Omaha daily bee., 1920-02-29
TRA|LERS CUT
BIG WASTE IN
TRUCK HAULING
At Present More Than Half a
Billion Dollars Is Spent Un-
necessarily In Moving
Merchandise.

More than half a million dollars
. year is being spent unnecessarily
in the United States for road haul
age by motor truck, according to J
calculation made by H. w. Perry,
manager of the Trailer Manufac-
turers' Association of America.
Basing his estimates on registra-
tons in the various states, which
show more than 100000 motor
trucks in use and assuming the
average capacity OF these trucks to
be two tons and the average mile
age travelled by them per day to be
so miles, it is found they have a
daily capacity of 60000,000-ton
miles-that is, that could haul two
tons 100000 miles in one day.
But the average truck or delivery
wagon travels empty half its daily
mileage on its return trip. An esti-
mate Of 10000 000-ton miles daily is
fair approximation of the work
actually done.
4 Figures for One Year.
An estimate of 265, days service
eacfI per year is believed conserva-
tive. Multiplying the 30,000,000-ton
miles daily service by 265 gives a
total annual service of 7,950,000000-
ton miles rendered by the 100000
trucks.
The cost of operating trucks runs,
roughly, from about $40 day for
a ton truck. 1t is calculated that
the cost of haulage by one-ton truck
is about 40 cents per ton mile, by
= two-ton truck about Is cents, by
a three-ton or three and half-ton
truck about 20 cents, and by five
ton truck about IS cents. The great
est number OF trucks in use are of
one to three and half tons ca
pacity. Therefore, % cents per ton
Jnile is taken as fair average OF
the cost of haulage by truck. At
this rate the total cost of the 7oSA,-
D00.000-ton miles service is $685.
SOC, 900 year.
4 What Tra;lers Do.
Tables of operating costs Of traih
4ers and semi-trailers as compiled
lby leading trailer manufacturers
show the cost to vary from about
l3H cents to 6K cents per ton mile,
according to type and size of trailer.
This indicates cents as an averaged
To be conservative, an average of
10 cents per tonsmile, or double the
sestimates of trailer manufacturers.
is taken as the basic cost of haulage
with trailers and semi-rtailers.
\ Trailers cannot be used except |
with motor trucks or passenger au-
stomobiles to draw them, and usually !
only one is used at a time with a
motor vehicle. If every motor truck /
were to draw one trailer or semi
trailer Of the same load capacity as
the truck, half the total tonnage |
.woild be carried on trailers.
Trailers Larger Than Trucks. ),
\ Tn practice a three-ton semi ,
trailer is used with a one-ton truck I
and II or l5-ton semi-trailer with |
"a fve-ton truck. Sometimes two
Ifour-wheel trailers are hauled by
motor truck. Thus three times the
load capacity of the truck itself is
hauled at one trip.
But, to be conservative, it is as
sumed that only one-half the total
annual ton mileage, or 3,o75,000,000,
could be carried on traiiers. Taking
the average ton mile cost by truck
as q cents and by trailer as 10
cents, there' would be a saving of
Is cents per ton mile. This gives
$5l6750,000 as the reduction in the
annual bill of the nation for motor
ihaulage that could be realized by
the universal use of trailers and
semi-trailers with the motor trucks
in operation today.