MOTOR TRUCKS OX EASTERN FARMS. 

 LIFE AND DEPRECIATION OF TRUCKS. 



23 



The average first cost, average life, v and average depreciation per 

 year and per mile traveled for trucks of \ to 2 tons in size are shown 

 in Table XIV. There were so few reports on trucks over 2 tons in 

 size that no figures for them have been included. 



Table XIV. — First cost, life, and depreciation charges for trucks of different sizes. 

 [ Italic figures in parentheses indicate number of reports for respective items.] 



Size of truck. 



J-ton. -J-ton. 



1-ton. 



1}- and 1§- 

 ton. 



2-ton. 





S574 (149) SI, 269 (94) 

 26(116) 1 37(66) 



S900 (342) 

 59 (289-) 



SI, 731 (67) 

 111 (50) 



S2, 366 (9) 





99 (58) 









Total cost 



600 j 1.306 959 



. 1, 842 



2,465 









2.7(150) \ 2.3(95) 

 3.9 (94) i 4. 8 (56) 



1- 6 (344) 

 4.7(196) 



2. 1 (67) 

 5. 1 (40) 



2. 5 (79) 





5. 4 iA8) 











6. 6 7. 1 6. 3 



7.2 



7.9 









S91 S184 : 8152 



S256 



3, 100 (52) 



SO. 083 



S312 





3,790(113) | 4,370(50) ■ 3,660(253) 

 SO. 024 i SO. 042 SO. 04] 



4, 070 (60) 





SO. 077 













The quoted price of the truck often does not include some equip- 

 ment which it is necessary or desirable to have, and each man was 

 asked to report not only the first cost of his truck, but also the cost 

 of any extra equipment he had purchased for it. It was found that 

 nearly 75 per cent of the men had bought some equipment which was 

 not included in the quoted price. This extra equipment varied from 

 minor attachments costing only $2 or $3 to bodies and cabs costing 

 as much as S200 or $300. As shown in the table, the amount spent 

 for this extra equipment has been added to the reported first cost to 

 obtain the total cost. 



In all, 7 men reported that they owned trailers for use with their 

 motor trucks. However, the cost of these trailers was not included 

 in the total cost of the trucks. 



The total life of the trucks was figured by adding the present age 

 (that is, the average number of years which the trucks had been 

 owned) to the average of the estimates of the remaining number of 

 years for which the trucks will give satisfactory service. The remain- 

 ing life of the truck depends not only upon its present condition, 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 purchase a new 

 one than to spend more time and money on it for repairs. 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 was 6.7 years. 



