Truck system

“ The results in benefit to the agriculture of the country in a general system of good roads, will be most felt through the facility it will give the farmer in marketing his products. With the aid of the motor truck, the farmer may be able to meet, in many cases, the congestion-of-freight-by-railroad problem.
Adding to its other benefits, the automobile promises to be an element in the reduction of the high cost of living, and if it does aid in this it will be in two directions, first, as a freight carrier, and, second, by displacing the horse. ”

“ That motor trucks not only furnish cheaper transportation than horse-drawn vehicles, but greatly extend the radius of operation, is quite generally conceded. This is shown by the enormous increase in the demand for motor trucks in all lines of business where goods of any kind are to be moved over any considerable distance.
Chassis of the Latest Model 31⁄2-Ton Truck
With motor trucks, merchants have extended their deliveries to reach territory they could not touch under the horse-delivery system. ”

“ The cost to the average motorist will be small, but the benefit to our transportation system will be immense. The program will also stimulate 170,000 jobs, not in make-work projects but in real, worthwhile work in the hard-hit construction industries, and an additional 150,000 jobs in related industries. It will improve safety on our highways and will make truck transportation more efficient and productive for years to come. ”

“ The highway problem can never receive adequate consideration until public highways are recognized as an indispensable element in the business equipment of a nation.
During the World War all transportation facilities were taxed to the limit, and motor trucks were utilized for long distance freight haulage to an extent not previously considered practicable. As a result, the interest in the motor truck as an addition to the transportation equipment of the nation, has been greatly stimulated. ”

“ It seems to be the opinion of those who have had experience that automobile trucks for refuse collection are neither economical nor convenient, owing to the many stops and starts and the slow general progress. None of the 224 cities from which data have been received uses automobile trucks exclusively. Several have automobile trucks in service but practically all of these use them for hauling from transfer stations over long distances to the place of disposal. At some of these loading stations a crane is used to lift the detachable body or tank from the wagon and place it on the truck. ”

“ Similarly, the hauling of raw materials and finished goods to and from the factories, warehouses, docks and railroads generated a tremendous volume of truck and dray traffic. Outside of the industrial areas, city dwellers depended on their streets for deliveries of coal, ice and groceries.
A typical 3-horse truck of the 1890’s weighed 7,000 pounds empty and could carry a 10-ton pay load, and horsedrawn trucks and drays capable of hauling 18-ton net loads were fairly common in large cities. These vehicles ran on steel tires which pulverized all but the hardest pavement surfaces. ”

“ Accurate observations of motor truck performance in city trucking business has shown that a large part of the day is given up to loading and unloading, that the truck stands still so much of the time that the cost is more nearly proportional to time than to mileage. Since certain charges such as interest and insurance go on whether the truck is idling or not, it is better to keep it moving. To do this effectively depots, warehouses, and other terminal facilities are provided to lessen the time of loading and unloading. ”

“ It is absolutely necessary to utilize our facilities to the maximum and to extend the use of the highways by the more efficient use of motor vehicles which can operate independent of fixed lines or terminals where congestion of traffic is likely to occur. The motor truck can help the railroad by reducing the short-haul load, and also act as a feeder line in sections far removed from market. ”

“ When only ordinary unpaved public roads are available, flexibility is one of the most important characteristics to look for when selecting a truck. Where the operator is hauling over his own pole or plank road this consideration does not play so important a part, as the road bed then is more likely to be free from holes and irregularities. ”

“ A single swallow does not make a summer, but the trend is no doubt toward much longer truck trips. And as the roads and vehicles become stabilized and standardized this will be even more evident. For example, milk collected at stations 50 and 60 miles from the large cities can be hauled in to market in large tank cars which are built somewhat on the thermos or vacuum bottle principle, the milk arriving at its destination cooler and in every way better than if hauled in small containers. The truck has a large field open for its especial qualities. ”

“ A 1965 study of the tri-State area comprising New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut indicated that trucks moved over 75 percent of the tonnage and accounted for 97 percent of the value of freight moved.
Trucking and Other Modes
In the intercity freight market, significant impediments to free market forces are at work determining the relative shares taken by each transportation mode. Airlines and railroads in particular are subject to more pervasive and stringent economic regulations than trucking. In 1970, only about 41 percent of truck and 7 percent of water ton-miles were regulated. ”

“ All makes of trucks are more or less alike in general construction, differing only in minor details, so that the personal whims of the buyer will largely determine the kind he will select. It is advantageous to have as long a distance as possible between the driver’s seat and the bunk over the rear axle, in order to allow more of the load to be carried by the truck, and less by the trailer, giving better traction to the drive wheels, but necessitating extra strong rear springs and axles. ”

“ Also for short hauls, say up to 60 miles, the transportation costs are in favor of the trucks.
The farmer may obtain the benefits of motor transportation in at least four different ways: (a) He may own and operate his own truck. This pays when the farm is of sufficient size to keep the truck reasonably busy. (b) Two or more neighbors may coöperate in the ownership of a truck. This is applicable to small and medium-sized farms. (c) By patronizing truck lines privately owned which haul [200] products, freight, and express upon a charge basis. ”

“ But as the decade advanced, the need grew for heavy freight engines that could be safely run at speed. Without a pilot truck, the leading driving axle of the freight engine was generally overloaded. While the application of a 4-wheel truck reduced this front-end overload and permitted faster running it materially reduced the traction of the drivers by bearing too great a portion of the total weight. ”

“ This operation released 17,250 railroad cars for other work, but the cost per ton-mile was high, even without considering the efforts of the States and counties to keep the roads open. From a historical viewpoint, the main accomplishment of the truck routes was to demonstrate that it was possible to keep long stretches of highway open to traffic through a severe winter and that dependable long-distance interstate travel on the highways was desirable and even necessary. ”

“ One of the principal advantages of marketing by truck is the less liability of losses in transit. Dealers and owners often crowd too many hogs into a freight car and as a result some smother. Or, if hogs from different farms are placed together in a car there may be fighting, which unduly heats up the hogs with equally dire results. ”

“ Wherever the item of road construction is important, it may be stated in general that the time required and the cost of building roads for motor trucks are very much less than for a logging railroad. This is due to the lesser importance of grades, curves, ballasting, bridges and other construction work, all of which is much cheaper and takes less time. In case a pole road is built the [8] material found adjacent to the right of way can be utilized for what it costs to fell it.
From the standpoint of adaptability the motor truck is very flexible. ”

“ Now that the pleasure-car has practically been standardized, vast energy will be concentrated on the development of the truck. Wherever I went on a recent trip through the automobile-making zone, I found that the manufacturers had been experimenting in this direction, and were laying plans for a big output within the next few years. This year's production will be about five thousand vehicles.
The ability and efficiency of the commercial truck for hard city work are undisputed. It has had its test in New York, where traffic is dense and most difficult to handle. ”

“ It probably could be shown that for many kinds of hauling, teams are more economical than motor trucks, but when promptness and speed and the consequent effect on dependent activities are considered, the motor truck often has a distinct advantage, and the use of the truck to replace horse drawn vans is progressing rapidly. ”

“ Spokesmen for the infant trucking industry urged the States not to strangle trucking by imposing unrealistically low weight limits. George Pride, President of the Heavy Haulage Company of New York City, spoke out against the 3-ton limit advocated by several States, which, he said, would increase hauling costs by 20 percent, as compared to hauling in 5-ton or larger trucks.
. . . either directly or indirectly, the ultimate consumer pays the cost of all transportation of the commodities he uses. If the cost of transportation is lessened by the motor truck, he gets the benefit of the decrease ”

“ Objection to the trailer that it tends to shorten the life of the truck is hardly worth consideration. According to a careful analysis it has been estimated that the use of the trailer does not shorten the life of the truck by more than one year, which is of little consequence when the saving due to the size of the load that can be carried is taken into consideration. ”

“ Added to the increased loads of goods to be transported is the fact that man power must be conserved. Heretofore the farmer has done his own hauling to market, but adoption of the rural motor express will enable him to delegate his hauling and to devote his own time to farm operations. An enormous waste of time and labor of both men and teams can be prevented by consolidating the small loads from a number of farms into a single load to be carried by a motor truck. ”

“ If the difference in cost per ton-mile could be reduced to twelve cents with terminal costs at $6 per ton, and doubtless this may be done under favorable circumstances, the distance would be lengthened to 50 miles. This is probably the maximum motor truck haul which can in general profitably compete with rail transportation. With better roads, larger trucks, trailers, or, in special cases, with certain classes of goods and commodities, longer hauls will be profitable.
The distances which it seems profitable to do trucking are continually being lengthened. ”

“ Forty to 60 per cent of our potato crop is lost each year by rotting in the ground owing to poor transportation to market because of inadequate transportation over long distance.... By motor trucks the farmer will be able to reach better markets farther away than now by horse and wagon. He will be able to spend more time actually producing on his farm and be able to sell food more cheaply by eliminating the present tremendous waste. By use of the motor truck the farmer will be able to produce more and sell at less cost. ”

“ If the owner desires to do his own hauling of the feed from the railroad and the other necessary trucking he would, of course, have to keep more horses, a team at least, or an automobile truck. Where only one horse is kept, this trucking must be hired done. ”

“ Where large concerns like packing houses are supplied with railway tracks right to their doors, shipping in car load and train load lots is not only more economical but absolutely necessary where such large quantities are transported in refrigerator cars. But for distribution to towns near-by the truck is much more convenient and economical. It is impossible to say for so-many-miles it is cheaper to ship by truck, because each commodity must be considered individually in connection with the character of the roads, the conditions of weather and climate, and the time of delivery. ”

“ In 1902, when the great trek was made north to Herald Square, there were a hundred. Today there are more than two hundred and fifty, of which by far the larger number are motor driven. These last range all the way from the big five-ton motor trucks which, as we shall presently see, are used primarily for carrying merchandise between the store and its outlying [Pg 187] distributing stations, down to the small one-ton truck, which is used at its greatest advantage in city street distribution. And an astonishing number of horse-drawn vehicles remain. ”

“ Road-motors, comfortably furnished, will therefore be mounted upon low railway trucks of special construction, designed to permit of their being run on and off the trucks from the level of the ground. The plan of mounting a road vehicle upon a truck suited to receive it has already been adopted for some purposes, notably for the removal of furniture and similar goods ”

“ Despite the fact that trucking had already released thousands of cars for war purposes and the roads in the vicinity of cantonments and ports of embarkation were being pounded to pieces by truck traffic, the Priority Board refused to recede from its position, and road work and road materials production that was dependent on rail transportation ground to a stop. ”