Truck (vehicle)

“ 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 ”

“ No commercial motor vehicle, trucktractor, trailer, or semi-trailer shall be operated on the public highway outside of the limits of an incorporated city or town with a load exceeding seven thousand (7000) pounds on any such vehicle or train or combination of vehicles; and no motor vehicle, commercial motor vehicle, truck-tractor, trailer or semi-trailer having a greater weight than six hundred (600) pounds per inch width of tire upon any wheel concentrated upon the surface of the highway shall be operated on the public highways outside of the limits of an incorporated city or town ”

“ 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. ”

“ Contractors can transport material long distances and save both time and money. Dairymen collect milk over a radius of thirty or forty miles and get it to market fresh. Freight and passenger lines are possible with motor trucks where a steam railroad or trolley system would not be practicable.
In short, the motor truck is revolutionizing transportation. As made today by the leading manufacturers, it is simple, durable and easy to operate and care for. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I try to crawl over the top of the truck, between the truck and the bottom of the car. But the space is not large enough for me to squeeze through. This is new to me. Down in the United States I am accustomed to going underneath on rapidly moving trains, seizing a gunnel and swinging my feet under to the brake-beam, and from there crawling over the top of the truck and down inside the truck to a seat on the cross-rod. ”

“ 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. ”

“ No pleasure car can ever stop the driver of the truck.
He sits his seat in confidence, serene and quite content,
His heavy wheels are never dished, his axles never bent;
A locomotive engineer might jolt him from his place,
But nothing short of that would bring a tremor to his face.
He laughs his cheerful way along, too big for men to buck,
And even millionaires must dodge the driver of the truck. ”

“ Upon entering a straight track the truck again assumes the central position, and in case of irregularity in the track, or any obstruction, the truck moves laterally, without disturbing the movement of the engine. ”

“ The pathways are as narrow and awkward as the road; and while there is always a perky, impudent-looking, heavily-laden truck, with its handle either cocked up in defiance, or pointed down insultingly, as it obstructs the horse-drawn traffic, there is sure to be some one carrying a box of stationery, or a bale of paper-hangings, or something or another with hard, harsh corners, to come in contact with your front or your back, to injure your hat, or tear your coat with a ragged nail, or jostle you off into the gutter. ”

“ Nowadays, however, the truck itself has chains attached to it, by which it is drawn up, with the aid of a windlass, to the surface. By this method more earth can be taken up in one lift, and time and labour are not wasted in transferring the contents of the truck to the bucket. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The supplies, chiefly beef and bread, are brought up from the rear and advance directly toward the battle-line in long horse-drawn wagon trains, or in Paris auto-busses. [Pg 339] When near the front, small numbers of wagons go up as far as they dare and supplies are distributed directly to the troops, often while they are under long-range shell-fire.
MOTOR TRANSPORT
In the matter of motor transport, the practice with the French and British has become well defined. The best type of truck is one of medium weight, and of the best construction obtainable. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The same bulletin gives the average length of wagon haul for these products to be 9 miles, and of motor truck haul, 11.3 miles; furthermore the average number of round trips by wagon per day was 1.2 while by truck it was 3.4.
Whether or not the truck on the farm will release any horses will depend on what determines the number of horses kept. To do his hauling does the farmer keep more than is necessary for farm operations alone? The passenger automobile, no doubt, did release many driving and riding horses, but will the truck release many more? ”

“ 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. ”

“ To enable the engines better to adapt themselves to the flexures of the road, the front and middle pairs of drivers are held in position by wrought-iron beams, having cylindrical boxes in each end for the journal-bearings, which beams vibrate on spherical pins fixed in the frame of the engine on each side, and resting on the centres of the beams. The object of this arrangement is to form a truck, somewhat flexible, which enables the drivers more readily to traverse the curves of the road. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ On the other hand, the double-deck car seats more than double the number of passengers, requires the same number of men to work it, and takes but little more power to drive it. Experience has proved that the 58-passenger—28 inside and 30 outside—double-deck car mounted on a four-wheeled truck is the type of rolling stock most suitable for British conditions. For heavy rush traffic or long distance travel the larger bogie cars are convenient. They are, however, slow to start and stop, and a 72-passenger car is too much for one conductor to work efficiently. ”

“ Most of these routes are operated by truck owners living at the outer terminal, making daily round trips into the marketing center. Many of these routes are operated by farmers who first learned the advantages of motor-truck transportation by using trucks for their individual needs. ”

“ The doors are of mahogany, and are of the sliding type and are operated by the door operating device already described.
SIDE VIEW OF MOTOR TRUCK
Trucks
Two types of trucks are being built, one for the motor end, the other for the trailer end of the car. The following are the principal dimensions of the trucks:
Both the motor and the trailer trucks have been designed with the greatest care for severe service, and their details are the outcome of years of practical experience. ”

“ Nevertheless it seems probable that new methods of operating the motor truck transport, and possibly new types of trucks or trucks and trailers will be developed so that freight traffic over many roads will be of considerable tonnage and an established part of the transportation system of the nation. ”

“ It should be emphasized that medium-priced or inexpensive trucks are undesirable. It is very distinctly the opinion of French and British transport officers that it is better to have too few trucks, all of which are reliable, than to take “any old truck” and have it break down at critical moments during operation. Inferior trucks break down frequently, and break down at critical moments with singular regularity.
In the British army, trucks work in units of about ten, each such unit being commanded by an officer who travels in a fast automobile. ”

“ The most satisfactory trailer, according to Fenn, is the two-wheeled rubber-tired with wheels 40 to 44 inches in diameter. Roads which theoretically require steel tires for ironing out ruts would better be planked or otherwise hard surfaced.
Proper attention and routing will greatly prolong the life of the truck. A longer smoother road is rather to be preferred to a short rough one. The depreciation of the truck is figured on a basis of 100,000 miles as its minimum life.
Other Uses of the Truck. —But the use of the truck in the lumbering industries is not limited to logging. ”

“ The small truck, into which the goods to be loaded are stowed with suitable packings to prevent undue concussion, is held at the top of its course by a catch, readily released by pressure on a lever from below. The guard's van is provided at its front end with a steel, upright rod carrying a cross-piece, which is easily elevated by the guard or his assistant in anticipation of passing any station where parcels are to be received by projection. ”

“ 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. ”