Evening star., 1939-02-05

Since approximately IS per cent
Of the commercial vehicles Of the
world are produced in the United
States, the problem Of furnishing mo-
tor transportation for the Army in
war emergency might not seem to
be a serious one, Gen. Gibbins said.
Lest we be lulled into a false sense
of security with reference to such
transport" he told his listeners, ut
is only necessary to recall the ex-
perience of the World War. The ca
pacity of the industry to produce
motor vehicles to meet our require
ments at that time may be consid-
cred reasonably analogous to ca
pacity and requirements OF today.
Yet it was found necessary then,
due to multiplicity of makes and
models and unsuitability of some
types, to produce standard military
motor vehicle, the class B truck, and
to standardize in certain other
classes on particular commercial
types. Only a favorable situation OF
combat made this possible, and our
situation may not be so favorable IN
a future emergency"
Gen. Gibbins divided Army needs
into four weight classif1cations:
Extra light class (gross weight less
than 5000 pounds, payload II to y
ton)-These are command and
reconnaissance vehicles of the pas
senger car and commercial carry
all class, utility trucks, weapon and
combat ammunition carriers and
prime movers of light cannon, such
as the anti-tank gun. These are
essentially front line vehicles, oper-
ated by troops on the firing line.
Light class (gross weight 5000 to
10000 pounds. payload III tons)-
These are light cargo vehicles COM
prising combat and field trains,
prime movers of light artillery, en-
gineer dump trucks, light repair
vehicles, etc. They are found in
the immediate supporting elements
of the front line troops.
Medium class (gross weight 10000
to IS, 900 pounds, payload 21a TONS
These are essentially prime cargo
carriers and troop movement We
hicles, comprising rearmost supply
and supporting transport. In this
| class also are trucks for towing
medium artillery, searchlight trans
port, certain types of repair trucks,
etc.
Heavy class (gross weight approx
mately 10000 pounds, payload 5 to
| 7l2 tons)-The relatively limited re-
quirements of these vehicles include
prime movers of heavy field and
anti-aircraft artillery, Air Corps
field servicing trucks, etc.
"A material expansion of certain
sections of the industry would be
required to meet requirements in
the medium and heavy classes" Gen.
Gibbins said
THE industry may be expected
to bear war load of other NUM-
tions, including combat vehicles such
as tanks and armored cars and air.
craft. In addition, lack of raw ma
terials. essential to other military
equipment, may hamper produc-
ton" The speaker listed as one of
the necessary objectives for war
time production standardization of
parts.
Quoting from military authority
Gen. Gibbins said The number
of parts involved in maintaining
motor vehicles in 1917-1918 consti-
tuted an impossible problem in sup
ply. Had the war continued six
months longer, serious breakdown
in field transportation in the entire
Army could not have been avoided
OF the 100000 different items of
spare parts involved and required
not over 20 per cent ever reached
France, and those were unbalanced
ranging from absolutely no replace
ments of vitally essential parts to
mountains of spare parts in advance
depots. as we'll as depots all along
the line, that never would have been
needed in 10 years of war"
The Government does not fail
either to keep Informed on the
motor fuel situation.
Service station gasolines in the
various price classifcations fall into
definite groups with regard to octane
rating, distillation range, vapor pres
sure, and other characteristics, ac-
cording to a gasoline survey report
for the summer Of 1888. just issued
by the Bureau of Mines, United
States Department of the Interior
The octane-number ratings as in