Pueblo chieftain., 1921-02-13
MOTOR EXPERT DISCUSSES
RELATION OF AUTO TRUCK
TO HIGHWAY LEGISLATION
Argues for Uniform Motor Vehicle Law, and Points
Out Means for Getting Best Truck
Road Conditions
Continued from Las. sunday3

Continued from Last Sunday)
We cannot consider tho economy OF
the road without taking into consid-
Grafton the things that go to ruin tho
road, and that add to tho cost OF its
maintenance. Tho road consists OF
two parts. tho wearing surface, and
the subsoil supporting it Wo know
how to build a wearing surface That
much is satisfactory. There are three
things that may damage the suosoiL
First various weak clays, second
moisture in the subsoil that will cause
the subsoil to become porous or slough
away. allowing tho wearing surface
to collapse. Third. frost, which viii
expand and contract the suesoil, crack
ing and distorting the wearing sur
face. Impact of motor vehicles VIII
aSgravate the first two conditions, put
nothing will prevent the running OF
road under tho third.
There are several items in the con-
aideraticn of the motor truck and It's
relation to traffic and tho road. Wc
have the speed. overall width and gross
weight
These items havc been considered in
drafting the Uniform Vehicle Law.
There is no opposition to limitations
OF the speed OF the truck TO the limits
set rs follows:
r.eu~stie Tired Trucks - Miles per
Hour
Maximum weight
including gross
wgtof v'hcIo Op.Ctry. Suburn Urban
and load Highway Street street
1000 pounds 2s miles 20 miles is miles
5000 pounds 70 miles is miles l: miles
1000 pounds is miles 15 miles IL miles
2 Aa yr,tle-q rpile4 IL miles
Il, 900 pounds Ii miles 10 miles /. miles
y, LOCO pounds Is miles Is miles l. miles
"A oO pounds Is miles 10 miles II miles
II will no doubt surprise the average
reader OF the above figures to know
that while they havo-she approval OF
tho highway officials the manufactur-
srr of trucks, and tho owners. in very
fs~ states or cities are trucks con
nned to any such speeds. These lin
its arc much lower than tho average
kpeed OF vehicles on our Strects and
roads
In the sarne way visitors to large
eitie. are SURPRISED to sec and hear
traffic police urgo drivers to hurry.
The answer to this is that II Is very
easy for anyone to sec the necessity Tor
sp.ed in congeSted districts. Traffic
polico urge motor vehicles TO go faster |
not because OF a disregard OF hfo or
property. but because OF the necessity
10 rrovo tho traffic II tho vehicles old
not rnoye faster the congestion would
become so bad as to seriously hamper |
business In some badly conSesteh
streets such as tho city thorofarcs. tho 1
traffic could not bo accommodated by
the present narrow streets.
We know this was not always so. |
In the carly days OF the motor vehicle |
tho whole idea of traffic regulation was
to radically restrict speed The change
was rnado because We could not aVoid
seeing tho necessity OF more speed
Unfortunately some OF tho other neces- |
mites in efficient Highway Transport |
arc not so apparent to the casual OBJ
aerycr. |
Congestion |
One factor OF growing Importance in |
road economy Is congestion on roads |
and city streets. As the capacity OF |
tho vehicle increases the space occu- |
pied By the vehicle does not increase |
correspondinEly. The standard lh-ton |
truck with the smallest practical body |
10 feet long takes up approximately |
Io7 SQUARE fee. while the Triton truck |
with the large practical body is feet |
long only takes up IA square feet 10
make Il clearer. the ~ tons carried |
on lh-ton trucks would occupy 55S |
square feet on the street or road. or
$40 per cent of tho space occupied by |
the 7i4-ton truck.
Tho traffic congestion in portions OF
certain cities. around railway termin-
ais, ferry landings. and on certain
roads, is so great at the present time
that tho TiE-ton truck Is an absolute
fact that this traffic Is increasing every |
day. can we afford to do anything |
that will increase this congestion?
we might be building our roads to
carry only half the most economic /
load, but wo would still have TO carry |
tho tonnage. To relieve this conSes-
,ion we would have to widen the road |
10 a three or four-way road. Tho cost
OF doing this in cities is prohibittvo
and IL we did 1t in the country We
would have a road costing about 30
per cent more per mile to build, and no
increase in its tonnage carrying capa-
city. Tho hauling cost per ton-mile
would bo greater. The cost of main
tenance would be greater because II
is admitted that the lighter the road |
the more quickly is II affected by rain,
frost, etc. and in addition to this
would be the maintenance of double
the wearing surface.
II we do not Increase the width we
increase. the total tonnage running
over the road. a ltA-ton truck loaded
to capacity weighs 9,10o pounds. while
8 7iA-ton truck fully loaded weighs
q. 900. Carrying tho 7i5-tons on 1h-ton
trucks would mean a gross tonnage
Of 1900 pounds running over tne toau,
or an increase of 81 per cent OF gross
tonnage. So we see that congestion is
relieved by the heavier truck, and tina
tho heavier truck really cuts down the
gross tonnage running over the road.
scnsonsI Restriction
We pass from speed to a restric
ton that should be enforced. but
which is on practically no state sta
tute book. It is the restriction of
certain loads over unpaved ROADS.
while tho frost Ia coming in or GO