Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-12-05
TRUCKS BIG FACTOR IN HAULING
FREIGHT FOR SHORT DISTANCES
Motor Lines Also Competing With Trolleys
for Passengers-New Transport
tation Era Seen.

! Motor transportation now occupies
systems for the carriage of freight
! and passengers. the National Bank
of Commerce of New York says in
! the December number of its maya
! zine, Commerce Monthly. The older
transportation systems will eventual
ly adjust their facilities to accommo-
! date the traffic for which they are
best adapted, the bank believes, SO
that. the motor truck must bid for
! business on the basis Of efficiency
alone. That it will meet this test
the bank declares, there is no doubt
Trucks are still carrying con-
siderable amount of freight which
formerly went by rail- says Com
merce Monthly. and it is probab bic
that they will take more of this busi-
ness in TIE future; but it is no longer
| be injured by this diversion of traf-
fic. AS the railroads adapt them
selves to the increased postwar traf-
fic, the use of motor trucks will be
confined to the field in which their
superiority can be demonstrated.
by both truck and rail find that be-
yond certain limit of d~.ance the
advantage of the railroad is decisive.
This limit is proportionate to the
railway terminal costs of the locality.
In region of very high terminal
12J miles. With the exception OF
shipments of goods for unusually fast
delivery it does not pay to ship by
truck beyond this distance, when
railroad operation is normal. On the
other hand, for shipments Of fifty
miles or less. the advantage is all
with the truck, except for the heavi-
est type of loose fre:Sht. and the
recent railroad rate increases will
accentuate this adj. age.
Trucks Rest for short Hauls.
Railroad rates for short hauls are
inadequate to meet the high proper
tionate terminal expense involved.
load lots contributes nothing toward
overhead expenses or profit. and may
even cause serious losses by increas-
ing terminal congestion. Motor truck
competition relieves this congestion
and ceases to be effective at just
about the point where the really
profitable railroad business begins.
Motor trucks are valuable supple
-ments to railroad systems when oper-
ating as feeder lines, and in that ca
pacity may replace the expensive light
branch lines formerly found neces-
sary to supply main line business from
outlying territory. The. motor truck
operates with success in districts for
nerly handicapped by Inadequate
transportation facilities, and here per-
forms valuable service in creating
new business Motor express lines,
privately owned and operated as pub
lie carriers, radiate from nearly all
N
these truck lines the farmer can sell
his produce without loss Of time and
at a minimum of expense. and often is
enabled to serve markets heretofore
quite out of reach. Such marketing
methods appear as the best solution
great cities with perishab1e food
stuffs, as it gives the city access to
producing areas within wide radius.
many Of which enjoy no other means
Of transportation or at best slow and
expensive facilities which discourage
the daily shipment Of perishable
freight -
'In passenger carriage for public
service the motor vehicle encounters
the active opposition Of electric rail-
ways. The outcome is not yet appar-
ent, for thes proper division Of the
field can come about only through
free competition, and this, unfortu-
nate1y. is not the Situation where
The trolley car and the omnibus have
distinctive qualities. however; which
recommen each for particular types
of service. The extent Of the use Of
omnibuses in the United States is in
dictated by the fact that more than
1000 are registered in New York city
alone.
'Tarmers are now the largest users
of trucks in this country. as they own
10 per cent more than manufacturers
and Is per cent more than retailers.
The Department of Agriculture re-
ported that more than 5000 farmers
were using approximately $4,000
motor trucks in 1919. The stockyards
Of st. Joseph. Sioux City. Indianap-
oils and Omaha report enormous in
creases in receipts of live stock by
truck. In all, SS1 900 head Of live
stock. or "a per cent of all live stock
received, were delivered there by
motor truck in 1919"
The development of the industry to
it's maximum efficiency, the bank de-
clares, depends upon prompt solution
Of two problems which now confront
it. These are the questions of fuel
supply and the provision Of proper
highways.
Fuel IL Behind Consumption.
Inc ploOuctlon OF MOTOR iuei HdS
not kept pace with its consumption"
the bank says. Between 1909 and
1918 the number ofsznotor vehicles in
use in the United States increased
about LOO per cent. while the domes>
tic production Of gasoline increased
but $50 per cent. and-that Of crude oil.
The Source, but IS per cent. For the
future, when the price of gasoline
makes it's extraction from shales and
the use of substitutes commercially
possible, there will probably be suffi-
Gent motor fuel at much higher prices
han those of today. Motor, transpor-
tation finds no threat of extinction in