The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-03-13
PIGS ARE TAKEN
TO CITY MARKET
IN MOTOR TRUCK
Automobiles Enable to Get
Live Stock to Market Be-
fore Price Changes.

Live OtOCk 10 MARKET De-
fore Price Changes.
WASHINGTON, March 13.-To get
punch OF livestock to market quickly
before drop takes all the Joy out OF
seasons profits. is one of the things
motor transport is enabling farmers
TO do. Uncertain railroad transporta.
ton and car shortage have led to a
marked increase in the numbers of
rat hogs, sheep and cattle hauled ia
market In motor trucks in the last
year. The fat stock travel with great
or comfort and are not so long on the
road where the truck supplants the
freight train.
Although the movement of livestock
70 market by motor usually costs more
than by railroad, this extra EXPENSE ia
more than balanced by the quick deliy-
cry OF the stock before the market has
much opportunity to fiuctuate. Fur.
thermore, when the lorry is used. "a
q rule, hogs from a single farm are
loaded In one truck, and there is less
danger Of the animals fighting and in.
Juring each other in transit than when
carload of mixed hogs is shipped by
rail.
In investigating the extent of motor
truck transportation to the Omaha live
stock market, the department of ag-
r1culture found that for forty years
the movement Of live stock by wagon
from farms from FIVE to twenty-five
miles away had been fairly large. De-
velopment Of better highways and
more rapid means Of transportation.
That Is, the motor truck, has greatly
extended this territory and fat farm
animals now are hauled to South
Omaha from farms at much greater
distances than those formerly served
Dy wagon. A number of commission
firms cater particularly to the motor
TUCK, or less-than-carload lots. Their
business Is increasing because many
farmers are purchasing trucks for the
special purpose Of delivering live
stock.
Truck Companies Formed
Motor truck companies have been
formed in many towns and cities with
In radius of fifty miles of Omaha TO
meet the demands of farmers for such
service. These companies are develop
ing not only the live stock trade, but
also back haul trade Of groceries,
merchandise and general freight sucil
On one morning recently between $50
and 8 o'clock forty truckloads of live
stock were delivered at the Omaha
yards, and of this number nineteen of
the vehicles were owned by farmers.
The charges for hauling stock by
motor vary with the distance. Some
companies charge a fat rate of 25
cents 100 pounds, and add l cent a
100 pounds a mile. Other firms charge
by the load from SO to SIS for the
trip. depending on the distance and
the number Of animals carried. AL
though the rates are considered ex-
tremely high, as the truck hauler
charges 80 to 60 cents hundredweight
compared with IL to Is cent freight
rate, still the farmers seem to find the
motor truck method profitable.
The carrying capacity of the truck
varies with the size, age, class and
weight Of the animals. A standard
two-ton truck will carry twenty head
Of hogs. The floor space of the truck,
when small stock such as sheep and
hogs are transported, is often increas-
ed by double decking. AS a rule, the
motor express companies operate with
trucks of four or FIVE tons capacity,
while the vehicles owned by farmers
usually carry one or two tons.
Figures Indicate how the motor
truck delivery Of live stock at the
South Omaha yards has increased in
the last two years. In the first nine
months Of 1917 there were only 52,129
hogs in the Omaha drive in" There
was an increase Of 90 per cent in the
same period in 1918, 1920 hogs be-
ing delivered by truck. The cattle
drive from July to September. in
elusive, 1917, was 1879 head and in
the same period in 1918, 1851 cattle.
The Cincinnati, Indianapolis and
Louisville markets receive large part
of their hogs directly from the farms
by motor trucks. One typical. double
deck truck load of live stock unloaded
at the Cincinnati stockyards in the
presence of a representative of the
department Of agriculture. consisted
OF three 850-pound cattle, seven calves
weighing $50 pounds each. aad eleven
hogs averaging 185 pounds. Another
load consisted Of seven 750-pound cat
tie, while other loads were made up of
from ten to twenty-five hogs, weighing
from 175 to 225 pounds each.
Promises Cheap Marketing.
The custom Of hauling stock by mot
or truck to the Cincinnati market is to
charge fat rate Of from SIS to $50 a
trip for the use Of the large truck to
convey the stock from fifteen to forty
miles. One shipper reports that he
hauled twenty-five hogs forty-three
miles in four hours, and that the ac-
tual shringake of these hogs, which
weighed approximately 200 pounds
apiece. was from six to ten pounds.