The Washington herald., 1911-03-12

The year 1910 will go down in the an
nails of automobile history as the year
when the commercial vehicle first came
into its own. Although they were built
and used to some extent previously, 1t
was not until last year that the busi-
ness man gave the subject serious atten-
ton Even then, while he lent an at
tentive ear to the salesman, he was un-
willing to try the experiment of substi-
tuting trucks for horses in his business
! Perhaps he believed in them but the fig
ures offered for his inspection whereby
he could effect a saving were not con-
vincing enough.
| 1t was not until the pleasure car was
adapted to a double use, business dur
! ing the day and pleasure after office
hours, that he gave the commercial end
of the industry serious consideration. He
| found that the automobile was willing
worker All day long it could he used
going from place to place on business
! errands, and in the evening take the fam
| lily for couple of hours ride through
the park This brought to the attention
I
| large number OF horses in his business
the fact that after all an automobile
which was devoted entirely to CONNER
! Cial purposes and constructed especially
with that idea in view might prove a
| success. He looked into the matter on
! his own accord, and, after an investlGa-
| tiOn ard some figuring, saw where SaN-
! ing might be effected. Once convinced OF
! this fact, the American business man,
! Al .ra1yr iT,Ii mol
on tie face of the earth, purchased
commercial vehicle. Many OF them who
to-day use the motor vehicle almost en-
! tirely 10 the exclusion of the horse. start
| ed out with one truck. Finding il gave
satisfactory service, they gradually substi-
| tuted them for their horses.
Twenty Thousand Trucks in Use.
To-day it is estimated that there are
more than 2O.OOO automobile delivery We
hiCle in use throughout the United
/ States In proportion to the number OF
4 pleasure vehicles used this is not great
! The prediction, however. is freely eX-
pressed. both in and out Of the auto
mobile trade. that the disparity will grow
less and less. until perhaps within five
or six year the balance will he on the
other side Of the ledger.
| The possible market for commercial We
! hiCes is indicated to some extent by the
census reports. which show that more
! than 100000 horse-drawn wagons for bust
ness and farm uses are manufactured
annually in this country Assuming that
| these have an average life OF ten years,
there are at present in use 9.O0O0O0 such
vehicles. Statistics have proven that one
motor truck will do the work Of three
! Of these: consequently, a possible mar
ket exists for about 100000 motor waE-
ons. Conceding that not more than one
| in three Of these wagons will be displaced,
this leaves potential market for 100000
motor wagons, plus an annual absorption
of 10000 in place of the horse-drawn
wagon now being produced annually
Over 100 Companies.
1t will doubtless surprise a good many
persons who have thought they were
pretty we'll posted on the whole motor
car trade to learn that there are now
15n companies in the United States that
are actually producing and marketing
motor trucks, delivery wagons, and spe-
ciaI forms OF self-propelled industrial
vehicles.
In addition to these there are as many
more that have built experimental work
machines or first models, thus raising
the present potential strength of the
industry TO approximately 2D0 manu-
factUrers. There is good reason to be-
love that in a comparatively short time
the number of commercial vehicle build
ers will equal, if il does not exceed, the
number OF pleasure car manufacturers.
Value 10000, 600 n Year.
The truck and wagon companies now
in business have facilities that would
enable them TO produce upward of 2o,000
vehicles a year. of an estimated aggre-
gate value of $SO,O00,OOO. Many of these
companies have thoroughly organized
factories equipped with the most i'm
proved automatic machinery for rapid
and accurate finishing of parts. One big
plant alone is turning out upward Of
forty big trucks a week and expects 70
raise the quota this year 10 fifty. An
other prominent automobile company
that is just offering its trucks for sale
for the first time is putting through
first lot of 100 five-ton machines for this
years disposal.
Can Cover Wide Area.
Not only are delivery expenses reduced
py the mechanically correct power
wagon, but, because of the unlimited
radius of the motor car operations the
merchants ability to reach out over a.
wide area has a very important bearing
1t enables the business man 10 cater to
bigger fields and take care of customers
located at a greater distance; thus busi-
ness and profits are greatly increased.
However, buying a car for business and
pleasure are two distinct things. If the
pleasure car drops out of commission for
a day or two and runs up repair bills
it is taken as a matter of course. The
good times II has afforded are solace.
The business car. however, must be on
the job day after day with no loss of
time, no extravagant bills for upkeep.
In a word, the business machine must
be commercially practical, must be
simple and reliable in operation, must
be built to give service without delay
or hold up. and above all. must be con-
structed to run at an extremely low cost
of maintenance.