The Washington herald., 1911-11-05
Past Year Has Seen Big
Business Changes.
ITS VALUE NOW RECOGNIZED
Severe Storms of Last Spring
Proved the Commercial Place of
the Auto as Rival to the
Draft Horse, and 1t Became
PopuIar-RivalryH Here Keen.

an uncommon sight on the streets oi
Washington. During the past twelve
months the sale of them has increased
to such an extent that nearly every big
store and business place in the city owns
at least one. Men who a year age
laughed at the idea OF replacing their
| horse-drawr vehicles with trucks are to-
day the strongest advocates of motor
Their favorite argument against the
! truck was that Washington was purely
a residential city of fine streets, and
that horse-drawn vehicles had in the
past proved very satisfactory, and would
no doubt continue to do so in the future.
However, the stormy weather Of last
spring, when it would hail or snow and
! then freeze, making the streets like glass
and the footing so uncertain that horses
could hardly get about. proved conclu-
sively that to many of them the auto
trucks, after all, had their superior quail
tiles. They saw the motor-driven de-
livery wagons of their competitors ira
verse their routes just the same, despite
conditions underfoot or overhead. The
extreme heat of last summer, when
horses could do about one-half their
usual work. was another point that woke
them up to the superior advantage Of a
mode of transportation that could be used
twenty-four hours a day and for an in
definite length of time, providing that it
was handled with some degree Of skill.
Rivalry Here Keen.
Competition m Washington, as in every
other city, is keen, and business men
realize the necessity of employing the
most up-to-date methods. This necessar-
lily includes a motor truck delivery serv-
ice but this one feature OF the entire
organization, the getting of the wares to
the customers after they have been sold,
in the majority of cases receives the least
attention.
A merchant will spend A great deal of
money building an attractive place of
business, and much more money in stock
ing it with all the latest and best crea-
tions in his particular line. He will, in
addition to this, eXpend money in adver-
tising of various forms to draw the at
tention of the public to his place. Ex-
perts are hired as heads OF the different
departments and given full sway. His
idea is to sell goods to the best possible
advantage. After he sells them, however,
he seems to forget that he has OF his
own accord assumed another obligation.
Long ago 1t became the custom for stores
to add delivery service to their already
other numerous departments. The man
in charge Of this, while an expert in his
line, in many cases is not called upon TO
keep as accurate a record of the work
of the men under his supervision as are
the heads of other branches of the or
ganizat tion. 1t has not until very re-
Gently been deemed necessary. The
goods were sold and an agreement made
TO deliver them some time that day or
m
Delivery Important.
OF late. however, this phase OF the
business world-the delivery end of it
has attracted more attention, and espe-
cially so since automobiles came into
general use as a mode of delivering
wares. The automobile truck salesman
is largely responsible for it. He figured
out for himself, as a talking point in
favor of his ware, that II cost so much
to keep a horse and wagon which could
cover so many miles in a day against
the amount of work that an automobile
could perform in the same number of
hours At a less price. On obtaining an
interview with mis- prospective purchaser
and laying these figures before him, the
merchant began to wonder in his own
mind whether or not this could really
be the true state of affairs. His business
acumen was to grasp the figures which
the automobile salesman laid in front of
him, and he resolved to find out just how
much it really did cost him to maintain
his delivery department, and whether or
not he was obtaining the best results for
the amount of money expended. He finds
that ne is not, and the result is an in
terest, in the motor delivery service. A
rough figure of the cost of horse trans
portatiOn is IS cents a ton-mile, whereas
delivery by an efficient motor truck is
approximately cents a ton-mile. The
difference, multiplied by the tons carried,
shows an enormous profit.
These facts are not absolute in all
cases for the motor truck will not al
ways show this profit, while in some it
will show greater. The amount hauled,
the distance, number of stops, and load
ing and unloading facilities have much
to do with the cost of hauling. A COM
plete reorganization of the mode in vogue
with horses is necessary before the most
satisfactory results can be obtained.
BY using motor trucks, a wider field
for business operations is obtainable,
customers receive a more expeditions de-
livery, and in many cases better prices
can be obtained for goods If the pur-
chaser knows that they will be delivered
at his door within a very few minutes
after leaving the store, instead of being
carted about the city for a couple Of
hours.
Covers Big Territory.