Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1920-07-21
TRUCKS CHEAPEST
Coventry Finds Most Economical IN
Road Building.

ROAD bu1lQlnS.
Road officials tell representative
of this paper that the use of the
trucks given the state by the federal
government and rented to the towns,
are much cheaper than teams for
road work of some kinds, at least.
A piece of road one and one-quarter
miles long in Coventry was resur-
faced with gravel in 1915 at a cost of
$1,000. The identical one and one
quarter of road was resurfaced this
year, from the same gravel pit and so
far as can be judged the same depth
of surfacing put on, at cost of $715.
The 1915 job was done with teams
and the 1920 job with one of the state
| trucks rented at cost of $40 per
day, the town paying the operator
and paying the gas and oil bills, which
made the cost approximately $1S per
day.
| With the high cost of labor now as
compared with 1915 the saving of the
truck system over the team method
is very substantial and commends the
truck method to all. The truck used
was two-ton side dump truck.
The Vermont system of housing and
! utilizing the army trucks turned over
to the state by the federal authorities
L QSs
published by the bureau of public
roads of the u. S. department of ag-
riculture. The magazine reproduces
a winter bird's-eye view of the stor-
age sheds and garage erected by the
state near Montpelier and shows one
of the Nash 'quads." equipped by the
state with a side dumping body. Of
I the Vermont plant the magazine
says:
"Vermont's plant which is similar
to that of Utah, is constructed on
five-acre lot which the state has
bought on the state road and trolley
and just beyond the city limits of
Montpelier. The present buildings
consist of garage, 48 feet wide by
644 feet long; machine shop, "a
feet square; a storeroom for supply
parts with floor dimensions of Fl by
go feet; power plant, Is by 80 feet
in size, and the sheds built inside the
stockaded Enclosure, containing AT
stalls, the majority of which are 10
feet wide by % feet six inches deep.
All buildings ard sheds are of frame
construction.
cit is also intended to build a care
takers house in connection with the
garage but this work will not be done
before the coming summer. To cover
the cost of this plant, as well as the
expense of freight shipment and re-
pair of the trucks and other surplus
war material, the board of control has
apportioned $4,000 to be used in adj
dition to other available highway
| funds"
| The article says further:
"a tabulation submitted by the
highway commissioner of Vermont
gives statement of the garage ex-
pense of the trucks before they were
put into service. In the case of one
truck the expense was only $3.50.
The greatest expense for any truck
was S20.14 and the average expense
for II trucks was $13.61. West Vir-
ginia estimates the cost of condition
ing at SIS per truck.
A tabulation of types of truck body
alteration and equipment with costs,
as reported by various states, shows
that Vermont altered a Nash quad
body with vertical hydraulic hoist
mounted at the front for 1894 and
equipped a Nash quad with side dis
charge wooden body for S135. In some
states, as high as $1,000 per truck
was spent in altering and the lowest
amount was S35 for a frame wooden
/ body.
Vermont was allotted 95 trucks, II
Fords and three automobiles, total
of ITO vehicles. Of this number, IS
were delivered up to April 1, 1920,
when the last figures were available,
or ~ per cent of the total number.