Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1918-03-17
WAY TO RELIEVE
FREIGHT CONGESTION
Have Railroads Deliver Freight Di-
rcctly 10 ConsiRnce and Keep
Terminals Clear.

In wages 20 learn that our tranSpor
ntion facilities cannot be stretched
100 per cent and Sull permit indl
vidual shippers and consignees 1,
follow their selfish interests regard.
ing the handling and delivery oi
goods in transit.
The chaotic condition IN which ",
find our railroads ioday--the fact
that freight lines, eNpress companies
| and mall routes are swpmped- Ia
not duo to severe weather conditions
/ alone and "A nero return OF mild
! weather will not help matttTS II
10 not due 70 "A shortage OF coal,
IL is due to q clogRlng OF distribu.
| tIon channels--the laying W. Of car'
which should be In trpnslt--conges.
| ton at railroad terminals. IL will
not be cure duntil some practiCA
d Nuns Ia found 10 keep these chan
| nels clear and 20 route freight thru
the terminals rather than to them
Our business men must heed the
| genera call from the federal GOV
ernment for help In this mGttsr
which has now become a serious
one.
Railroads have always delivered
less s-than-carlond freight TO their
own freight platform and let the
Individual consgnee call there for II,
or have an individual expressman
call.
Express Company Practice Right
The national express companies
like Adams. American, Wells Fargo,
etc., have their ow nexpress plat
forms where their goods are claszsl-
fled Immediately upon being unload
ed from the express car and are
transferred into their own trucks
which take them either to distribut!
Ing stations or directly out on GER
tina routes. .s
1t is perfectly practical 70 so or.
aanlre freight distribution beyond
the terminal that this could bo done
with freight as well IN express con-
slenments.
Consider for moment what
would happen II Uncle Sam refused
10 deliver any mail In any first class
city.
The postofflce building would
hvae TO be materially increased In
size and would have to have quite as
many employees as now " not more.
Probably 30 per cent OF the fam
lilies In that city would have 10 have
their Representative go to the post
office. They would use street cars
and other public oonveyanoes. Think
OF the trouble and cost and the en-
trA tax on street car lines and pub
,ic service facilities.
The cost TO the government on ac-
count of conRertlon would be con-
siderably more than at present and
In all probability they would be un-
hal IN ha ffIA thA taan q 4 4 pAnta A n
ounce, or now . cents.
undou ubtediy tho cost TO all con-
cerned would be enormously in
creased, and any move on the gov
ernments part In this direction
would meet with public idsfavor.
Nevertheless that In the way rail.
road freishts are handles today, And
they are handled In that way simply
because that is the why II has al
ways been done and because the
transportation and terminal facill-
tics have been considerably more
than ADEQUATE TO take care OF nor
NAL business
Again. there 10 no more reason
why freiehn should be stopped At
the terminal than that mail should
be stopped ht the terminal.
Before government control of the
railroads was put In operation there
might have certain practical objeo-
tIons TO the carrying out OF a sya.
tenn 20 take over the delivery Of all
iess-than- car Glad freight TO the con-
sirnee.
Although the government has no
orssniyn tion to take on this work at
the present time. II IN 90 important
from the sta andpoint OF the manufao-
turers OF this country that n would
he perfectly proper for them To take
action in their own duly authorized
bodies.
To men familiar with merchandise
delivery products, the course TO be
taken iE perfectly simple.
II would be necessary 20 requisi-
ton loca lexperss delivery compan-
les now existent.
ny proper sorting OF the freight
and proper orutng OF the city. du-
plloatlon OF routta and the hauling
OF part loads" which are 30 COM
mon No the present time would be
entirely eliminated
Coordinate, rou~. and systema-
tiIe the express delivery lines ana
stoD the duplication OF routes
This would relieve the highways
OF unnecessary vehicles,
II would relieve the ferlght term
inals OF freight congestion.
IL would release freight cars that
now have 20 be stored IN the rail-
road Yards awaiting their opportun-
tiles TO Ret 20 the frslght platforms,
II would give bettsr and cheaper
service to local merchants. II would
enable the railroads 10 serve the en-
tire country far better than they can
at the present time.
Undoubt cdly government action
on matter OF this importance will
come in time. especially as the naed
for II Ia getting more acute
Nevertheless each city can take
Its own action ana reap the benefit
Of Immediately cleared terminals al
once In its own section.
Each city will have It's own par
ticular problem 10 work out there
In nothin y,Ynew IN the principle.
A co-ofyerative organization may
he started as small as thu ilmita-
tiors Of the situation make nece~s-
arrv. half dozen merchants might
their deliveries and have
all their vehicles uuperintendsd ny
one man stationed al the freight
platform.
More members couid he added.
and should be, M rnpldly M DOS
slhle until the work Is go orRanized
that your assoclAilon with the MP.
proval ~ your city government h1A
taken over the inbound frsiEht plat.
form and piors, sees that leas-than.
carload freight is Transferred from
the freight car directly to tho truck
that Il assigned 10 the orute on
which the consisnes IL located.
The savings 20 the individual
- l..
Vice ~ this sort will he considerable
nd nIncn IL IL fmnhnnnnnlallu rlnht