EXPERIENCE WITH MOTOR TRUCKS. 

 COST OF OPERATION. 



29 



The average cost of operating trucks of different sizes is given in 

 Table XXII. The items included are depreciation, repairs, interest 

 on investment, registration and license fees, gasoline and oil, and 

 tire cost. 



The figures for annual depreciation are obtained from Table XVI, 

 and those for repairs from page 24. \ 



Interest is figured at 6 per cent on the average investment. The 

 average investment has been found by the rule: Average invest- 



Trno t»g r\T SOT* VI CO 1 1 



ment= first cost X s = — tts • This is the generally accepted 



years or service X 2 



method for determining the average investment in equipment where 



a fraction of the first cost is charged off each year for depreciation. 



The interest charge when computed on this basis is slightly greater 



than when computed on one-half of the first cost. 



The registration and the license fees are the averages of those re- 

 ported for the year of 1920 by the owners. These fees vary consider- 

 ably in the different States. 



The number of miles traveled per year are obtained from Table 

 XV, the gasoline and oil costs from Table XVIII, and the tire cost 

 from Table XIX. The tire costs used are those for pneumatic tires 

 for each size. In no case is the average cost for solid tires more than 

 1 cent per mile different from the pneumatic tire costs. 



No charge has been made for taxes, insurance, housing, or for labor 

 spent in caring for the truck. However, these charges would ordi- 

 narily amount to a very small portion of the total cost of operation. 



Table XXII. — Cost of operating trucks of different sizes. 



Size. 



-ton and 

 J-ton. 



lj-ton 



and 1J- 



ton. 



2-ton. 



Fixed charges: 



Annual depreciation 



Annualrepairs * 



Annualinterest 



Annual registration and license fee 



Total fixed charges 



Miles traveled per year 



Fixed charges per mile 



Gasoline and oil per mile 



Tires per mile 



Total cost per mile 



100 

 63 

 14 



386 



279 



416 



3,928 



2,630 



2,570 



150 

 73 

 20 



531 



2,837 



$0. 098 

 .024 

 .030 



3.106 

 .029 

 .017 



3.162 

 .030 

 .021 



.152 



.152 



.213 



$0. 187 

 .037 

 .034 



