New-York tribune., 1911-01-15
ECONOMY IN AUTO TRUCKS
Cheaper than Horse Is Verdict
of StatiStiCianS.
is COMMERCIALLY PERFECT
Costly Experimentation Has Now
Developed a Practical
Vehicle.
BY c. II. Martin.

Until within the last two years, the motor
truck had not shown economy over ''e
horse. Previous TO that time II was III al'
governmental stage All experiments are
costly. and the motor truck was no eNcep-
ton The item Of repairs alone mace 'ne
operative cost almost prohibiuVe ana u 10
not TO be wondered at that the merchant
Ngho a few years ago bought truck 10 eN-
perilnent with lefore investing IN tle mum
her he could use in his business decide" u
wait a while before disposing OF ms hoiSeS'
To-day the truck is commercially per
feet. II is developed TO the point "heie II
can show 100 per cent economy over 'IIe
horse in almost any line OF WORK II
shows 10 greatest advantage In the heiu II
has made for itself-what would be termed
the "lcng haul" for horses or the snort
haul" for railroads Many concerns that
have traffic within radius Of MY mlleS
of their places of business are now using
motor trucks exclusively within that RADIUS
Where formerly they used horses to
draw the load from the warehouse 10 the
freight station. then delivering II TO lts
destination by rail. and then reloading 1t
on wagons drawn by horses to It's hhaI
destination. goods are now loaded on the
motor truck and delivered TO their llal
destination. eliminating the railroad en-
tirelv. and thereby saving money and many
lusiness hours The truck has assumed
such proportions as to demand show all
10 itself. and when the doors Of Madison
souare Garden are thrown open to-mor-
row. on the first exclusive commercial au-
tornobilc show, the visitor will have an op-
rortunitv to see the multitude Of uses to
. which the motor car has been put.
A question that is repeatedly being asked
is What does il cost 10 run motor
truck?"~ 4 large contractor has been run
ming q big fve-ton truck during the last
year. and averaging forty miles daily, at a
cost Of Sc II a day, including every item
OF expense.
This is the lowest operative cost that has
come to the writer's notice. The other eX-
treme is that Of a general trucking concern
that averaged twenty-five miles day at
a total cost of 81 a day The first case
cited shows what can be done with the
motor truck with proper care, and the last
what will always happen if the truck Is
run without oil. overloaded and generally
neglected.
A New York firm selling goods in West
chester County and various points on Long
Island and in New Jersey, delivering them
10 the doors Of their customers, reports that
the cost Of doing this work by motor truck
is less than one-half what 1t was when
these goods were hauled 10 the railroad
station. sent by freight. unloaded again
into wagons and delivered.
Another New York concern, in answer
20 an inquiry said that their tve-ton truck
showed an actual saving OF $i4 "A week
Of what it had previously cost them to do
10 same work with horses that they not
,.r,-. naid for the truck the first year. but
:roved a p. oft also Of a,2l2, or "a per cent.
me firm figured that the truck has cost
them nothing and is saving them over
5000 a year.
The economy Of the motor truck and the
various uses to which IL is adapted are Illus
-rated by an up-to-date farmer of Beach
- D. bv the name of Smith. His auto
mobile truck draws his ploughs, harrows
and seeders making one operation or the
uutting i'm Of the crop. When the grain Is
riue the motor truck draws the reaper
that harvests it. The motor Of the truck
iuns the thrashing machine, and when the
tbrashing is done The truck is used 70 haul
the crop to market. IT cost this FARMER
S55 an acre from the time Of the breaking
OF the ground to the landing Of his ciol
at the market. He keeps one horse on MS
farm-why, he does not state-but it Is
presumed that, unlike David Harum, he
enjoys the gentle exercise Of horseback
riding.
Since the application Of the diherenuaI
gear first made the self-propelled vehicle a
possibility on the highway, the assertion
repeatedly has been made that the motor
would show 10 greatest advantage In the
commercial field. In spite Of the great
promise for the automobile in the business
field. however, the pleasure car for a mum
her Of years absorbed the attention of de-
signers and inventors 10 the exclusion OF
the more prosaic truck there being only
few who tenaciously clung 10 the WORKING
out Of the many and widely different prob
lens involved in the heavier machine
Nearly 90 per cent OF the visitors 10 th'
last horse show in New York went in auto
mobiles and probably not per cent OF th'
visitors 10 the Automobile Show at Madison
Square Garden will Journey there in horse
drawn cOnveyances. What would people
say # II were predicted that five years from
now the horse would not be allowed OF
crowded streets and what did they say hV'
years ago when It was said that a mal
would fly from Albany to New York? Wha
was said when Maroon Claimed 10 DC dol'
10 telegraph messages without wires; wheI
Bell said he could talk to a person mil'
away over a wire by using an instrumen
he had invented and called a telephone?
When our grandfathers predicted that th
railroad would supplant horses for hauling
goods and passengers for long distance
they were laughed at, just as motorists ar
now when we say that in few years tn
horse will be rare sight on city streets
The prediction Of the motorists is as sur
20 come More than this just as surely
the faithful animal is being crowded from
the city streets, so is he being pushed from
his labor on the farm. The reason for tn
doom of the horse IS that he can no longe
compete with the motor in drawing III
carriage, the wagon or the plough Evel
the persistent Missourian admits he ha
''been shown" in the case Of the pleasur
car, and the last two years have prove
that the horse can no longer successfull
compete with the motor in trucking good
or working the farm.
MOTORS TO TRANSPORT TROOPS
Henry NJ owens, president Of the Sa