The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-26
For the Good of
 The Community

nVER 200 trucks were in the parade in Rir V mingham on Ship by Truck'' day May 17 Most ot them are owned by Birmingham mer chants and manufacturers.
 Within a radius of 50 miles, with Birminoham as the center, IS population of over 100000 Blfmlngham merchants should, and probably do. supply this population with the greater part of its needs. - -'
 The bulk of merchandise delivered beyond the suourbs or Birmingham goes by freight or ex press, with consequent delays and two or three handlings.
 Good roads and trucks would make deliveries quicker and more regular. With good roads will come the trucks. In other sections of the country where deliveries are made by trucks it is claimed that they are made cheaper
 Here is what Frank H. Kimball, manager of the CleVeland-Akron Bag company of Cleveland, writing in Dependable Highways says about it:
 Improved roads have changed the measure of distance between cities from miles to hours. Be- fore improved roads are built, town 50 miles from central distributing point is outside the di- rect delivery radius and that town is wholly de- pendent upon the freight or express shipment by railway in receiving and sending it's goods. With improved roads we consider the same town as from three and one-haf to four hours away when we take into account the delivery possibilities of motor trucks for highway transportation The brick roads surrounding Cleveland place it in the center of an easy delivery service that can reach out in every direction from Conneaut, O., on the northeast, to Sandusky on the vests and Can- ton on the south. A circle drawn through these cities with Cleveland as the center circumscribes Warren, Youngstown, Salem, Canton, Massilon, Norwalk Oberin and all the towns on the main thoroughfares within the territory described.
 Tn 1917 the Cleveland-Akron Bag Go. main tained regular service part of the territory described and the results were so satisfactory to the patrons of the company and to the company it. self that 1t Is purpose to enlarge the scope of the delivery in 1918 and to take full advantage of the opportunity offered by the roads to operate fleet of g trucks. -
 "The actual operation of our truck transporta- tion in 1917 showed us that with care and fore sight in loading and arranging deliveries, goods can be placed at the buyers doors within our ter rtory at cost less than that of express shipments to the same points Besides the saving in cost of transportation there is the satisfaction of buyer and seller alike in knowing that the goods are ac- tuay on the wagon and will be delivered at the door within the hOur.
 The Engineering News Record of April IF, 1919, had this to say:
 "Agan we are witnessing the spring breakup not of the ice in our rivers but of the roads. The stream quickly resumes the normal, the ice is swept out, no damage has been done. The high way, on the contrary, IS ruined The surface has been broken through; that which was road is now plague of ruts. If this applied to the by ways it would be bad enough. But it is true of trunk highways, too. Commerce is stopped and the war congestion the railways becomes worse Year after year we have endured this con- dition, but the war has given us new point of view. In normal times we stopped road transpor- tation; we endured the condition because we did not realize that it increased the cost of living. Now war sternly forbids the interruption of road traffic-and there is developing with tremendous strength demand for 's65-day. roads They must come. They are an essential of the trunk road policy of the future-yes, and of these war times"
 The Atlanta Journal, speaking editorially of the good roads movement in Georgia says:
 Georgia counties go marching on to improved highways. A week hardly passes without an cleo tion in favor of bonds. In the present week no less than four counties have voted a total of thirteen hundred thousand dollars to be expended in highway construction. Two other counties will hold elections in the next few days.
 Jackson county on Tuesday voted $100,000, Spalding county voted $350O0O, Berrien county voted $5O0000 Gynn county voted $350,000
 s'These four election were held on the same day. In each of these counties the majority for bonds was overwhelming In the next few days the counties of Banks and Franklin will hold bond elections