Los Angeles herald., 1910-10-09
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
TESTS BECOME POPULAR
New York and Boston viii Hold
Endurance Runs the Latter
Part of October

Following the footsteps Of Philadel-
phia and Boston newspapers, the New
York American has announced that II
will promote q contest for commercial
vehicles on Friday and saturday
October % and 49, This event Will be
similar to the test recently held in
Philadelphia and the proposed contest
in Boston on October q and %. The
contest will be held under the manage
ment of E. L. Ferguson and Alan II.
Whiting, chairman of the contest com
mittee of the automobile club OF
America, will be referee. The route
will cover streets in Greater New YORK,
over which commercial motors would
have to ply in the ordinary course oil
service.
One of the features of the forthcom-
ing contest will be the actual demon
stration of the superiority of the motor
driven vehicle over that propelled by
horses for business purposes. At the
same time that the motor vehicles are
sent out in the contest, horse-drlven
vehicles hauling the same load will be
sent over the same course. In order
to make the test a fair one the cost
of hiring the teams will be considered
and the length of time they are al
lowed on the road each day will be the
same as that allowed the mechanically
driven vehicles. This is the first time
that motor truck manufacturers Will
have the opportunity of proving, in ac-
tual competition, their statement that
the power driven vehicles car do two
to three times the work at less cost to
the user than those driven by horses
The rules to govern the contest have
not been completed as yet, but 1t is
known that the test will be divided
into two classes. one for gasoline and
the other for electric-driVen vehicles.
These classes will in turn he sub
divided into manufacturers and own
ers divisions. Five different classes
for both gasolene and electric vehicles
have been provided for and these
classes are duplicated, one being for
manufacturers and the other for pri-
vate owners as follows:
Division 1, 1000 pounds capacity and
under.
Division 3, 8oO1 to 5000 pounds capa-
city.
pacity.
Division 5, all over 5 tons capacity.
In each of the classes and subdiVl-
sion a silver trophy will be awarded
the entrant of the winning truck, the
superiority to be determined by the cost
per mile of carrying merchandise the
entire distance. This cost is to be de-
termined by the cost of gasolene, lubri-
eating oil or electricity, as the case
may be, and, in addition, a charge of
one cent per minute will be made for
any actual repairs or delay in reach
ing controls on time. in order that
the cars shall comply as nearly with
actual service conditions as possible,
it is provided that each vehicle shall
carry it's maximum load except in the
delivery classes, where the cars would
only carry half a load over the en-
tire route instead of a full load out
and nothing coming back, as would
be the case in actual practice.
As now arranged the cars would be
sent over a course of about siXty-fve
miles each day, and in order to comply
with the demand and suggestions of
merchants who either use or are con-
sidering the use of motor vehicles. it
is proposed to make the delivery class
OF vehicles, that is those designed with
a carrying capacity of Ia tons or less,
make about one hundred stops in the
course of each days run.
In actual daily work of department
stores this number of stops is all in
days work and there is no reason
why any commercial motor vehicle
designed for ordinary service should
not do the same.