New-York tribune., 1918-02-24


few years the Postoffice Department
will be the largest single user of motor
trucks in America and will operate
thom on rural delivery routes through
cut the United States. Many interest
ing details regarding this service were
given at a meeting in Chicago recently
for the organization of the Highway
Industries Association by ]. I. Blakes-
lee, Fourth Assistant Postmaster Cen
eral, as follows:
Recently the Postoffice Department
has taken a deep interest in the prog
ress Of highway improvement. the de-
vclopment of the motor truck and
methods Of utilizing both. There has
been reduction of farm production
owing to the draft of man power into
war service at time when it is i'm
rerative that production should be in
creased. More convenient transporta-
ton would stimulate production Al
though somewhat late in starting, the
postoffice is endeavoring to overcome
this loss through the farm o-tablc"
movement.
The only way to demonstrate to tn.
creac production is to put some Wis
ible means of communication before
him, and that is by establishing motor
truck parcel post routes. There are in
the United States 43,295 rural mail
routes and 10000 star routes, but the
average number of pieces of parcel
post matter carried per day to pro-
ducers on these routes is only eight per
route, and only one piece per route
from producer to consumer. There is
not single parcel post route from New
York out into productive territory;
only one from Philadelphia and two
from Chicago.
Motor truck parcel post routes will
aid producers and eventually reduce the
cost Of living. Fourteen landings arc
row required to deliver eggs from the
producer in Vineland, n. j., to the con-
sumer in Philadelphia, and this number
is doubled when the eggs arc shipped
from Philadelphia to consumers in New
York. Yet we wonder that eggs are
selling at 90 cents dozen. AS against
this, only six landings will be required
by the motor truck service between
New York and Philadelphia.
There are approximately 2,20O 900
miles of public road in the United
States. on more than half of which
there is no mail service, and '156, 900
miles of improved road, on 100000
miles of which there is no service To
develop the farm tot. bic movement it
IL only necessary to take advantage of
highways already existing and i'm
proved. With a Federal appropriation
OF $125,o0O and an Ohio State appro-
prlation of $250,000 the Columbus
GAINESVILLE road was put in good con-
dltion for motor truck service a year
and half ago, but the first postot1icc
motor truck will be put in operation
over this road within the next thirty
days
During the present winter postal
trucks have been operated daily on n
110mile round trip route from Oxford.
Penn, to Philadelphia, without missing
a trip. Growers at Oxford were shipping
from one to one and a half tons of
mushrooms into Philadelphia daily,
when the express service they had been
using broke down. 1t was essential to
have heated motor truck for the busi-
ness. In three days the postofcc
provided one. The first day it carried
LOO pounds Of mushrooms and the
second day, Sunday, it carried 500
pounds. In the first three days the
truck earned $30'a day. This one truck
will earn $4,000 year and the service
viii cost $4,000. Heretofore the grow
ers had to ship their mushrooms 12C
miles to get them to Philadelphia. 55
miles distant.
A motor truck route from Washing
ton to Leonardtown has been in opera
ton three years, with a two-ton truck
and y ton trailer. 1t carries the mail
Tor 104 postoffices. and 1O2, 900 persons.
Revenue is derived from first class mail
as we'll as parcel post matter.
There Is also a motor mail route be-
tween Baltimore and Gettysburg, and
the postal revenue is far beyond the
cost Of operation.
Statistics collected by the United
States postal authorities, and supple
mented in part by investigations mad.
by crews of tire testing fleets of the
Il. r. Goodrich Rubber Company, oper-
atlng IN the rural districts of the South,
show conclusively that Uncle Sam can
errich himself by at least S10O 900, 900
Gy installing motor trucks on the farm
tc table" routes. The antiquated svs-
tenn in vogue-the use of the horse and
wagon on $4,000 routes throughout the
ccuntry-i is losing proposition; and
to the extent of 5000 900 too
! The few motor truck investments
made by the government last yea.
earned $4,000 apiece on an original in
vestment of $4,000 for each truck.
Moreover, communities were reached b.,
the motor trucks that had never leen