The San Francisco call., 1913-09-06
MOTOR TRUCK IS
! FAR SUPERIOR
To HORSE
Many Merchants Do Not
Keep Account of Work
/ of Both Methods
A MOTOR VEHICLE
DOES DOUBLE WORK
0. c. Mcfarland, Agent for
Commercial Truck, Gives
Interesting Data

g THE motor truck industry is q
most serious commercial proposition
of the day" says 0. c. Mcfarland OF
the Mcfarland Auto company
agents and distributors of the CON-
mercial motor truck.
There is no question but what mo-
tor trucks and delivery wagons will
.revolutionize the methods of trans
porting freight.
The business man who has in
stalled the propelled service and
who runs II fntelligently and scien-
uncally. as he does other branches OF
MS business, has found it a most pro-
ntable proposition.
The main trouble with the mer-
chant who has installed the motor
truck. and especially the delivery
wagon. is that he has not paid enough
attention to detail in the matter of
keeping account OF the cost of upkeep
and operation. The average merchant
before the motor truck or delivery
wagon attracted serious thought did
not actually know with the use of the
horse drawn vehicle what it cost him
10 deliver his merchandise.
The horse and wagon did Just so
much work; when business Increased
more horse drawn vehicles were in
stalled. but the actual cost of each
package or load was never figured out.
The result was and is today, in the
majority of cases. that the merchant
can not actually tell you Just what his
freight transportation costs to de-
liver
Many of those who have bought
motor trucks and delivery wagons
follow out the same plan, only charg-
ing TO drayage the principal items.
The comparison of some figures OF
today seem to show a little more cost
than they did In the days of the
horses popularity. The merchant
then decides that he has not made a
gam commercially with the motor
vehicle.
In practically. every case where
this statement has been made by the
merchant 1t has been found that he
can not tell how many packages or
tons Of freight have been handled
The merchant who thoroughly ap-
preeiates the value of the motor truck
or delivery wagon should thoroughly
systematize his draying department.
Before putting in the motor vehicle
ne should reorganize his horse drawn
department; that is, he should charge
Up what 1t would cost him to put in a
new outfit Of horses and wagons.
Then to keep a regular schedule of
the number OF packages and amount
OF freight handled The cost of the
department including care, feed and
draymen's services and other Incl
dentals. divided by the number of
packages or tons of freight, would
give an idea OF what it costs him to
make delivery. After he has worked
this out for at least a month, he could
install motor truck for the
same length of time and figure out
the cost of operation in the same way
as he. did with his horse drawn
vehicle
Tie must keep a strict account of
the time in which the horse drawn
vehicle or motor vehicle is idle. This
viii show the full capacity of work Of
both
There are merchants who have in
stalled the motor vehicles and find
that it is practically costing them as
much as the horse, and are wondering
where the advantage comes in. In
nine cases ont of ten it will be found
that the motor truck has done more
work than the horse and many times
faster
a merchant should thoroughly ap-
preciate the capacity of the CONNER
cial motor vehicle and Judge for him
self II he has enough to keep him
busy or If his business is likely to
increase with its use enough to neces-
state its running the flNl length of
business hours.
There is no question but what a
days work by the motor commercial
vehicle viii show a tremendous gain
and profit over the horse drawn
vehicle or the same amount Of money
invested in the horse drawn vehicle
as is invested In the truck during a
days work, OF. in fact, a months
work or a year