New-York tribune., 1920-11-11
The Large Truck
Males for Economy Of Road w..
IL Is Asserted
To the Editor of The Tribune

OK i"c .""S"i LUCK Ise' a.
clearly and accurately defined IN
editorial page Of this morning :,
form of a letter by Edward Earls n
man, is a subject that warrants 3,
portance not generally apprec;s..a
those who receive the benefits os =,
increasing use of motor trans,or.....
namely, every man, woman and cha
this country.
Highway transportation has re....,
the point where the free novo-,.-.
the nations commodities from p-os,..
to consumer depends upon motor .-..,.
just as it depends upon the rsl,oss.
There is a certain amount Of rns.o.'..
that must be shipped by motor -
annually, and practically none of
can now be diverted TO other char.
Thus, if we restrict traffic by a.s.,..
ing to eliminate The large ca,a,...
motor truck, either one of two ,or-
tions Wi. result: il VIII mean srs...
tuting a much greater number a..
small trucks or it VIII encourage owns.
Of these small trucks 70 overload
1t should hardly be necessa 10 na.-.
out that to substitute from tvo D..
seven fast moving small trucks =.
every large truck eliminated Will ~.
only increase the cost o.; transpor.a.,s.
and add considerable congestion. b-.
will increase road wear. The amour. 4.
dead weight OF the vehicle itself in ~.
portion to useful load carrying abil-x
decreases as the size Of TIE truck ~.
creases. Thus, if more small trucks ann
less large trucks are used, the roao,
will be forced to carry far grea,e,
proportion Of useless vehicle weigh.
for the same amount OF material trans.
ported. The higher speed OF the smag
truck is also a large factor in roac
wear, since it has Been definitely estsb.
lished that fast moving vehicle causes
more wear than slow moving vehcls
One OF the principal causes Of ex.
cessive road wear. as agreed BY prac
tically every one, is overlooking. Il
is only natural to assume that i larg.
trucks are eliminated the demand tor
motor truck haulage facilities will b
so great that small trucks will b-
forced to carry loads in excess o.
their rated capacity. \ motor truck
designed to carry certain tonnage is
constructed throughout. including tie
width and safety factors, TO hantls
Just its rated load. Any cons. .aerabls
overload gives more than the standaga
800 pounds per inch OF tire width AM
concentrates the load on small poi1'
Of contact. Furthermore, the overlosi
s not distributed on all four wheels
but rests almost entirely on the req
axle, further concentrating the Load
Overlooking does rot materially e..
down the speed, and the result is
higher ratio OF speed than should BE-
given to the load, even though proper
~ tired. In addition to al this, Il ha.
been found that large number o.
serious accidents have been direc,g
raused by overlooking. IS the et'.een'y
of truck brakes decreases wnen NOR
than capacity loads are applied. L
must be remembered That large trucks
are constructed proportionate.y In ;iFe
widths, springs and other f~c-ors %
take care Of effects or road wear, ara
that these standards have received the
approval Of public road officials.
To be sure, It is only natural for
people to place q large share Of the
blame for road wear on the large ca
pacity motor truck Bot, contrary to
popular assumption, it is fact thai
large trucks actually decrease rosi
wear in comparison wi,h doing the
same work with smaller trucks. Since
this fact has been definitely esta5.
lished by actual tests and comprehea-
! sive surveys. wouid It not seem tha.
it is the duty Of legislators to bass
their efforts on something more tlsn
assumption to analyze the effect O.
substituting a greater number of sms'i
trucks for fewer large trucks L We
desire to obtain the maximum o.
efficiency from our highway Investment
and at the same time provide for the
transportation Of goods at the lowest
possible cost, why not proceed on q
basis which penalties actual road wear
rather than one which penalties utility
and determine by actual test ard far
reaching analysis Just where the blame
for excessive road wear belongs Then
and only then VIII the Judgment. un-
Influenced by biessd opinion. be 8
permanent benefit 70 the Growth o.
highway transportation atd is reia
tion to public welfare.
PHILIP l.. SAlFFlN.
White Plains, n y. No.. 3, 1920