The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-03-29

The loading Of the miscellaneous
provision trucks was done by
blocks. Tho camp was divided into
districts. whose sine was based on
the average daily tonnage. Three
blocks Of kitchens and barracks. for
instance. would be handled by one
truck. and explicit orders required
the assortment Of all shipments be
forc they were loaded on the trucks.
Thus truck for BiocksA. II and G
would be 80 headed that the kitchen
nearest To tho warehouse would
have its food stock on the rear Of
the truck. ready to be unloaded first
without delay: the second stop would
be next. and 10 ON thru the load.
Tho sorting OF orders was all done
on the warehouse floor far from the
trucks. 30 there would DC no congcs-
ton at the loading doors.
The trucks thus had a compare
lively short haul before they began
to discharge their load. Al the end
Of their trip. the same trucks would
be met by cleanup squad. or "po-
lice detall'' and make a return trip,
picking up the big galvanized iron
cans Of kitchen refuse This would
DO delivered to the concentration sta,
ton, where all this material was
gathered for disposal In bulk or
shipment BY rail to hog farms near
the camp.
To operate this system. II was
necessary to have every officer In
this camp using trucks file reaui.
ntion a day In advance for his ton
mage requirements. At night dis
patchcr would take all the orders,
both special and standing orders.
and issue printed forms 10 the driv.
ers OF the various trucks. instructing
them where. when and TO whom TO
report and for what duty.
Zone system
ANY truck sent out on a long haul
was under orders To report to the
dispatcher by telephone before re-
turning TO the park. a truck with
"A task compietcd at Block a. for In
stance. was required TO report By
phone to the dispatcher at Block ".
or wherever the dispatcher was 10
Gated, when haul was completed.
II a call had been received for a
truck in Block A, the truck already
In that vicinity would be sent To this
task. without losing the double dis
tancc Of empty roll from A to 1.-THE
return OF truck No. empty from
Block A. for instance. and the send
ing of Truck No. 2 light to Block a
from Block z to do this work.
And II seems Of course that any
fool would be able To work out this
prblom satisfactorily. In fact. the
dispatching OF a fleet of motor
trucks requires as much mobility on
the part of the brain OF tho dis
patchcr. ms 1t requires to operate a
railroad division from the train dis
patcher's desk. The truck dispatch
err. especially in a plant where there
are many short order calls. must at
all times know where TO reach all Of
his fleet of trucks. This can only he
done by a blottcr. recording the
movements OF all trucks, and n dis
patcher ready To meet an emergency.
In practice, a dispatcher cannot
operate his trucks at n maximum at
all times. but the percentage OF
empty haul can be materially re.
duced. At one camp. the installation
Of "A dispatcher with a bean on his
shoulder" cuts the cost per ton mile
Of operating fleet Of over 80
trucks. 60 per cent in a single
month.
Now. Mr.. Truck Owner, figure out
this saving In dollars by efficient
dispatching. for your own fleet. on a
basis of as low a cost as $40 per
truck per day.
Copyright, 1919, by Warren Il.
Bullock)