Imperial Valley press., 1920-04-10
FIELD OF RURAL MOTOR EXPRESS
lis WIDE; NEW TRANSPORTATION ERA
Many Cases of Transporting By Truck Considerably
Than By Rail- Trucks NOc Compete Successfully ,ith
Railroads for Short Haus and in Many Ue Better
Service; Many Economies.

Today, transportation is the foun
dation of all prosperity. The growth
of cities has purchased the producer
many miles back from his market ant
mines and sources of raw materials are
so segregated that industrial develop
ment, business efficiency, increased
production to meet increased demand
in fact, the very livelihood of the ma.
tion depends upon an adequate means
of transporting goods from the pro-
ducer to the consumer.
In the whole history of transporta-
|ition, of its three forms-ships, rail-
ways and highways-the latter re-
ceived the least attention until the
motor truck came forward and sup
piled for the highways what the steam
engine supplied for the railroads and
I Iwaterways-rapid transit. As re-
suit of the introduction of the motor
truck, we are in a new transportation
iera-that of highway transportation,
just as economically justified and just
as sure of steady development, as the
ships and railroads were in their early
stages. In the face of the constantly
increasing number of rural motor ex-
press routes in operation throughout
| the country, it is evident that the
motor truck serves field that is not
satisfactorily covered by any other
means of transportation.
STRINGS OF EMPTIES
No doubt you have often noticed a
string of empty freight cars left on a
siding for day after day, and thought
that waste was hardly consistent with
the crying need for cars to carry coal
from the coal mines. Delay and un-
productiveness such as this are every
day occurrences, and the cause of it
all is the Inconvenience to the railroad
of handling what is known as short
hauP' traffic-shipments of short dis
tances, and transfer within a city. 1t
is because of this kind of business that
a freight car travels on an average
only six miles day. It is improbable
business for the railroads. Motor
trucks have proven themselves to be
qualified to handle this kind of traffic
not only quicker and more satisfactor-
lily, but at lower cost. The gross
cost of shipping 100 pounds of freight
from New York City to Newark, N. j.,
for instance, distance of about nine
miles, including teaming charges on
both ends, is Gle by railroad and 15c
by motor truck. By railroad the ship
ment takes days while by motor truck
it is a matter of only few hours.
The field of the motor truck is as an
indispensable supplement to the rail-
roads rather than as competitor and
it is only a matter of time before
they will take over entirely those forms
of transportation that are unprofitabel
to the railroads, that congest their
terminals and create a shortage of
freight cars for use in long distance
haulage.
CREATES WEALTH
The potentialities of the motor truck
have much to offer toward increased
prosperity in this country. They cre-
ate wealth by increasing land values,
and lower prices by establishing more
direct connections between the farmer
and his market. They give a market
outlet to food supplies hitherto un-
available and open up productive re-
gions that have never been touched
because of their distance from market