New Britain herald., 1917-10-10
UNIT DELIVERIES
 AID TO MERCHANTS
U. s. Chamber Of Commerce
 Finds System Is Success

Washington, oct. 10-A study of CO., operative delivery systems undertaken several months ago by the Commer- cial Economy board of the Council of National Defense has shown that such systems have commonly saved 40 per cent to 50 per cent in invest ment and operating costs as com- pared with the individual systems re- placed. The first results of the in- vestfgation, covering cooperative systems in 47 cities and towns, have just been made public by the board, together with a number of practical suggestions on installing similar sys- tems.
 Of the 47 cities and town studied the board found that the cooperative plan has been success in 30, fail ure in 5, and doubtful as to results in 12. largly because the systems in the 12 places had only recently been installed These cities and towns are located in 20 different states, and range in population from less than 1000 to more than 100000.
 In one city of 12,000 population 14 wagons were found to be doing the work which under the old system re- quired 2O One grocer in town of 4,O0O had cut his delivery expenses from $1,638 to $806 year. A mer- chant in another town reduced his delivery expense from $675 to SPA a month. Eleven stores in another place reported an annual saving of $5,00O. In one city wagons re- placed 17, and in another Il men, IA horses and one car replaced 21 men, 32 horses and 4 cars.
 The savings generally did not mean
 
 Der of instances the service was act ually increased.
 Several factors, the board states, contribute to the saving which gen. erally results from cooperative de- liveries. Depreciation charges on vehicles are generally reduced, be- cause instead of several wagons or trucks covering a single district at the same time, one does the work: In place of several complete equip ments one will do. Wagons are like ly to go out more fully loaded. More deliveries are made per mile of driv- ing Several supervisors are replaced by one. 4 unified and more economi- 1 cal planning of routes is made pos sible
 The fire suggestions made by the l board on stalling a cooperative sys- 1 tenn come partly from systems which 1 have succeeded and partly from those which have failed. They are intended l to help merchants who are not eX- perienced in organizing and carry 1 ing on cooperative deliveries to avoid the pitfalls which have generally been l the causes of failure.
 | First, the board says, particular pains should be taken to secure inn
 partial valuation of the equipment | turned over by the cooperating mer- | chants In some cases old harness and old wagons have been given in at l figures far exceeding their true worth. ] A system in which this sort of l)rac- l tice is possible at the outset naturally 1 works under a disadvantage. i Second, the board suggests that
 merchants planning to cooperate consider the advisa bility of establish ing central station where parcels l can be brought and grouped accord i ing to routes. where c. o. d. collec- ] tions can be turned in, and where all 1 the business of the system can be con- 1 centrated. The central station is not l desirable in all cases but it has been 1 found profitable in many.
 The boards third suggestion is that all details connected with c. o. d. , orders be worked out with great care. | This is one of the most important l problems It requires for it's solution 1 responsible drivers, a special account l ing system, and a definite agreement 1 with merchants as to when they may l expect returns. Irresponsible drivers