The New York herald., 1921-01-02
MAKING A TRUCK
PAY IN WINTER
Driver Must Be Kept Warm
for Efficient Operation
of Vehicle.

With a.motor truck time means money
Delays OF any sort In making deliveries
or returning for reloading are costly,
and as the winter months approach, the
time OF year when the truck labors
under the greatest difficulties. the oper-
ator should prepare in so far as possible
TO obviate unnecessary delays. Some
causes OF winter delays are, OF course
beyond remedy by the operator, hut
others--for instance. those caused by
hard startinEz-can be prevented by
little care beforehand. 1t is with these
preventable delays that we purpose deal
ing In this article
Perhaps the most frequent delay IN
motor truck operation during tho cold
weather Is hard engine starting. Not
only does this waste varying NUMBER
Of minutes every time the vehicle makes
a STOP but the actual labor Of making
a sluggish engine get down to business
time after time has a bad effect on the
driver or helper on whom the task falls
The most helpful thing in this connec-
ton IS a good priming device. which can
be operated from the dash. This OBJ
viates the old fashioned method Of lift
ing the hood and pouring fuel into the
petcocks each time a start must be
made would advise the type OF
primer that has a small tank with
control at the bottom. which being
opened allows the fuel to flow to- the
inlet manifold, which Is tapped for this
purpose. In this type Of primer 1t Is
possible to use better than ordinary
grade OF gasolene. one having high vola-
tility, or mixture OF gasolene and
ether II the latter mixture Is used 1t
should be made up little at n time,
A. al tAa ra aDidlV
after the mixture is exposed to the air.
Drivers should be carefully instructed
In the methods of starting when the
motor Is cold. They should be shown
how the choke should be applied when
the engine Is being started and should
be warmed up to throw off as soon as
the vehicle Is under way. In case the
truck Is fitted with starter the driver
must he warned not to keep using this
device tin.e after time. If the engine
docs not fire with normal cranking the
starter should not be used further. In,
stead. Tire cause Of difficulty should be
asnerta.ncd Again the operator must
be warned gainst the danger of over
piining. Just little of the lighter fuel
should be fed at time. The greater
difficulty in getting the fuel to vaporize
In cold weather means that there must
be 2. good not spark NJ All tilnoo ioi
starting, and this calls for careful main.
tenance of the ignition system. This
system must be in the best Of shape al
the time.
There Is much virtue in covering the
bottom part of the radiator of the motor
truck for while after starting. The
colder water in the cooling system lies
at the bottom Of the radiator and pro-
tecting this part from the wind serves
to keep this water warmed. With pumI
cooled engine in long distance runs Il
will be necessary to remove the cover.
ing after the engine Is warmed up bu
with the thermo-syphon system t had
best be covered all the time in really
cold weather. Experiment with the in
dividual engine will be needed to deter.
mine just how long the cover should be
kept In place.
The question OF using anti-freeze mix