Should the Retail Lumber Dealer Charge for Delivery o

By Mr. E. D. Minton, of Palb Alto, before thc California ' Retail Lumbermens Association, gan F'nancisco

Should the retail lumber dealer charge for del,ivcry ? The answer to this question depends on the location of the business .and local conditions. If th,e trade is distinctly rural and a large proportion of the customers call for their ' wants with their teams or trucks the lumber dealer should be equipped with yar'd clerks to wait on .such trade. His prices should be based on the cost of selliqg in this way and if it costs him more to deliver his goods than to furnish a clerk to wait on the customer, he is perfectly justified in charging cartage. But don't overlook the fact that it fis expensive to rnaintain clerks to wait on customers, and that their time waiting o.n a customer and. their IoSt time between sales is likefy to be as great as the cost of delivery. This system is very inflexible with a big rustr) for a few hours and perhaps lost time the balance of the day. you cannot control the customer but must wait on him w,hen he comes and often iause him vexatious delays.

On the other hand there is the city or highly developerd suburban territory with relatively dense population ind hjSh purchasing power. In this type of - territory it is cheaper to maintain a delivery system than to wa,it on customers as they call. We operate in such a terr.itory covering the entire Santa Clara valley with a free dilivery system. Roughly described our two sales ofifices, at Sair Jose and Palo Alto, make two corners of a triangle about twenty miles long with our home office and plant lt M,ountain View near the middle. The other point of the triangle is Saratoga ten or fifteen miles from lsan Tose tand pilo Alto. Our fleet of seven trucks cover this large field daily. One foreman and two clerks ke;p, the trucks loaded and on the road. The sytem is extremely flexible handling ,,peakloads" easily and keeping comfortably busy between rush days.

It may interest you to know our cost oif del,ivery on ,a line of building material that ranges from a low ton value on 'brick to a hi,gh ton value on millwork, hardware and plumbing goods.

Our books from January lst to October lst, 1!123 sh,ow the following cost of delivery per $100.00 of goods sold:

Straight or Mixed Cars

Phir Ort Floorbl

Qrrrts,.d OrL Floot{al

Bcoch Floorir3

Herdrood Triu

Hrrdrood Mouldtn3

Roqh or Drorcd Orl

Lunbor

Rou3h or Drorrcd Crnn

Lunbor

Orlr Wrson Stocl

Puquctry Stripr

Aronrtic Rcd Codrr

This is slightly higher than actual cost lbecause it in. cludes the fuel and oil, repairs and depreciation of the salesrnen's cars. One important factor ,in securing high efficiency in delivery is maintaining our own repaiishop with a competent mechanic.

My main argument for a free delivery system is that iit creates good-will. The customer revolts against oaving, cartage. To him it is a kind of war tax a'dded on anfr,gi""i the idea that the lumber dealer is try,ing to get allithelraffic will bear. Free d,elivery synrbolizls riodern service. We are thoroughly "sold" on it.