The Washington times., 1919-05-03

Gam ndu 10 meet IN organizing the
transport service for the army, and
the way he met it is worth knowing
by the private operator. IT was hard
to meet because at the outset of the
war the supply of trucks was far
below the necessities of the various
camps and cantonments. II was also
hard to meet because dispatchers
were inclined to favor officers of
higher rank, regardless OF the needs
of the case until il became a general
rule that the dispatcher was king OF
his kingdom, and responsible only TO
his immediate chief for the efficient
handling of his job. To the credit OF
the service, however. il must be said
that as soon as the needs were recog-
nized there was the greatest willing
ness to cooperate with dispatchers.
| Worked Plan In Army Camps.
| One of the best examples of short
haul problem in dispatching was at a
Southern camp, where the conditions
were almost a duplicate of those to
be found in any wholesale business
| establishment, though typical probab-
ly of dozens of army camps
/ Every morning, owing to the eli.
mate, it was necessary to secure early
and quick distribution Of meat from
P. refrigerator cars about the camp.
/ The cars were placed every morning
near the food supply warehouse, and
| sides of beef were trucked direct from
| the car to the motor trucks at the
J " arehouse door. Other trucks were
| assigned to handle the days food sup
ply, flour, sugar, canned goods, ana
| the like.
The meat trucks were first loaded.
distributed the meat, and then were
NJ 20 tel InNo
Of their last meat delivery. This was
a short distance to figure on saving,
but every mile counts when a quarter
ly statement is made up. and the meat
trucks saved mile each per day Cf
travel empty.
"BIOck" System Used.
J The loading of the miscellaneous
| provision trucks was done by the ay-
| erage daily tonnage. Three blocks of
! kitchens and barracks, for instance
would be handled by one truck, and
| explicit orders required the assor:-
| ment Of all shipments before they
were loaded on the trucks.
Thus truck for Blocks a, B and G
would be so loaded that the kitchen
nearest to the warehouse would have
its food stock on the rear end of the
truck, ready to be unIoaded first with
! next, and so on through the load. The
/ sorting Of orders was all done on the
warehouse floor far from the trucks,
so there would be no congestion at the
loading doors.
The trucks thus had a comparative
" short haul before they began n
discharge their load. At the end of
their trip, the same trucks would he
met Dy a cleanup squad, or police
detail" and make a return trip picking
up the big galvanized iron cans of
kltchen refuse. This would be de
liVered to the concentration station
where all this material was gathered
for disposal in bulk or shipment by
rail TO hog farms near the camp.
Dispatcher Issued Orders.
To operate this system it was nee
essary to have every Officer in +bis
camp using trucks file a reouisition
day in advance for his tonnage re-
Quirements. At night. a dispatcher
would take all the orders, both spe-
cial and standing orders. and issuo |
printed forms TO the drivers OF the |
various trucks. instructing them
where, when and to whom TO rcport |
and for what duty.
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 completed at block 4. for in
stance, was required to report nv
phone to the dispatcher at block Y, /
or wherever the dispatcher was To- |
Gated, when haul was completed
II call had been received for a !
truck in block 4, the truck already
in that vicinity would be sent to this
task without losing the double dis
tance Of empty roll from A to Z-thc
return OF truck No. empty from
block A, for instance, and the sending
Of truck No. . light To block \ from |
block q TO do this work.
Practical Most or Time.
And it seems, of course. that anv
fool would be able 10 work out this
problem satisfactorily. In fact the
dispatching Of a fleet of motor trucks
requires as much mobility on the part
OF the brain Of the dispatcher. a, 4
requires TO operate railroad di-
vision from the train dispatchcr's
desk
IT," truck dispatcher. especially in
a plant where there are many short
order calls, must at all times know
where to reach all Of his fleet or
trucks. This can only be done by
blotter. recording the movements OF
all trucks. and a dispatcher ready 10
meet the emergency.
In practice, a dispatcher cannot
operate his trucks at a maximum at
all times, but the percentage Of empty
haul can can be materially reduced.
At one camp the installation Of a
with bean on his ShOuI-
ders" cut the cost per tOn-mile of
operating a fleet of over fifty trucks
go per cent in a single month.
Now Mr.. Truck Owner, figure out
this saving in dollars by efficient dis
patching for your own fleet. on a
basis of as low a cost as SO per
truck per day
Copyrighted. 1919, by Warren L.
Bullock.)