Evening journal., 1916-06-08

A new relationship is growing up
between wholesaler and retailer as a
result of the application of the mo-
tor truck to their transportation
problems.
In theory the retailer, the small To-
cal purveyor, would seem TO have his
business imperilled by the ability Of
the trucks to go the distances and
cater to customers twenty-five miles
away from the central distributing
point. For example with the motor
truck it is possible for the depart
ment store, the grocer, the furniture
house. the butter and eggs company,
to deliver to their customers almost
any distance into the suburbs.
This might be expected to damage
the business Of the local concerns
that formerly gained their chance at
home trade through the difficulty of
communication and transportation
between the big city and outlying
suburb.
But though it is true that to some
extent the motor truck has taken
trade from the small local firms. new
ertheless there are important com
pensations that come pretty close to
equalizing this.
With motor trucks carrying the
burden of delivery for the great
wholesale houses. the small retailer
can get a service such as he never
before had He is i'm close touch with
the city through the speed of the
truck that supplied him. He can al
ways get what he wants. He can get
II quickly. He is no longer COM
PEELED to carry goods that are not
fresh and attractive. His stock is
right up to the minute because il is
constantly replenished
AS a result the small country mer-
chant can give mis- customers cit,
service. and many such firms have
enjoyed a big expansion.
Frequent supply used to be the BIZ
problem. The country merchant op
Grated at a big disadvantage. Thl
flour mill. the dry goods house. tn
wholesale grocery. the butcter, tn,
butterman, were all far away. ThI
local merchant never could max
definite promises to his customers
To have goods on hand he was oftel
compelled to make a big purrhas'
and thus carry a stock beyond hi
resources.
The customer, often disappointed il
the fulfllment Of promises. as {
time. and disgusted with the qual
ity of the product in many instances
gave up the effort to patrOnize tn
home institutions, and turned hi
trade to the city.
With the truck all this is changed.
What the meat packers are now do
ing offers a good illustration.
Foremost Wilmington packers hav
become users of trucks, because the.
find that by no other medium cal
they give retailers the right kind o
service. Under the old conditions
with horse drawn teams there wa
little reliability or frequency abou
the distant delivery. The alterna
tive shipment of meat by freight, wa
very unsatisfactory. Often there wa
delay. and never could there be guar
antee that the meat would reach tn
customer in as fine condition as whe
sent by horse and wagon. Meat /
readily affected by odors such as ar
found on freight cars. and it wa
found that an element of risk alway
attended sending il in that way
Many a small butcher in the sub
urbs got his meat only once a weel
and better than twice was the eN
ception. Now. with the truck, thre
trips a week is the rule, rather tina
the exception. Moreover goods al
rive in far better condition. which
a big help to the retailer in pleasin
his customer.
Butter has the same experience
Like meat it has to be carefully har
died to escape taint. II cannot b
exposed to heat. Once the distar
shipment was largely by railroa
freight stations, for someone to TAX
il away. The extra landings b'
tween wagons and freight trains di
il no good.
Now with the trucks door TO doc
delivery is obtained. New elasticii
has been given to the railroad scheC
ue for trips can be as frequent {
the business warrants.
Food distribution in bulk is con
ing 10 be more and more mote