White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1919-03-23
SHIP BY TRUCK
lRy Harvey S. Firestone)

one thought that the rallro2uS cohlu
be superseded for freight hauling;
least of all did the railroads n eX-
press companies. Some time later
the idea entered the minds OF both
of them; il also entered the minds
of truck owner Still
none of them realized the possibil'-
ties. The truck owner did not think
for a moment that he, with Ills
trucks, could compete with the eS-
press companies and railroad com
panies. 1t was generally. ~consideree
that they had the monopoly on
freight and express hauling.
The war changed all that. When
, Verdun was saved, when the defense
of the great Somme valley was ac-
complished, when the Chateau Thi-
cry victory was achieved, each one
made possible by a victory of allied
motors over German railroads, the
motor truck was put on the map to
stay. In this country the railroads
we're simply flooded with traffic;
they couldn't begin to handle the
traffic; they couldn't begin to handle
the volume. They were submerged.
Moreover they discovered that their
short hauls were Improbable; mat
the only traffic they could handle
- Y,afst mos tho long distance
haul. On the other hand, the truck
owner, driven to it by circumstances
beyond his control, began to convey
both freight and express consign-
ments by truck. He was surprised
to find that he could do it at a profit.
and that he could run his trucks on
schedule time.
At first, of course, the truck own
er expected great hostility on the
part of the railroads. Possibly there
was some feeling for a while, but the
truck owner presently became aware
that the railroads, instead of object
ing 10 truck traffic, were beginning
TO welcome it as an adjunct to tbeir
own systems. Trucks are taking
away the Improbable short haul
from the railroads and making of II
a profitable haul for themselves.
Instead of hurting the railroads.
truck traffic is helping them, by
bringing huge amounts of perishable
freight, which ii would otherwise be
impossible to ship, to a thousand
junction points all over the United
States.
A study made by Mr.. McAdoo's ad-
ministration has shown that II rare
ly, If ever, pays the railroads to han
die short hauls. During the war, by
cooperation and mutual consent, We
have transferred much of this short
haul traffic to the highways. AS a
result freight can, within reasonable
limits, be hauled from the door OF
the shipper to the door OF the con-
signee more cheaply than any rail-
road can carry it. As a consequence.
too, the railroads will hardly build
any more feeder lines: in fact. the
state of Kansas has about decided
not to build any more electric inter-
urban traction lines. The analysis
made by the railroad administration
proves that most of these feeder lines
never have paid and were all the
while economically unsound. The
feeder lines of the future will be
largely highway transport vehicles,
gasoline driven, running over inn
proved roads from the producing en-
doris to the shipping points of the
trolleys, and inland water
ways, thus developing the country
a broader scale and finally tieing
up every producing center with an
ultimate outlet.
Another advantage of motor truck
transport has to do with the re-hand-
ling of goods. The cost of re-hand-
ling is becoming n of the great
problems of all transportation ex-
perts. Re-handling involves more la
Dor, possible damage to goods. ware
housing and delay. Within its sphere
highway transport eliminates these
exceptionable factors and lends Its
value to the general scheme Of trans
p~ortation.
The policy of shipping by truck
has much to recommend 1t. For in
stance, when a shipment is entrusted
to one of the several thousand truck
transportation companies in this
country, there is ample assurance of
punuctual delivery. These compa-
MES dispatch their trucks on regular
schedules over carefully planned
routes. In addition to prompt de-
livery they offer you extra precaution
and special care in the handling OF
your goods. In these trips loads are
handled only two, or at most three