New-York tribune., 1918-07-28
Motor Trucks on Piers Should
Have Equal Rights With Horse,
And Animals Should Give Way to Engines f
Freight Conditions in Town
Are to Improve

In order materially to improve traf
fic conditions on the city streets and
at the big freight terminals and to
speed up the movement of goods gen.
orally, W. !. Fickling, Of the New York
Fulton Truck Company, makes i'm
portant suggestions looking to the
more general use of motor trucks not
only by business houses, but by the
city horse-tcam contractors. who are
almost as much of al institution as
the city horse himself. Briefly, Mr..
Fickling urges:
l. The admission of motor trucks
to all the city piers.
2. The licensing and taxing of
horse teams the same as automo-
bles.
8. Some action to encourage the
use of motor trucks over horse
drawn vehicles.
"The special privileges granted to
horse trucks on the piers-motor
trucks being barred-are unfair and
great handicap to the swift and salts
factory movement of freight" says Mr..
f'ickling. "The horse truck will not,
in fact cannot, speed up; nor will it
permit the motor truck to utilize its
=
unlimited working hours. Until the
horse truck is largely weeded out the
self-propelled unit must wait for its
chance, regardless of its greater fiex-
ibiiity. 1t must stand impctently in
line on South Street or near Fulton
Market, while pershable goods spoil
for Jack OF better dispatch. If freight
could be adequately taken away as it
comes into the neck of the bottle, to
use a railroad term, present platform
facilities would more nearly serve our
moved at a snails pace with horse
units, which block and delay each
other, and the result is confusion and
invectivc, plus phenomenal handling
charges.
at also seems unfair that the motor
truck on its rubber tires should be
Disseminated against by state tax,
whereas the horse team with metal
tires on its wheels and four to six
/ horses to. draw it does more damage
to pavements. Therefore, if the motor
| truck is taxed the horse truck should
he taxed equally if not more for the
damage done. In the contemplated
store door delivery by the govern
ment the horse truck owner gets the
same rates for haulage as the motor
truck, and, in addition, gets the soft
est snap which could be given out by
any government--namely, the elimina
tion of its competitors and bound to
be Successors, the motor trucks.
at surely is high time for the team
sters themselves to see the light. The
majority of teamsters in New York
now concede that they are not making
any money and must get higher prices
or go out of business. The increasing
cost of horses, of hay and grain, Of
shoeing and wagcc, e., has been a
factor in bringing them to this de-
cision, but the fact is they have been
losing money for years and must SOON
or or later realize that overheard and
depreciation cannot be ignored. Many
of their customers have indicated their
preference for motor delivery and
| others have declined to renew their
contracts and have bought trucks. The
teamster, generally speaking, is in no
position financially to buy and supply
motor trucks, hence to-day he stands
in the position If the man vino cannot
play ball himself and won't let others
play.
"How to motcrize the equipment of
the teamster without forcing him to
ruin himself by competing with tho
motor truck is a difficult problem, but
it is not one which cannot be solved
Let the motcr truck dealer, the mer-
Let the dealer and the merchant make
it possible for the teamster to buy
such trucks as the merchant should
have for certain phases of his bust
ness. these trucks to be operated by
the teamster in specific service at
slightly higher rate per day per ton
or other unit in view of better ser
vice.
"Once started right, little by little
the teamster should be able to buy
his own trucks by applying the returns
IRON horses sold to the purchase Of
such trucks and making the trucks he
already owns net him profit. Fol
While there is strong trend among
progressive firms toward owning and
operating their own motor equipment,
the peculiar knowledge and experience
should be utilized and applied to the
general problem Of improved city de-
livery.
), "Of course, any cooperative effort in
this direction must be initiated and
fostered by broad gauge men.
In one city the leading teamsters,
after fighting among themselves and
with their customers and motor truck
alesmen tor some years, at last got
.ogether and voiced this sentiment:
Now, men, people are going to buv
trucks. and there is no use getting
narrow or ugly about it, because if we
40 we viii simply help sell more
trucks. We have not the money to buy
trucks outright, but in some cases we
wlli be able to buy on time payments
ana IN others our customers will help
to underwrte them for US They
then buried the hatchet on competi-
tive business, with the result that
within two years five Of them were
operating both gasolene and electric
trucks, the majority of the trucks be-
ing limited in their use to one par
tlcular customer each or to a limited
number Of routes each. One con
tractor displaced twenty-eight horses
with four trucks, while another de-
veloped a daily express service involv-
ing eighty miles a day between big
shoe town and a steamship pier