WHY RAILWAYS DON’T PAY

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2733, 15 May 1924, Page 1

WHY RAILWAYS DON’T PAY

EFFECT OF MOTOR COMPETITION. BIG SAVING TNT COSTS. "[I (lid not make any difference t<> ns," said the principal of one of the lending Wanganui business firms to an etxehange reporter when asked for an opinion in regard to the railway strike. He added that his linn had for some years past done their entire trade with motor lorry, in fact, the firm’s first motor lorry paid for itself within the first year. As the firm’s lorry with a load of .‘1 ions 8 ewt. had .just completed a trip to Palmerston X. the speaker gave the following illuminating figures on the basis of a return freight of the same weight, in view of the fact that the railway charges from Wanganui to Palmerston North or vice versa for the goods in ouestion under Class C are 2(>/ll a ton, plus 40 per cent: — £ d Rail charges to P.X 0 S 0 Delivery charges at P.X. it (i Cartage to P.X. station 1 ■"> (i Rail charges In Wanganui (i 8 0 €ll 1 0 “It used In cost Us €ll 1, - to send 3 tolls 8 ewt. of goods to out' Palmerston X. customer and deliver the same weight of goods hack to ns’ he added. “That is what the delivery of the same weight at Palmerston North and return freight of the same, weight cost.-, now we use our motor lorrv: — s d Eight gallons benzine 17 -J One gallon oil 2 b Driver's wages for day 16 0 £1 15 10 “On the faee of it,’’ he continued, “the saving to our firm is £l2 5/2 onthe trip. Of course, allowance has to be made for maintenance.-depre-ciation of the lorry and interest on the original outlay of £IOOO to purchase it, hut there is plenty of margin to cover all that.” The business man added that on the other side of Wanganui his firm delivered by motor lorry as far a| New Plymouth and brought a return freight back, and the saving, despite heavier expenses, was proportionately bigger compared with the trade to Palmerston North. “The railways have served a good purpose in the past as far as our business is concerned,” he said in conclusion, “but on the faee of the above figures how can they be expected to pay compared with motor transit?”