Companies in the coal mining business use a lot of property, plant, and equipment. Not only is there the significant investment they must make in the equipment used to extract and process the coal, but they must also purchase the rights to the coal reserves themselves.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Inc. is the largest tire manufacturer in North America. Chesapeake Energy Corporation claims to be the largest private-sector coal company in the world. The following information was taken from these companies' December 31, 2015, annual reports. All dollar amounts are in millions.

Required
a. Calculate depreciation costs as a percentage of sales for each company. (Round to three decimal places.)
b. Calculate buildings, property, plant, and equipment as a percentage of total assets for each company. (Round to three decimal places.)
c. Based only on the percentages calculated in Requirements a and b, which company appears to be using its assets most efficiently? Explain your answer.
d. Identify some of the problems a financial analyst encounters when trying to compare the used of long-term assets of Chesapeake versus Goodyear.

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Chesapeake Energy Goodyear Tire $12,764 2,229 $16,443 Sales Depreciation and depletion costs Property, plant, and equipment 697 (net of accumulated depreciation) Total assets Depreciation method 14,298 17,357 Straight-line and units of production 6,777 16,439 Straight-line Estimated life of assets: Buildings Machinery and equipment 10 to 39 years 3 to 20 years 3to45years 3to40years