22 



BULLETIN 931, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



maining life of the truck depends not only upon its present condi- 

 tion but also upon the probable work it will do in the future and 

 the owner's idea as to when it will be cheaper to discard it and pur- 

 chase a new one than to spend more time and money on it for re- 

 pairs. There is quite a wide variation in the individual estimates 

 on this item, but the average life as obtained in this manner gives 

 the best available basis for figuring depreciation costs. The average 

 life of all trucks as figured by this method is 6.5 years. 



The annual depreciation was figured by dividing the first cost by 

 the life in years, and depreciation per mile of travel by dividing the 

 annual depreciation by the average number of miles traveled per 

 year. A comparison of these figures with those for the cost of fuel 

 and oil in Table XVIII and for tires in Table XIX shows that for 

 each size the depreciation charge is greater than the combined costs 

 of fuel, oil, and tires. 



REPAIRS. 



Each truck owner was asked to report the amount he had spent 

 for repairs since the purchase of his truck. A summary of the re- 

 plies for trucks of different sizes and ages is given in Table XVII. 



Table XVII. — Average repair cost of trucks of different sizes and ages. 



Present age (months owned). 



Size of truck. 



J and f- 

 ton. 



1-ton. 



Uand 

 lj-ton. 



2-ton. 



Average total expense for repairs. 





$9 

 38 

 41 



$13 



26 

 62 



$11 

 28 

 32 



$14 

 35 

 31 



13 to 24.- 



25 to 36 





The amounts which the owners of trucks of different sizes had 

 spent are as follows : 



One-half ton and three-fourths ton trucks : 



Of 43 men who had used their trucks 12 months or less — 

 24 had spent nothing for repairs. 

 15 had spent from $1 to $37. 

 4 had spent from $38 to $87. 

 Of 18 men who had used their trucks 13 to 24 months — 

 4 had spent nothing for repairs. 

 9 had spent from $1 to $37. 

 3 had spent from $38 to $87. 



had spent from $88 to $137. 

 2 had spent $138 or more. 



Of 4 men who had used their trucks 25 to 36 months — 



1 had spent nothing for repairs. 

 1 had spent from $1 to $37. 



1 had spenl from $38 to $87. 

 1 had spent from $88 to $137. 



