The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-11-18
AID TO MERCHANTS.
cooperative Delivery a Success
Wherever Rightly Tried.
EGW THE SYSTEM WORKS.

e uie''ou ny WHICH mere nantS may
reduce expenses and AT the same time
increase trade is by the cooperative
delivery system. 1t also furnishes a
protection against deadbeats Ii has
been successful wherever tried on right
lines. To avoid complications drivers
should not be allowed to solicit orders.
though they may take orders and de-
liver them TO the firm voluntarily die
tated by the customer. The concern
should not be organized for profit. and
certain taxes can be avoided in most
states II 1t is incorporated as a non
money making company. 1t is got
up by the merchants Of the town. each
OF whom pays a certain agreed rate
Tor the delivery of packages A slid
Ing scale of prices may be agreed on
Tor packages of different sizes and
character. In some towns the fat rate
of certain charge per month has been
tried. but is not so satisfactory as the
charge per piece
10 give the detailed workings of the
system it is well to take a specific in
stance. have before me an interview
published in the illinois Retail Mer-
chants journal, which 1t takes from
another paper, but does not give the
name of this exchange nor that of the
merchant intervie wed. The city in
which the experiment is tried is one
of about 1900 inhabitants. | quote
the most salient points in the inter
view:
I'm starting a central delivery sys-
TEN the first thing to do is to route
out your city and number each route.
About week before you open the cen
trail station give each driver his route
and have him call on each customer
on his route. He can explain the pur-
pose Of the system and leave at each
house copy of letter outlining the
entire plan, also a route card Have
him mark on the route card the num-
Der of the route the customer is on. so
that in ordering goods the customer
eau give the number of the route and
address.
Our central station is located in a
central part of town. We have a large
building. about So by 6S feet, and the
wagons drive in one door and out an
other. They come in order-tirst No. l.
and No. 2, and so on. On one side of
the wall there is large distributing
counter. There is space for each
route on this counter and each man
arranges the deliveries for his route
under the direction of a Superintend-
ent.
I'VE make five deliveries a day, three
in the morning and two in the after
noon. We deliver about two miles in
each direction. and the routes are so
arranged that the driver delivers up
enc street and down another. so that
te works both ways. going out and
coming in.
Their first trip in the morning is to
the different stores. where they select
the goods for the first delivery. These
orders are taken to the central station
and distributed. and all wagons leave
there at the same time. On their way
back to the station they again call at
the stores and gather the orders for
the next trip.
This system is also helpful in keep
ing track of 'deadbeat' customers. If
you have a customer who owes you
bill and then stops trading with you
aud you cannot find out where he is
trading. by going to the central sta
ton you can ascertain what store the
goods are coming from. And. again,
you may have customers who refuse
to pay for goods claiming they never
received them. If the goods were de
iivered the superintendent caA in a
very few minutes produce the coupon
which was attached to the order show
ing the date delivered. who delivered
1t and the number of packages.
I'VE also have a lot of outside de-
hveries for people not in the company.
The revenue from this is what we call
velvet
Our system nets US a saving of from
20 to 60 per cent as compared with the
old method of delivering, and we would
not now do without it for anything"
While this experiment was tried in a
city of $4,000, there is no reason why
it should not work equally we'll in a
city or village of almost any size. pro-
vided. Of course. 1t is large enough to
require deliveries at all. 1t might be
well to add that the merchant giving
the above interview was himself the
mover in the matter of starting the CO.
operative delivery system in his town.
Calling the other merchants together.
he laid the matter before them. and a
committee was appointed TO investi-
gate. The report was favorable. and
the enterprise was started with twen-
ty-four members Firms having de
livery wagons and horses of their own
put these in on an agreed basis Other
wagons were bought. each firm con
tributing its share. The effort was a
success from the start.
Cooperation is absolutely essential
in building up town or in winning
trade. II is the most effective method
of lighting catalogue houses. IL is the
cooperation of merchants in com
mercial club or some kindred organiza.
ton thai. is the secret of the growth
and advancement of so many Ameri-
can cities. This system of cooperative
daltvariec Ia hut another fpa turp Of