The Saving of Rent.
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The appreciation of sites which are comparatively remote from main line railway stations, and the improving demand for land within the belt lying about the zo-mile radius from London, are recognised consequences of the development of the lighter branches of automobilism. In connection with public service vehicles, a similar group of benefits may be detected, the underlying source being the capacity of the self-propelled vehicle to cover relatively long distances in a short space of time, and to maintain a prolonged service on each working day. But the problem is two-sided. Not only will road motor vehicles prove increasingly the means of conveying workers in London and other great towns from and to the open country beyond their boundaries, but the heavy motor vehicle more especiall is destined to prove, within a very short space of time, th ause of a great transference in centres of production. 1Vh re factories, breweries and large works generally found wh land values are high and where the density of population very great? The accepted explanations are that labour more easily obtained at such points and that transport facilities are more suitable. Neither of these arguments, however, is now in any sense conclusive; the change in perspective wrought by the introduction of commercial motors has changed all preconceived bases of calculation. Even as it is, workmen and labourers are constantly availing themselves of improved facilities for getting out to the suburbs, and the only apparent drawback to the removal of the works and factories themselves is the small circle of delivery which the horse is able to encompass. This brings us to the converse side of the case, and we are pleased to know that the question of removing many busy hives of production from London to points some distance out is the subject of very deep consideration by many boards of directors. It is well known that transport is only secondary in importance to production itself, and, now that motor vans and lorries have reached a
stage of development which justifies their employment as a dependable part of any organisation, it does not surprise us to know that the continued payment of exorbitant rents and rates will not be tolerated by many industrial concerns.
The motor wagon is as efficient and as economical in carrying goods over a seven-mile lead, from the works to the point of delivery, as horses are over a two-mile trip of a similar nature. Thus, as is about to be proved by the transference of one of London's greatest brewery undertakings, thousands of pounds per annum may be saved merely by changing from the inner zone of the Metropolis to one or other of the suburban districts where land is at, perhaps, one-tenth the price. Supposing a saving of only i;I,000 a year in the case of a large works, is it realised how far such an amount will go, to make security doubly sure, by way of a reserve fund for the purpose of subsidising motor transport should it, in any cases, prove to require some initial aid? Seven years' experience with lorries capable of carrying loads between four and seven tons, with or without a trailer, has demonstrated beyond possibility of dispute that ti5400 per annum is a maximum figure to cover all charges, 'including sinking fund and supervision, for a performance averaging, say, 2oo miles per week. Again, the records of unprejudiced users, and of many who purchased their first wagons in a spirit of incredulity or veiled antagonism, show that such a lorry displaces from five to nine horses according to the nature of the country and the delays for collections or deliveries. Given two daily trips from a point outside a large town, with an intervening run of about seven miles, two double trips can easily be performed within the working day, and this, reckoning a five-ton load on the inward trips only, yields a total charge upon the goods so transferred of less than 3s. per ton—a figure that would be halved were back loads regularly available. In order to be largely on the safe side, any manufacturer may take it that each per annum which he saves in rents and rates justifies the purchase of one five-ton wagon, for it amounts to a reserve fund of nearly 20 per cent. per annum on the capital expenditure. The foregoing facts, read in conjunction with the article which appears in this number dealing with the failure of railways to deal with traffic for short journeys, show how great a future lies before the heavy motor vehicle in the practically innumerable instances where the conditions of production and distribution which we have outlined must prevail_ As leases fall in, and higher rents are asked, the alternative of putting both the factory and the workers in the country should be increasingly 'adopted.
"The Commercial Motor" is the best medium for advertising vans and wagons for sale, drivers wanted or men seeking employment. Rata: Is. 6d. for 18 words and id. for each additional word. Address the Manager, "Commercial Motor," 7-15, Rosebery