Show transportation A PROBLEM by a man who knows it is surprising to note how little attention is being paid by mine owners and operators to one of their most difficult problems namely transportation there is no use in giving it up as a bad job and saying it cannot be done for if you have ore in your mine you must get it to the market as cheaply as possible in order to make it pay you facts taken from actual experience have taught us that motor haulage is mile much cheaper than teanis teams in other lines line s of business so why not in ore haulage most alost companies make the mistake of thinking that if they contract the haul they have rid themselves of the grief absolutely they have not in the first place they must pay the contractor more than the actual cost for hauling the ore or he cannot operate without the profit that is due him hill and when a delay comes in getting the ore to the market the grief falls back on the company in lost tonnage etc in many cases where a mining company owns motor equipment to baui us ts ore it is not successful wily why because it has left the management of the haul in the hands of the mine superintendent he may inay be an excellent mine man bu but t in nine cases out of ten lie will not be a transportation man remember in they are two separate jobs now a contractor to be successful in his hauling must have a transportation man in charge just as a building contractor must have a competent building man in charge if lie he is capable of getting such a man why cannot a mining company do as well here are a few suggestions that you may do well to ponder over first secure a competent transportation nian man place him in complete charge of your ha hauling tiling and hold him responsible lo 10 the main office for getting the ore down just as you hold your mine superintendent responsible for getting the ore out of the mine he will attend to getting good drivers if lie he is not big enough for the job get another who is there are such men second let this man help you in selecting electing the proper type of machine which will be adapted to your roads go over conditions with him first and then determine which type of machine that will be third institute a system whereby you know where and how your money is being spent and just how much per ton it is costing you to haul also keep a minute account of the various causes of lost time on the road and then set out to remedy them A railroad could not run a day without a well vell defined system a schedule for operating and running and a good bookkeeping system of course a railroad is probably larger than your problem but the same principle holds true do not blame the motors saying they fall down on your haul they may have done so but the same kind of motor has made good elsewhere then there must be a reason in most cases the reasons are the poor selection of the type of machine improper management incompetent drivers irresponsibility etc we have on record many failures tue clue to such things but we have no record of failures where the haul has been properly managed and the right kind of machine used we believe there is food here for some deep thought |