PROBLEMS OF THE HAULIER AND CARRIER.
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The Cost of Loading and Unloading Delays to the Vehicle Owner. Ways and Meansof Avoiding Them.
total value of time wasted annually in ter minal delays is appalling when consideration is given to the matter. There are two general methods of overcoming the ensuing financial loss,. applicable according to the circumstances of various cases. One is to make provision on the vehicle for a mechanical method of handling a load, the other is to arrange for improved facilities at the loading and unloading stations.
Before discussing the practicability of various schemes, I think that a few figures will be of interest in order to emphasize the proportion of the losses involved. Taking the case of a 4-ton petrol lorry, the standing charges are approximately 15 12s. 2d. per week. If the working week be taken at 44 hours, • this means that during each working hour 2s. 6N. is spent in standing charges. A certain expenditure of standing time is inevitable, being practically of the nature of working time, but if a vehicle be stationary for one hour a. day more than is necessary the sum of 2s. 0?,d. is thereby wasted. In a year of 50 working weeks, the total monetary waste, on the basis of one hour per day, is within a few pence of £35 per vehicle.
Furthermore, there are usually loaders or other labourers in attendance while the vehicle is standing, and a proportion of their wages must be added to the last figure. When a large number of lorries is employed, a reduction of loading delays may enable the -work to be carried out by fewer vehicles. Circumstances vary enormously in the matter of the regularity of use of specified loading stations, the nature of loads being regular or variable, whilst reliance cannot be placed upon regularity of flow of the goods to be transported.
When a vehicle is in use for general work, that is picking up anywhere and unloading anywhere, the mechanical assistance must be self-contained or part of the vehicle. The most common of these devices, which, of course, operates only in connection with unloading, is the tipping body of various patterns.
Tipping Gear Saves its Cost in Two Years.
Whether an end, side or three-way tipping body is preferable depends, of course, upon the exact nature of the load and its disposal, but I propose taking the case of a plain hand-operated tipping wagon, as its application is very general. The additional cost of such a body on a new vehicle comparable with the War Office type is, say, £70. Working on the previous figure and assuming that, by tipping, one hour per day can be saved, this means that the extra outlay will be saved in. two years. If the vehicle has a life of seven years there will be a total saving of £175 during the period. 'As the first cost of the vehicle is larger, the depreciation figure per mile will naturally be fractionally greater, but I suggest that this is set off by the economies referred to in connection with labourers' wages, etc. For handling loads in the form of eases or similar packages some type of hoist or crane built into the body of the vehicle may easily repay its cost in approximately the same manner as a tipping body. Whether the hoist be fixed at one particular point, or whether it may be moved about the body to various places, is a question to be decided by the owner. in the light of his knowledge as to the jobs to be carried out. In all probability, the cost of installation will be approximately the same as that of the tipping body, if hand operation be specified. Extra outlay will, of course, be necessary if the winding is done by engine power. It should be remembered that for heavy packing cases a staff of extra men may be wanted if man handling is practised, and in consequence the increased cost by reason of the instalment of a crane will be recouped fairly rapidly. Another method, slightly less common, but none the less efficient, is the employment of a portable ramp for attaching to the rear of the lorry, and a winding drum or drums fixed to the rear axle shafts, with cables running over suitable pulleys. A few moments are necessary to put the winding mechanism into operation, but this principle may be used when the height of a jib is prohibitive. The load must, of course, be of a " slideable " nature ; sacks, for instance, cannot easily be treated in this manner.
A hand-operated winch similar to that fitted to horse slaughterers' carts may also be used in the same way to load heavy articles. A winch driven from the gearbox is a more expensive fitment, but worthy of incorporation if there is much winding-up of loads to be done.
Time Saving Devices at Terminals,
Coming now to loading and unloading devices which may be used at the picking-up points, there are broadly two classes. One is the use of interchangeable bodies, the other is the installation of some form of mechanism at the loading station. It is not essential to have a crane for lifting the loose bodies from the chassis in the first ease, as there are systems in existence which provide adjustable legs similar to screw jacks for raising and lowering the bodies, so placed that the lorry can be backed in between them to pick up or on driving out to leave a "fiat" or other type of body. Another method is the fitting of rollers to both the vehicle and station ramps, the body being slid on or off when desired. For builders and these handling loads of such a character as sand, detachable boxes provide a great economy in operation as compared with shovelling the material into and out of the ordinary lorry body.
To a small haulier who works between fixed points, or a chain of--fixed points, loading ramps are almost indispensable. Only too often does one observe the laborious method of lifting bricks, say, from the ground up to the lorry platform, about 3-ft. lift. To load a 4-ton lorry with bricks, two at a time, a man will make 710 separate, "lifts." Obviously, the task -tires him rapidly and his working speed diminishes quickly. If the bricks had to be moved on the same level from ramp to lorry there would be less fatigue, and consequently quicker working. The construction of a simple inclined ramp is not very costly, especially when the loads to be borne by it are small. Gravity chutes are easily and cheaply arranged for handling loose materials and, in many cases, the principle may be applied for facilitating the sliding of boxes. Small two-wheeled trolleys for small packages are very handy, and by their use much physical effort can be avoided, with a consequent reduction of expense.
For timber haulage, a roller placed at the rear end of the body enables two men to handle quite large-sized trunks or planks without excessive lifting• being necessary.
A crane of either a fixed or movable type has a very wide scope, especially if hoppers or " baskets " are used. The exact application of all loading devices and the financial considerations involved must be decided by individual hauliers, in accord ance with the jobs to be tackled. S.T.R.