New-York tribune., 1919-08-31
Don t Force Truck Beyond
ITS Speed and Load Limits
Real Service on the Road and Proper Return on
Your Investment Can't Be Got Otherwise
(Th the fourth Of articles the truck modern
business.)

The average motor truck is such a
large and disappearing vehicle that
it seems almost unnecessary to give it
the care that a more delicate-looking
machine must have But actually a
motor truck is like any other piece of
machinery. 1t must have the "round-
house" attention that locomotive gets,
for it performs its work under far
more testing conditions than does a
railway engine. 1t does not run on
rails, but takes the chances and haz-
ards of the streets and highways. 1t is
pounded about on the inequalities of
the roads and every once in a while
its entire tonnage sustains q sharp
fall Of perhaps only few inches that
Jars the very inwards of its makeup.
In spite of the very simplicity Of the
problem, great many owners and
Operators of motor trucks do not un-
derstand that excessive speed and over
loading are the two things that most
affect the life and service of the vehi-
Gle. They are so taken in. either by
representations made to them when
they buy the truck or by the massive
appearance of the machine and it's
gear, that they appear to feel there are
no limits to what can be done by and
with the truck. Every motor truck is
built with a definite limit of safety
both in speed and load, and no matter
what operators may believe, it cannot
be used beyond such limits without
taking something out of the truck that
shortens its life.
1t ought to be easy to understand
and yet apparently it is not-that tc
pile on q truck more than it ought tc
carry is dangerous. Overload accentu-
ates each inequality in the road sur.
face. Suppose there is a hole in The
road. truck that is built and de-
signed to carry two tons is carrying
a three-ton load. When it drops int
that hole the blow delivered through
the fall is increased terrifically. The
strain put upon the vital parts of tn,
truck. which would be bad enough
if if we're not loaded, is so augmented
that enough damage may be don,
by that one happening to put the We
hicle in the repair shop, with a bi,
bill to pay. If the truck is bens
proper limits Of speed for a Wagon
of its dimensions the force Of the blow
and the strain on all the parts arr
increased in geometrical progression
An airplane has a limited number o
hours Of flight because the engine j
being driven at all times at the to-
OF its speed and power output Their
is no idling or coasting when fligh
is being maintained. Every so otter
therefore, the airplane engine has t.
be taken down and parts replaced, 8
that it can go out again. 1t is prac
tically the same condition when
motor truck engine is being made t
turn over faster than it should. TIL
excessive vibration is bad for all tn
parts of the engine and the chassis, an
it is "haste to the repair shop" if tina
practice is kept up.
Just because motor truck, unlik
a human being, cannot complain whe
driven too fast, with too much over
load, it all too often is badly treate
in those respects. Nevertheless
should be understood by every one VIII
uses motor trucks that Of all the thing
that shorten the life of such vehicle
and cheat the owners out of the prope
return from their investments there
there are no two elements that con
tribute moro to disservice than thes
two-overload and overspeed
The time that motor truck is work
ing is the time in which it is maxim
money for its users. The time it