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

124 MOTOR ROAD TRANSPORT Value of Proper Records. If an owner keeps no records, or insufficient ones, he can never run his delivery service at its best. No two services are necessarily alike, and all have their weak spot. Without sound knowledge of the ins and outs of the despatch, it is impossible to locate and remedy the weak points, nor can any control be kept over the driver when he is on his rounds. As an illustration, a vehicle may be employed on a service for which it is unsuited. In the case of a proper log being kept this will be detected within a week or two, whereas without means of observation it might be six months or even a year before the owner dis- covered that the motor was not bringing in the best return of which it was capable. It is no easy matter for the trader who has little or no experience of motor delivery to obtain the best results from his van from the outset. The cautious man will, therefore, put the vehicle on the service which he considers likely to prove the most suitable, and will let his book of records confirm or alter his decision. A suggestion of what items should be recorded will be found in the next chapter.