Mr. R. C. Reynolds Opens the Session.
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In endeavouring to accede to your request that I should read a paper before the members of this Association, I have found myself in some difficulty in the selection of a subject, which should, without being technical, be of sufficient general interest, and, incidentally, of such individual importance as would enable one to speak on it for a reasonable time without being guilty of talking a lotand saying really very little. I finally decided upon the subject indicated in the title of this paper' The Competing Power of the Commercial Motor Vehicle," not so much in the hope of disseminating any knowledge that was new as of providing material which would prove of sufficient ,interest to justify discussion by a meeting of cora, mercial. motor users, and at the same time of emphasizing one aspect of the future development of motor transport, which I think ought to be kept in mind by those engaged in the industry.
It has seemed to me at times that the possibilities of motor transport (admittedly great) are not infrequently overstated by its enthusiasts and overestimated by its users, and although I am not taking the standpoint that its future prospects are not bright, I certainly do think that it would be well for all of us to appreciate fully the limitations of the commercial motor vehicle as well as its manifest advantages, when considered relatively to other forms of the transport.
Better and Cheaper Service.
Motor transport has won its way to its present stage Of development, not because it provided a means of transport where formerly there was none, nor becauseit provided an auxiliary service which • tended to improve already existing services, but -because where it could be usefully adopted it provided either a better service or a cheaper service. Its development, therefore, has been throughout a :development under competition with existing transsport -methods, and the degree of success that has attended it is a creditable record to those who have persevered in its possibilities, and endured the vagaries and disappointments of its earlier perform.
• ances.
We are concerned, therefore, with the possibilities of the road motor as a competitor of other forms of transport, which comprise :—Railway transport, canal transport., horsed transport.. In considering the competing power of the commercial motor vehicle with these forms of transport, I propose to deal with the subject in two phrases; 'First with what, for want of a better term, I will call the inherent advantages and disadvantages of the.. respective systems; secondly, their reLative cost. Comparisons and Limitations.
do not propose to spend any time in discussion of the canal traffic, since by reason of lack of development and absence of efficient organization and coordination the inland water routes of this country Cannot at the moment be considered a very important factor in our scheme of national transport. I will, however, say that its advantages in the matter of cheapness are such that the subject of their development is deserving of and will, I believe, receive due attention. The manifest disadvantages of canals for general traffic are the 4Iow movement entailed, their entire unsuitability to the handling of small consignments to numerous consignees, and their inability to bring themselves to the points where traffic originates or finally rests, with the result that, unless these points are situated on a canal system, i transhipment s necessary, and some other means of transport must be employed to complete the traffic.
Horse and Canal Equally Handicapped. '
Traffio by horses presents so few advantages that it may be dealt with equally briefly. With one exception, with which I will deal in a moment, I think it may be safely said that practically the only advantage possessed by horsed transport is its suitability for employment as an auxiliary service in the collection and delivery of goods, the transport of which has been effected by some other method. The exception to which I referred is really not an inherent advantage pertaining to horsed transport so much . as an opportunity which it gains owing to lack of organization on the part of motor carriers. I am thinking of the case of the manufacturer of goods who has a regular traffic moving that it is not of itSelf sufficient fully to employ a motor vehicle and which is not catered for by motor carriers on account of their present organization, or lack of organization, which requires that they shall, as far as possible, secure a complete load from one source. Under these conditions horsed transport secures its opportunity. The chief disadvantage of horsed transport is the narrow limit within which it can operate. For heavy loads the limit of a carrying unit is from 3 to 4 tons, and the extent of its day journey about 10 or 15 miles out and 10 or 15 miles home., Alternatively The collection or delivery of three or four similar sized loads within a radius of three or four miles also constitutes a day's work. In the delivery of light loads over a wider area it is hopelessly eclipsed by the light motor vehicle.
Elasticity of Railway Service. .
Now with regard to railways. First and foremost among the advantages possessed by railways I would
place what I would term theirUnliMited 'service. This service extends in two directions : first the wide field of their operations, which enables them to accept goods from or to practically any part of the country without the necessity of ever havirig to consider their ability to complete delivery ; Secondly, the almost entire abs•eiice of -rektirictions uPon the nature and and more important still the quantity of goods which they will accept for conveyance to any point or any number of points.
Competition with Railways Difficult.
These two factors, although they impose enormous responsibilities Upon the railway companies, yet place them in a position in which competition to a great extent is extremely difficult for any undertaking which does net •offer •inch unlimited. service.. Another advantage of railway transport, although I must admit that it is net often in evidence, is the speed with which delivery can be effected. As I have said this quality is not generally proininent,.and to the major part of goods traffic it maybe said not to apply. This, however, appears to be due to the cumbersome mo. theds by which the general traffic is handled, and the fact remains that where there is a constant and regular traffic between' certain points, delivery can. be. effected. in quite a reasonable time For example, cloth every day leaves inills in the Bolton and Bury area in the morning and is delivered at Manchester warehouses the same afternoon. •
Other Railway Advantages.
Railway transport also possesses a considerable degree of infallibility. Losses; and more particularly delays, do' take plaee to a certain extent, but they are not 'great considering the enormous quantity of traffic handled, and given good organization, woad be .much less. In this respeet, of course, railways have a considerable •advantage Over 'motors in that their tra,ffic is of such magnitude and so totally independent of the control of either consignor or consignee. that delivery within a specified time is. never locked' for by either, whereas, with the motor vehicle with its solitary load and its direct point to point delivery, consignors and consignees have the traffic very much in their control, and have come to expect delivery to be completed almost to a specified hour,
Railways' Bad Points..
The principal disadvantages attending transport by railway arise from defective organization, e.g., delay and uncertainly of delivery. • Another disadvantage is the rough treatment meted out to goods in transit, and the necessity of often having to provide expensive packages for their protection, especially where consignments are small or 'frequent transhipment is necessary; The last disadvantage I will refer to, is the difficulty of approach of the railway to the points of origin or destination of the traffic, resulting in the necessity of providing an auxiliary service for collection or delivery where traffic is not of sufficient volume or facilities do not exist for Providing a private Why Commercial Motors Score. .
It now remains for me to deal with the advantages appertaining to the transport of goods by commercial rnotor vehicles. The principal advantages may be enumerated as.: The speed with which delivery can be effected. The point-to-point delivery which, if desired, entirely obviates the necessity of transhipment or handling, and frequently permits senders to dispense with packages which are necessary with. other forms of transport. The facility of approach direct to the points where traffic originates or is to be delivered, avoids the provision of auxiliary services for collection and delivery. These latter advantages are utilized to such an extent that there is some danger of overlooking the fact that motor transport will at times be found. to work to its fullest efficiency when relieved of the work of collection and delivery. l mention this point ,because it is frequently worthy of the full consideration in arranging traffic services.
Their Limitations.
Among the disadvantages of this transport are :— Its somewhat limited sphere of operation._ Its unsuitability (as at present organized) for dealing with small consignments to numerous consignees. Its limited load capacity. • Its old disadvantage of unreliability is, I am glad to think, rapidly becoming not-existent.
Before proceeding to deal with the subject of thn cost of transport, I should like—even at the risk of being wearisocue—to emphasize again one point that arose in our examination of the advantages of railway transport e.g., the unlimited nature of the service they offer. I emphasize this point because, to my mind, it is the direction in which organization needs to be most applied in extending the possibilities and the completing power of the motor vehicle. • In other respects, and apart from its limitations of distance and load capacity, Motor transport has distinct advantages over the railway, but it is entirely lacking in organization for the handling of traffic in bulk, or otherwise than in more or less isolated cobsignments. Whether the organization will come by the establishment of large undertakings with ample resources in vehicles and goods clearing houses, or whether it will come by combination amongst smaller carriers to parivide a common clearing house, it is not within my province, nor within the scope of this paper,, to determine, but that eventually something of the kind will be necessary, I am convinced.
Relative Costs.
Having dealt with certain characteristics of the various methods of transport, which we are considering, it is necessary to complete our survey by a coin• parison of their relative costs. _ For what will be fairly obvious reasons, I have based all costs on pre-war standards—present conditions (largely, temporary) have affected some methods of transport more adversely than others. . Unfortunately, I have been without information necessary to bring canal traffic into this comparison, and in the very limited time at my disposal for the preparation of this paper, I have been unable to acquire it. However, I do not think the omission will be very material.
In what I regard as the ultimate chief employment of horses, viz :—as auxiliaries for the collection and delivery of goods, it is impossible to secure a basis for computing cost that shall serve for general application, i owing to the widely differing conditions obtaining n different localities and in dealing with goods of different natures.
However, for the purpose of comparison I propose to adopt as a standard for arriving at a figure of oast a traffic common to this district, which is probably as near ideal as possible for the suitable employment of the service I have mentioned. I refer to the collection and delivery of cotton goods from and to Manchester warehousesThe cost of handling this traffic will probably show us horsed transport under the most favourable conditions.
As a measure of cost, I propose to take the standard rate charged for hiring horses, rather than the actual cost of keeping horses of one's own ; my reasou for so doing being that the hiring rate includes, in the profit of the owner, a reasonable remuneration for 'management and interest on capital.
, (To lie continued.)