Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-11-25

. thhenuhl 10 clNlllHallon as, tuy hTu-
Gcial light To-day We are building
roads not 20 attract the tourist. but
FOR the vital purpose Of getting TO our
Icople the necessities of life,
This realization was the first essen
tlal IN the greater expansion OK the
truck business which Is now COM
mencing To-day we see the termina-
tion OF the incubation period; the In
6ustry is fully alive.
! Civilization has never made organ
ized use Of its roads since the coming
of the railway The roads 9ro there
for anyone tc use how and when he
likes but their adaptabiliy to the
running OF trains or conveys os We
hlcles on schedule has never been
tried for anything but military pur-
poses. True there are few public
carriers. but their energies are main
ly devoted 20 delivery as opposed 10
/ transport. B"fDre many months are
/ over We shall see conveys OF motor
: trucks operating on rigid timetables,
/ hauling goods over long distances and
thus getting far larger percentage
~ return from the money spent on
! reads than ever before.
Three years Of war have shown the
| world what is possible I'm transporta-
| ton by road, with proper orgnniza-
| tICn tc handle it and this lesson IS
not To be lost. II has IFS commercial
| application on perhaps an even larger
scale. The railroads are no longer in
| opposition. They see In the truck a
! operator and helper.
| Usefulness Of Small Truck.
Another thing which stands out as
prominent In the events Of 1917 is
| the final realization of the place OF
the small truck In the scheme of
! things II Is no exaggeration to say
| that the removal of converted Ford3
ana real small trucks would bring 10
a standstill major portion Of Amerl-
! Ca'S retail delivery. In every suburb
| ~ n large town and I'm every small
| town the bulk Of the light hauling Is
| done by mechanical power It Is Of
/ ten done inefficicntly by tn, use of
| cid passenger cars. but even these al
! low man 10 cover three times the
ground he can supply with horse
! traction. The retail trader needs a
! one halt-ton or onc-ton machine. He
wants fair speed and he must have n
/ low first cost. To such users the Ford
! truck. the Maxwell, the Vim the
/ StudehakcT and the Overland deliv-
cries, to mention just n few. are n
godsend
Then also there IL the farmer. who
| ia being compelled to use trucks ow-
ing to horse shortage. He can use
| fully employ one to two-ton outfit
He must do more work with fewer
men and far fewer animals: hence
the truck on the road is perhaps even
more important To him than The trac-
tor In the field.
In the coming year, II conditions
permit. and there is little doubt that
ihey will. we shall see one hundred
thousand light trucks made by the
new firms mentioned 1bove. to say
nothing of the others in the same
field
All these things have created a de-
mand that cannot he suppliei--O de-
mand that Will exceed production for
years to come. Just now it is certain
that every truck which can he pro-
duced will find its purchaser waiting
for ii. The limiting factors are ma
tcrinls and labor. The couNtry is
anxious to put to use many more than
| the factories can possibly make The
demand is for all kinds Of trucks. The
| cid line manufacturers with costly
| trucks Of the highest quality are
| scheduling productions in some cases
| more than three times their previous
| record. Assemblers are ready tC
| work night and day on all the parts
| they can buy. Both old line and as
semblers are stronger than ever,
Change in Distribution.
| There has been q great change in
the retail distribution OF trucks \
| year ago manufacturers were .ookins
| for dealers. were trying to convinc,
| dealers OF the profitable nature Of tn,
| truck business Today the boot r. OF
the other leg, for dealers are cryinl
for trucks. and still more trucks Th,
| lest distributors in the land are look
II ing to the truck to fill up the gap il
II their business caused by the falling
! eff in passenger car sales, not only IN
| the cities. but in the small towns Th'
II farmer Is the wcalthiest man Il
l. America today. lie has his diffcul
ties, but he obtains more benefit from
| prevailine high prices than any othe
section of the community lie Il
| stlll buying cars freely while the cit
man is holding OFF but he is huyin,
| trucks too. 1t is a fortunate thini
that the farmers need for the trucl
should have come at time when hi
ability to purchase it was lever S,
II great
Il The whole business is on more eff
u ficient footing Sales principles arr
| heing better understood. factories arr
i being improved, service problems
| handled better and, IN fact. the per
sonnel of the industry is getting
| better grip On II. The improvement
is particularly noticeable in the fac
tories. \ year ago there were hardl.
which could be compared with tn
II passenger systems. Now Their
are several truck plants with progres
sive assembly lines and all the mod
ern aids to quick production. Thi
movement is only beginning.
II In addition 10 the creation of som
new firms and to the speeding up o
tn" OLD ones there has been mucl
Il factory extension during the year
l. Pierce. with forty acres of floorspac
almost wholly devoted to trucks. ha
added another hundred thousan'
| square feet Locomobile has in
crcS sed from 10 13 acres. Unite'
Motors has added twenty thousan
square feet to previous $4,000; Re
| public with 20 acres of floor ha
added three new buildings, totallin
5000 square feet; the Grant com
pauy. a comparative newcomer wit
the Dcnmo truck has increased a tw
hundred thousand-square foot plan
to $4,000 square feet And SO OF
thruout the industry.
l. GOSSIP FROM