Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-12-12
TRANSPORTATION LACK
IS MENAC|NC WELFARE
Realization OF This Causes Govern
mcnt to Appropriate Eight Hum
,irrd Million Dollars for Roads.
EXPERIMENTS CITED
Careful Consideration Shows That
to Substitute Smaller Trucks for
Larger Ones increases Wear and
Tear on Highways.

Tear on. Highways.
~ al the various shortages ha-
RAISING this county today. non" Is
Fare tfan The shortage OF trar tporta-
ton. says John H. Alsop. OF the Alsop
Motor Corporation. local distributors.
IL was largely the realization OF fhls
fact that caused our government u
:tppr ,pr!at" some ss00.oc"Ooo 10 he
spent in the course Of the next rev
years Tor the Improvement Of hiHn-
ways 10 permit a more extended use
81 the motor truck.
~ expanding this amount: thr
certain number Of ton-miies OF !oad
carrying ABILITY or, in other words.
highways the value OF which VIII de-
PEND on the amount Of ,natcrial that
can he transported over them. The
return on the Investment VIII he de,
construction Of the highways bnilt:
hu, also ~ the capacity and design OF
the vehicles operated over Thorn.
Conduct Experiments.
As first step toward securing the
greatest return IN transportation
from the m"ne% sLpen, on hiEhway
Roads At Washington has conducted
extensive experiments in order tn de-
termInc the type u highway which
viii give the largest number of tom
miles Of load carrying ability per
dollar expended However. the other
phase 81 the problcm--thht OF rcEu-
-
greatest tonnage transported *i'f the
least damage to the ronds-prcscnt3
much rrenter difficulties, since the
decision rests. not in the hands Of "a
centrally located group Or technically
Informed men. but with numerous
widely acattercd Legislative bodies.
The inefIcctivcnokS Df this arrange
inent can he seen b. the fac, that
methods Of restricting motor vehicles
a[y Whyy Il n nnF;f 81 thh nat s sSary
Legislator. passing law 10 "siah'
!ish license fees or restrict tr"i'ie.
does So in an earnest effort to con
re-vc the roade, ;her. Is a strong ten
d.ncy on the part Of those not fully
appraised or real facts To assume that
small trucks cause less road wear
than larg" trucks ana chat they
should therefore 81 favored.
Consider FOR a moment the cG.c:
OF Legislation that has favored the
lighter capacity truck. Regardless Of
whether the material is 10 be shipped
ia large or small trucks. the demand
fOr truck transportation remains the
same. as practically non" 81 u can D.
diverted 10 other channels. As re-
suit, when large uni; hau!aIc ~ dts.
/. merely ditidci up among a greater
number OF smaller vehicles. running
~ FAR greater speeds and increasing
tn" cost OF hauling By very con
siderable percentage.
Cont Would lie Justified.
Ii this decreased the amount or
road wear and permitted our $780,
600 600 Investment TO obtain more ton
inil.s 81 loRd-cnrrying ability II IL
l.,S.sihl"-that the increased cost would
be justiiiGd kut this * not the ease.
i careful consideration Of In. .fr.c;
clearly shows that 10 substitute
smaller trucks for large ones. I'M
du.r,innabIy Increases road wear. To
Illustrate. suppose each dollar spcn;
IN highway Improvement a. an arhi-
,rary ngur:. buys 1000 ton miles Of
mind that two kinds Of weight travel
over these roads-wcight OF load and
weight 81 rchicle--it IL obvious that
the dividends on our investment VIII
taiS traffic which is useful wcight--or
weight OF load. The seven and cne
Of vehicle weight. for, each ton OF ca
pacity; hence. II all the vehicles
operating over this dollars worth Of
TONS w %apsety t tnsn that a aolsr
would provide for 500 ton miles Of
useful load transportation. y one
ton truck. on tne other hand. ordin-
nriiy weighs over two tons itself. and
50 If tais size were used entirely tn"
same dollars worth Of road would
give only 1898 ton miles OF useful load
transportation as twc-thirdS ii TIE
road's carrying ability woul be G."a
in transporting ne weight ;: ~"
truck.
The design of the vehicle. as well
~ size. has an important bearing
on the potential returns OF our $500.
100000 Investment; Certain tests
Roads AT Washington show that
road impact. which is the principal
cause OF road wear. does not neccs-
CARLY increase in proportion to tho
size of the truck, but is governed
by tho amount OF weight which u
truck carries below its springs. For
instance. FIVE and one half-ton,
n-drven truck. fully loaded, de-
lvcrcd only GO per cent of the road
impact pressure produced by a three
ton. Shaft-driven truck. operating
under the same conditions and carry
driven truck. al of tho final driv-
ing mechanism is carried below the
springs and this weight delivers n
continual series of direct solid blows
TO the road, while in Il chain-drivcn
truck there is no weight below the
and comparatively light axle. That
is why seven and ono-half-ton,
chain driven truck will produce less
road impact, and consequently less
road wear than a nvc-ton. shaft
driven truck. And. furthermore.
lie considered in framing legislation
to derive the greatest possible benc-
lit from our sS00,000,000 highway in
ScStment.
Restriction Is misunderstood.
Unfortunately, this subject OF gross
understood. The tendency TO jump
at conclusions In determining which
types and sizes Of motor vehicles
exert tho greatest road wear is II
very natural one, owing to the popu-
Jar confusion between static
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
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