Evening star., 1942-12-17

Extra Help Kept Busy
Following OPA Rules
On Sales and Coupons
Added to the rationing pro-
gram woes of harassed fuel oil
dealers in Washington is the VOL
ume OF expensive paper work"
required by the Office of Price
Administration in handling the
precious little coupons that mean
the difference between comfort
and the shivers in oil-heated
buildings.
One fuel dealer, with large and
long established business, has found
1t necessary to hire 80 additional
clerks. and force the firms veteran
employees to work six to seven hours
overtime each day to keep pace with
OPA orders and consumer demands.
The extra help, 1t was said, is
cutting deeply into this company's
earnings. An official said the gross
profit would be less than in any
previous year. Another fuel oil
dealer, whose business is small by
comparison, said he had to employ
three additional clerks which
jumped his expense $4,000 a year.
This includes salaries at $2,400 a
year each, plus postage, the cost Of
stationery and incidentals
What happens to the fuel oil
coupons after the dealers collect
them? And what causes the costly
paper work."
Must Match" Coupons.
First, the dealer must sort the
coupons turned in by a customer,
separating the No. / coupons from
the No. 2. These two groups must
be further divided. Coupons having
a five-gallon unit value must be
segregated from those having a 10
or 25gallon unit value. The coupons
then have to be attached to glue
surfaced regulation stamp sheet
issued by OPA, and all the stamps
on sheet must be identical.
Each sheet has numbered space
for so coupons. One dealer esti-
mated his clerical force pastes TO-
900 coupons a day on these stamp
sheets.
The job doesn't end there, how
ever. After the sorting and pasting
of coupons, form must be filled
out for OPA summarizing the result
and giving the dates on which the
Oil was delivered.
Must Relay Coupons.
But that is not all the dealer has
to do. He has one of two alterna-
tives in the next step for disposing
of the coupons, and replenish his
stock with the amount of oil repre-
sented by the stamps. He can send
the coupons to the oil distributor
which supplies him with the fuel;
or he can turn them in at the War
Price and Rationing Board covering
the area in which his Office is To-
Gated. One of the oil companies or
"suppliers," as the OPA describes
them, dealer said. insists that the
used coupons be surrendered to it
within 70 hours
In either case the used coupons
eventually find their way back to
rationing board. If the dealer turns
them into rationing board direct
he is issued a certificate of de-
posit" allowing him to purchase the
amount of oil represented by the
cancelled coupons. If he sends them
to the distributor, the supplier is
authorized to furnish him with the
number of gallons of oil called for
by the coupons. 1t is the duty then
coupons to a regional office of the
company and finally they find their
way to rationing board.
Fate Then Mystery.
But what does the rationing boards
do with the used coupons?
On this point there is some con-
fusion. At headquarters of the Dis
trict rationing board, it was said the
cancelled coupons would be de-
stroyed-"burned in the presence of
board members"
At OPA. however, it was said ra-
tioning boards had been instructed
to file the used coupons so it's ex-
aminers could, at any time, look
them over" to find out chiefly
whether there were any counter
feits among them. Already OPA
has received reports that counter
feiters had reproduced some very
good facsimiles OF the oil rationing
coupons.
Getting out deliveries when
promised, pasting up coupons on
stamp sheets and filling out ques-
tionnaires for the OPA are not the
only headaches confronting the fuel
oil dealers. Like a firm which has
credit accounts, some dealers have
been having trouble in getting con-
sumers to make good" on the
promissory notes for oil delivered
after October pending issuance
of the rationing coupon sheets.
"Dunning" has been resorted to in
only a few instances, dealers said,
since a large majority OF those who
were supplied oil "on credit have
Cancelled their debt.
To expedite delivery or fuel oil
and to save the consumer the trou-
BILE of handling coupons on every
orasr, nearly IS per cent Of the
dealers in Washington have taken
in the ration books Of customers
and make deductions OF coupons
when the fuel is delivered. This
arrangement, it was said, saves the
time of both the dealer and con-
sumner.