Arizona republican., 1919-06-08
L|KENS GOOD ROAD
 SITUATION ID OLD
 RAILROAD PROBLEM

Along with the great national move ment for better highways comes the question of weight of loads, speed, and many other factors" says R. F. Full ton, vice president of the International Motor company.
 'In the solution of the matter, plain, ordinary common sense should prevail. Unimproved roads, in good weather when they are dry and sound, can stand a great deal of traffic with little or no damage. They can even bear tremendous loads if the width of the tire is sufficient. When these roads are solid big steam traction engines, with thrashing machines or corn sheQers, run over them with no damage; in fact, with benefit, as they act like rollers. rollers.
 Moderately improved roads likewise can stand much traffic in good weather The big trouble with these roads is that they are not what can be called all year round roads. They should be improved to meet the normal require ments of traffic, so that full benefit may be derived from them at all times.
 Large Loads Lower Prcies
 "The weight of the load should be
 
 tires. Routes between large cities or important commercial and industrial centers serve an enormous tonnage, and the larger the units in which this tonnage is hauled the greater the economy of hauling. These routes are main arteries of traffic, and anything which increases the cost of transporta- ton on them is paid for by all the people, regardless of how far they may be from these main arteries. When it is taken into consideration that 50 per cent increase in the size of the unit hauled makes 15 per cent de- crease in the cost of transportation, the matter becomes one of great econ omic importance with tonnage run ming Up into the millions.
 Likens Roads to Railroads "On these roads the weight is fully taken care of by the 800 pound limit per inch width of tire. For every 800 pounds, an inch is added to the bear- ing surface of the tires. With the ad- dition of trailer the weight of the load can be doubled without doubling the strain on the road. You simply add to the wheel base. The load while great is distributed over. more wheels | illustration of this is given by our ! roads. While heavy rolling stock, such as the big compound engines which are now used on our railroads, are very much heavier than the rolling stock Of years ago, the weight per inch of bear ing surface has not been greatly in- creased. This has been met by put ting extra bearing surface under the weight. For instance, the big engines now have 16 driving wheels, whereas the early engines had only four Tt would have been as sensible fifty 1 years ago to have prohibited the use of locomotives larger than the little 4-wheel drivers, as it would be today to limit the weight of the motor truck on any other basis than tire width, and the number of wheels under the weight which in the case of our large loco motives gives several hundred per cent i greater hauling capacity with probably only 100 per cent greater weight of l rail. Without the development of the { large locomotive and the increased size ! of railroad cars. freight rates would ] probably be double what they are now. ! If we set an artificial limit on motor i trucks, We are handicapping what is l fast becoming an important means Of i transportation. and adding to the cost | of every article of food or clothing we I use. and placing q generally greater ] economic burden on the country We ! must build the road 10 carry the load ' lican Classified Pages-Arizona's 1ea1-