The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1919-05-24


to get the produce TO market quickly
! without loss by deterioration in long
slow bauls. 1t would be just as bad
Judgment to establish a line Of light
er trucks. where the haul is sacked
potatoes, baled hay, sacked grain, and
| the like. 1t would seem that no
| operator would be guilty Of either
( error, but it has been done, and
| thousands sunk in ventures which
I not only wrecked the operator fnan-
cially. but put highway transport
into i'll repute in the locality to be
served.
Survey of Ground Important.
The first requisite is the survey Of
the ground to be covered, to deter
mine the nature and volume Of busi-
ness available. both immediate and
contingent upon successful develop
ment OF the transportation route.
Not the least important phase OF
the business is the problem of adver-
Using. How to develop a transport
business is a broad subject, and in
volved a multitude of details, but the
| advertising problem is among the
most important. The best advertise
ment is always a reputation for de-
livery of goods, or the giving of serv-
ice. But this is not enough. There
must be systematic development of
the territory to be served, and the use
| of the truck itself as an attractive
rolling advertisement has in previous
articles been referred to as an impor-
tant feature.
The advertisement feature can be
carried out in many ways, both to
4 H. - 81
| and to the prospective user of the
truck in the cities on the route. The
vital phase of the highway transport
System is not alone the development
of the big volume OF heavy traffic
along the route, but also the develop
| ment OF the package freight or ex-
press business. This carries a big
profit and is all or nearly all velvet"
The small parcel proportionately can
readily be made to carry a bigger
! charge than the volume of heavy
shipments, a leaf being taken in this
respect from the book of the rail-
roads.
Advertising Methods.
The advertising can be carried
! either by the direct method of cir
cularizing the prospective customer,
coupled with the solicitation OF the
business OF heavy shippers. The
home town newspaper, however, in
every city along the route must not
be overlooked. 1t may not require
heavy expenditure, but the fact
that a transport system is in opera
ton to haul ordinary business, prop
erly advertised will bring a huge
volume of business which might
otherwise be lost Tt is possible in
this as in other phases Of the bust
ness, TO go to the extreme. but the
transport lines must not allow their
service to be overlooked. If you do
not advertise your business, the big
ger companies will take what you
might have. and the railroad and
the electric line is always a competitor
for the country business in a greater
or lesser measure.
The element OF competition comes
in here in the transport business, and
to establish a transport line paral-
telling a highly developed electric
railway express system is to invite
the bankruptcy court to sit on the
corpse OF a defunct business.
Conservation in purchase OF equip
ment must be coupled with enter
prise. The Lord loves the man who
takes a chance" a soldier once said,
DuI ln6fe can De I0ChlcSS
taking business as well as in any
other line OF human endevor.
study Market for Traffic.
Esprit de corps in the transport
organization, in the driver Of every
truck. can be made to pay huge re-
turns, by assisting in giving service.
In general if you want to make a
success Of a truck business. do not
overlook these elements:
Study your market for traffic. Gull
tivate your clients along the route
by the best service. Deliver the
freight quickly, and properly. Study
your operating system. to cut down
the cost OF operation by proper load
ing. avoidance OF waste in haulage
and material. Use of the most COM
plete shipping methods I'm all bust
ness transactions, and operate the
truck fleet on the general lines OF
efficient prompt, reasonably cheap
freight service, as traffic engineer
ing task, not on the method OF an
overgrown country draYage business.
Copyright 1919 by Warren s. Bull