The Washington herald., 1919-06-29
TRAILER FIRMS
PROTEST LAWS
Present Statistics Show
Lack of Uniformity,
Say Makers.

Recommendations for legislation
covering the registration and use OF
trailers have been drafted by the
Trailer Manufacturers Association OF
America. 10 West Fortieth street.
New York. and have been submitted
~ the committee in Washington
Which drew up the proposed uniform
H1ff1c bin for Introduction into the
Qnrious state legislatures.
State laws, city ordinances and bills
sending in several States reveal a
lack Of uniformity in their provisions
that Is to be deplored because Of the
Increase in interstate use of trucks
and trailers. They also show a sad
lack of knowledge regarding the uses
N trailerS and their effects on the
roads. II is hoped, by presenting rec
ormendations for legislation that will
protect the highways and the users
hereof without imposing prohibitively
high registration fees and unneces-
sarily restrictive regulations, to Sc
cure a greater degree of uniformity
IN the laws and to permit of the
further development Of economical
transportation over the highways.
Cheaper Haulage Benefits Con-
sumer.
II is held to be greatly to the in
,terest of Industry and commerce in
general and to the whole consum-
ing public not to prevent such de-
velopment. Cheaper highway trans
portation offers the only possible
means of materially increasing the
returns to the producer and lower
ing prices to the consumer. Rail-
road freight rates cannot be re-
duced enough to give much relief
but by improvement of the high
ways and the use of motor trucks
and trailers the cost of haulage
ean be cut in half at least. The
Importance of this will be realized
when it is known that it costs
more to haul a ton of farm produce
Or manufactured articles to the
railroad than to ship it hundreds OF
miles by rail.
In the end. the consumer always
pays the freight. as manufacturers
and merchants, in order to make a
living profit, must add to their
selling prices all costs of doing
business. including delivery charges.
On the other hand, when haulage
costs are reduced. the consumer
ultimately gets the beneft, because
turer and merchant to lower their
prices.
High Taxes Offset Economy.
fExperience with thousands OF
trailers in use proves beyond doubt
that the cost of haulage is greatly
decreased by the use of trailers. This
reduction may be as much as so per
cent or more under favorable con-
titions OF road and service. But II
special taxes for the use of the high
ways are imposed under the guise
Df registration fees. this economy
will be largely destroyed and the
tnducement to use trailers will be
aulliied. Trailer manufacturers are
not opposed. however, to reasonable
tees provided they go into the State
fund for highway construction and
maintenance.
EIrziler fees should be considerably
over than fees for motor trucks
Of equal load capacity. because
tFailers weigh only one-quarter to
,ne-third as much as the trucks and
10 not exert any destructive tractive
effort on the road through drive
wheels
Legislation prohibiting the use of
Tailers or the use OF more than one
iraiIer with a motor vehicle is as
erted by trailer manufacturers
and users to be wholly unnecessary
md directly opposed to the best in
serests of the general public. The
more trailers that can be drawn by