El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-01-26
TiHE man who in any thinking WI


attempts TO keep abreast OF the
times, and who seeks in his own
mind a solution for the problems that
face the country, must come to the
conclusion that transportation with a
capital T is more nearly the basic
problem than any one thing. ships,
ships, and then more ships" is a cry
lhat eehoes from each Of our Euro
pean allies-and more ships must be
forthcoming; but in order to fill those
ships, the seaboard must be ade-
quately connected with production
centers. In turn each factory. each
NH ana each acre Of productive land
must have at hand a transportation
system over which can flow without
interruption the raw materials and
the finished products of the entire
United States.
The government has recognized
this fundamental problem, and fed
eral control Of railroads is one out
come OF this recognition Another
step IN the coordination Of Transport
tariOn is the formation Of a HIGHWAYS
transportation commission whose du-
ties should be TO see TO It that the
broadest utilization of highway
transportation is made possible.
The necessity OF the hour has done
much TO put before the public the fact
that the motor truck is the burden
carrier that has no ultimate limita-
tion-its usefulness in solving the
great fundamental transportation
problem is only limited by conditions
mat can be overcome: wherever ade-
quate roads are built the motor truck
marches on to do its efficient work.
Truck Already at Work.
Already, under the stimulus Of war,
the government and business gener-
ally has called on the motor truck
70 do work that even a year ago
would hardly have been considered
A government train Of motor trucks
carrying full loads from Detroit TO
the Atlantic seaboard has made the
run in the dead Of winter, and has
that run of thousands Of miles is
decidedly practical The papers have
tod Of a manufacturer who runs mo-
tor trucks regularly between a mid
Ohio city and Boston. and by so doing
moves goods in a few days that rail-
road congestion had made a matter Of
weeks.
In order TO live up TO our produc-
ton schedules cur own trucks have
done some emergency long hauls. and
have covered q great many regular
routes from factories that supply US
with material On one occasion some !
castings were urgently needed from I
Hartford, Conn. An Autocar made /
the trip and our production was not /
slowed up" says an officer Of the |
Hauling material from New York, |
South Bethlehem. Newark. Plainfield, |
Brooklyn, and ElktOn, Nd, is a regu- /
lar part OF our program now, and this 4
direct highway service has dispelled /
many a cloud Of transportation con- ]
gestion.
Long Hauls in Emergency.
The exceptionally long hauls are /
emergency measures, which serve to /
prove motor truck reliability more i
l. -
tremendous volume Of transportation Z
that rightly should and must be ear
ried over the highways war or no
war.
The hauls originating anywhere
within so, 40 or 50 miles OF their des-
ti2stion are rightly highway hauls, Il
and a decided movement is generally H
on foot TO relieve the railroads Of n
such short-haul traffic. By using mo-
tor trucks for this work not only II
would a tremendous number OF
freight cars be released for through III
freight work, but as deliveries would II
be made direct from shipper to con-
signee z very large tonnage would II
be released from terminals and ware
houses. The relief Of terminal con-
gestion is admittedly very necessary
step toward lettering transportation
Even before the railroads were
taken over by the president certain
localities were put under shipping
rules tending to divert short haul
traffic from the railroads. The Phili-
delphia district committee on car SER
vice. composed of representatives Of
three trunk lines serving that city, as
early as December I. 1917, put into
effect an embargo on all rail ship
menrs between points within the city.
many shipments should be
made over the streets, not only to re-
lieve the railroads, but to speed up
such deliveries for the mere convent
ence to business. There are. undoubt-