The scale and cost of a transhipment depot (tsd) to serve swindon town centre have been considered, and the results compared with previous studies of transhipment. Goods vehicles over 3 tons unladen weight were assumed to make deliveries and collections at a depot on the outskirts of the town. From there, a fleet of light vehicles would carry the goods to and from the town centre. It was assumed that the tsd would not handle certain unsuitable commodities and that firms making short journeys would use their own light vehicles for town-centre visits. At 1975 prices, the cost of handling the remaining goods (average retail value £800/ton) would be about £500000 annually (which is £4 per head of the population of swindon or £9 per ton handled). Labour costs would account for more than half of this. There would be additional costs of up to £2/ton for loss and damage to the goods. For most firms, it would be cheaper to use lighter vehicles for town-centre deliveries than to retain their existing fleets and use this type of tsd (assuming the tsd were operated without support from public funds). (Author/publisher).
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