Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2008 7:59:24 GMT -8
Hey Neil, interesting thread... and allow me to steer it back on topic a bit. This may have been noted already (I started skimming when it went off-topic), but it seems to me BCF would have already crunched the same numbers you did when they set the commercial rates in the first place, to end up in a place where commercial vs. personal traffic would produce approximately the same revenue. The rates probably haven't changed relative to each other in decades, which means they would have settled on a workable formula a long time ago.
As you say, a lot of the "statements" put forward on the 'net, like the one that inspired this thread, are generally done with little or no real facts behind them, so it's nice to see someone actually put a little thought into it. I have no proof of my assertion above, but it only makes sense to me that BCF would use a formula of some type to come up with the commercial rates such that they're not losing significantly when the traffic varies EITHER WAY.
As Hardy notes, it's not always the same mix of personal/commercial traffic... but that only reinforces the need for a formula to balance out the variations.
One thing I don't think you included though (apologies if I missed it), is that while you can THEORETICALLY stack two cars in the same height as most big rigs, you can't do that on a ferry without an extra deck. With the exception of the boats with the movable "extra decks", you're still only going to get (approximately) three cars in the same space as a semi. That's a compromise that has to be made at the design stage, ultimately - you have to allot some space that you know will go wasted at times, and probably account for that in your commercial-rate formula.
BTW, on the subject of the dedicated commercial/container deck, there was a Discovery Channel program a while back on the Ulysses, "the world's car largest ferry", which among other things does have a dedicated trailer deck UNDER the main vehicle deck, where small tractors pack in the semi trailers for a sailing, thereby avoiding the need for the tractors and drivers to make the crossing - just drop your trailer off at one end, and someone else can pick it up on the other end. Probably not an efficient option for BCF routes, but an interested solution nonetheless. (Incredible ship, BTW - capacity for 240 trailers, and 1,342 cars!! If you get the chance, track down the Discovery Channel show on it, don't recall if it was a Megabuilders episode or what).
As you say, a lot of the "statements" put forward on the 'net, like the one that inspired this thread, are generally done with little or no real facts behind them, so it's nice to see someone actually put a little thought into it. I have no proof of my assertion above, but it only makes sense to me that BCF would use a formula of some type to come up with the commercial rates such that they're not losing significantly when the traffic varies EITHER WAY.
As Hardy notes, it's not always the same mix of personal/commercial traffic... but that only reinforces the need for a formula to balance out the variations.
One thing I don't think you included though (apologies if I missed it), is that while you can THEORETICALLY stack two cars in the same height as most big rigs, you can't do that on a ferry without an extra deck. With the exception of the boats with the movable "extra decks", you're still only going to get (approximately) three cars in the same space as a semi. That's a compromise that has to be made at the design stage, ultimately - you have to allot some space that you know will go wasted at times, and probably account for that in your commercial-rate formula.
BTW, on the subject of the dedicated commercial/container deck, there was a Discovery Channel program a while back on the Ulysses, "the world's car largest ferry", which among other things does have a dedicated trailer deck UNDER the main vehicle deck, where small tractors pack in the semi trailers for a sailing, thereby avoiding the need for the tractors and drivers to make the crossing - just drop your trailer off at one end, and someone else can pick it up on the other end. Probably not an efficient option for BCF routes, but an interested solution nonetheless. (Incredible ship, BTW - capacity for 240 trailers, and 1,342 cars!! If you get the chance, track down the Discovery Channel show on it, don't recall if it was a Megabuilders episode or what).