a reference to some inspector or committee.
We hope that the Law Committee of the Association of Municipal Corporations will approach both the Commercial Motor Users Association and the National Traction Engine Owners and Users Association. (28, Victoria Street, S.W.).
An After-the-Peace Haulage Business.
[4302] (Three Men at the Front).—We are much interested in your joint communication. We think that you have taken a decision which will lead to a successful business return in due course. The replies to the inquiries so far as they can be answered, are :—
(a) What is the object of the projected advertisement I
(b) Membership of the Commercial Motor Users Association (83, Pall Mall, S.W. 1.) is expedient, if goods-haulage only is to be undertaken; if passenger work is to be done, the Provincial Omnibus Owners Federation should be joined in the event of its being confined to stage carriages, and the Motor Hiring Section of the Motor Trade Association in the event of your deciding on extension of the business to taxicab work. The addresses of the second and third bodies are, respectively, 058 Provincial Omnibus Owners Federation, 11, Old Jewry Chambers, E.C. 2.
Motor Trade Association, 155-7, Great Portland Street, W. 1.
(c) It is most important to confine any such undertaking at the outset to a single route, or at most to two routes, and to work up a successful connection, and a reputation for doing the work to time. Reliability is everything. Picked local agents are the best in any country area ; if London is one terminus, special arrangements with one or two big firms generally provide the greatest regularity of loading, and tend to eliminate terminal delays.
(d) There is no book on the subject of prices for contracts, but various articles have been published in THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. If the load capacity of a particular vehicle is considered, the necessary income per mile run can be given. Broadly speaking, the revenue per mile run should be twice the inclusive working cost, apart frpm management and other overhead charges. For example, if a three-tonner cost, on the pre-war basis (as by the cost sheet we have mailed) so. per mile run, the revenue should be, reckoning both light and loaded mileage together, is. 5d. per mile. When the mileage is known, and the loading, such a necessary revenue per mile can quickly be converted into a rate per ton for the particular job. • (e) A typical contract for haulage was published in Trin COMMERCIAL MOTOR of the 21st September, 1916.
(f) Tires can be purchased for cash, or run at a mileage rate. Owners exercise their own choice ; the mileage rate puts the uncertainty on the people who supply the tires. (g) Total insurance may roughly be stated to add up to £10 per annum per ton of load capacity, but if all the risks which are named were covered, this might come up to 215 per annum per ton of capacity.
(h) New L.G.B. regulations are now in course of framing ; it is not necessary to carry a second man, unless a trailer is hauled, and even then it is possible to dispense with the second man in
• certain cases ; there is no carriage tax on a commercial motor—only an initial payment of 21 ,for registration. (i) There is no standard form of contract for hiring to local tradesmen, but the above-mentioned specimen contract may give some help.
(j) It is probable that British manufacturers will turn out on standard lines a successful light van at a low cost, in competition with the Ford, before long. • You may join the C.M.TJ.A. at once, if you like, ahead of ownership of a commercial motor. The .en= trance fee is one guinea, and a further payment of 15s. Bd. now covers the subscription to 31st December next. You will only have to write to the Secretary, Mr. F. G. Bristow, of 83, Pall Mall, S.W. 1., to obtain a form of application.
We think that none of the jobs in heavy transport will be taken by conscientious objectors. Far from it—such men are not popular in transport circles. The people with the best knowledge of the district, and who conduct their business with the closest attention, will reap their own rewards, and make money. The suggestion to run char-k-bancs services in conjunction with the railway companies is sound, but the Great Western Railway makes most of its own arrangements in that direction. Working in conjunction with a railway which has not developed a branch of the kind might be the better course.