CHAPTER IX
A Comparison of National Conditions
The Fortunate Position of Great Britain—Causes of Rapid Development of Motor Transport—The Big Influence of London—Position of the Movement in European Countries.
In considering how far any form of subsidy scheme has been, or could be, truly successful, we have to take into account first of all the national and local conditions governing the use of motor vehicles in ordinary commercial service, and it is satisfactory to be able to record that a consideration of this subject leads to the conclusion that the position of Great Britain is peculiarly advantageous, inasmuch as the number of industrial motor vehicles in service is vastly in excess of the total requirement of the British Army, a state of affairs a parallel to which does not exist in any other European country.
The economical use of motors in trade and industry depends in the first case very largely upon the quality and quantity of the national roads. Great Britain is fortunate in the possession of the finest road system in the world. We are not limited as regards motor haulage by the absence of thoroughfares between our industrial or residential districts, and it is possible to deliver goods to practically every house or even cottage in the kingdom, without having to traverse anything worse than a short distance of rather rough country lane or private track.
There is no doubt that London has been very largely responsible for the enormous development of motor transport within the British Isles. It is generally considered that Paris represents the nearest approach to London for purposes of comparison. Nevertheless, the population of Paris is only about half that of London, and the area within which that population is included is only about one quarter. In other words, the density of population of Paris is double that of London, which means that the average distance to be traversed in delivering goods to a given number of people is much smaller in Paris than it is here. Now the motor vehicle is able to show superior economy over horse-drawn traffic mainly where it is able to make use of its capacity for speed and its ability to cover, without tiring, long distances in the course of a day. For house-to-house deliveries the motor is at a disadvantage, since while it is standing waiting before a door it represents a larger idle capital than the horsed cart, and the investment of this larger capital can only be justified if it results in the vehicle performing in a given time a far larger amount of work than would be possible if horses were used.
Taking, for example, the case of a 2-ton motor van capable of running about 100 miles in the course of a working day, the ideal condition is represented by a run under full load from the warehouse or store to some point about 50 miles distant. Here the whole load is delivered, and a complete return load is found. Such conditions are seldom available in practice, but the nearer it is possible to approach to them, the more likely is the motor to prove a profitable investment. On the other hand, supposing the car to be used for house-to-house work involving, let us say, 100 deliveries in the course of a day with a total distance covered of only about 10 miles, the motor may cover this distance in traffic in something like an hour, whereas a horsed vehicle might take two hours. The saving in that case is comparatively small, and represents, let us say, only an additional 10 deliveries or an advantage of 10 per cent. extra in the work done in the day. On the other hand, the cost of the motor is very much higher, and it is more than likely that on economical grounds the operating concern would not be justified in adopting mechanical transport.
Applying these examples of extreme cases to the general proposition, it is quite evident that both the larger population and the more scattered distribution of population of London make the metropolis a far more favourable nursery for the industrial motor than, let us say, Paris, or, for that matter, Berlin or Vienna. The great London houses have found that their conditions of delivery into outlying residential districts have been on the whole very favourable to motor transport, which they have consequently adopted extensively, favouring as a rule vans carrying loads varying between 25 cwt. and 3 or 4 tons, according to the nature of the goods to be handled. By establishing motor services they have been able in many instances to dispense with local distributing depôts in the environs of London, and they have found it possible greatly to extend their areas of direct delivery. One of the consequences has been that people resident 20, 30 or even 40 miles out of town are now able to place orders at big London houses, and to have the goods delivered direct to their own doors the same day, or at the latest on the following day. This delivery is effected without any unnecessary handling, and without any of that delay which must result if the railway is used as an intermediary.
By thus extending their field of operations, the big London houses have come directly into competition with the larger trading concerns centred in towns some distance from London. These local concerns have found that they were losing business to the London houses, and have been compelled in the interests of self-preservation to endeavour to retain that business by offering equally good and prompt facilities for delivery. Even so, some portion of their trade is necessarily lost to them, and they are compelled to seek new fields. In order to do this and to resist competition so far as may be, they are practically forced to adopt motor transport, and in their turn to extend their area until it embraces other towns and villages at a greater distance from the metropolis. Thus, the influence of London steadily spreads outwards encouraging the adoption of motor transport in other towns. A similar phenomenon takes place in a smaller degree round all of our very numerous big industrial cities, with the result that the motor van and the motor lorry have become familiar objects in every part of the country, and have, so to speak, acted as a moving advertisement of their own utility.
This process, coupled with the comparative excellence of our roads, has favoured the general adoption of motor haulage by traders of all classes throughout the country. The railways have in consequence felt the effects of the competition of the motor vehicle, and have retaliated by putting themselves into possession of considerable fleets, in order to secure the rapid distribution of the goods entrusted to them for delivery. In some instances, railway companies have established services in country districts to act as feeders to their branch or main lines. Simultaneously, the general development, initiated in the first case by private enterprise, has become so marked and has proved so conclusively the reliability of the heavy motor, that Government Departments—notably the General Post Office—have been impressed with the great possibilities of the new transport, and have adopted motor vans for long distance services as well as for local distribution of mails in great cities, as being more direct as well as more economical than the old arrangements with the railways. This applies particularly to the carriage of parcels.