Motor Road Transport For Commercial Purposes
(Liquid Fuel, Steam, Electricity)

CHAPTER XV PASSENGER CARRYING—'TYPES OF VEHICLES One of the best paying and the least risky branches of motor transport is that of passenger carrying, especially as regards the larger types of public service vehicles. The man who is likely to obtain the best results is the one who purchases his vehicles after ascertaining the class of work to which they are to be put, and the importance of suitability can hardly be too much insisted upon. This is so in every branch of mechanical transport, and passenger carrying is no exception. The Question of Suitability. To take two exaggerated examples, no trader organizing such a service where long, or comparatively long distances, are to be run would choose an exter- nally-fired steam chassis, or a. vehicle with an all- electric drive. According to such conditions of the service as— (1) The average number of passengers, (2) Town or Country work or a combination, (3) Condition and contour of roads, so must the type of chassis and body be determined, if real success is to be gained. Cases vary so widely, and there is such a broad range in the choice of a suitable chassis, that it is impossible to lay down any definite rules on the matter. There are, however, one or two points which might be mentioned as likely to prove of help to those who do not possess much knowledge of the subject, and who naturally wisb. to avoid the disastrous pitfall of buying the wrong machine. 116