Evening star., 1942-04-29
Firms Mapping Plans
To Reduce Deliveries
To One a Day
Eustmun's Drastic Rules
Covers Wholesale os
Well as RetuiI Goods

Those who sell commodities and
furnish services and those who buy
them will have to revise their trad
ing habits, to an extent, as result
of a new order by the Office of
Defense Transportation limiting the
mileage of commercial vehicles and
restricting deliveries to one a day
for each individual or firm.
The drastic regulations which
Joseph B. Eastman, director of de-
fense transportation, issued a few
days ago require local carriers on
June / to cut down their mileage
by at least Is per cent below that
Of the corresponding month last
year. The one-delivery-a-day re-
striction is interpreted at the Offices
Of Defense Transportation as apply
ing not only to merchant sending
something to householder, but to
wholesalers supplying retailers or
The order will affect everything
from bread to clean shirts.
Merchants to Map Plans.
The Merchants and Manufac-
turers' Association has called
series OF meetings of its various
groups to discuss the order and lay
plans for complying with it.
Meanwhile, many lines of business
are working out systems for cutting
down their delivery mileage and fol-
lowing other provisions of the order
Those who have food delivered
may, eventually, have this service
ment cutting down mileage, though
few persons have groceries sent out
more than once day. Restaurants
who have been in the habit Of get
ting perishable foods delivered sew
eral times a day may have to in
crease their storage facilities.
The majority OF Washington
householders, who patronize CASH
and-carry chain groceries, will not
be affected. The chain stores. how
ever, will have to restrict deliveries
to their retail outlets to one a day
as the order is interpreted. Thus
it may not be possible for a grocery
to replenish during the day some
product which has been sold out.
Deliveries Of newspapers will be
restricted to once a day at any one
point, an official at the ONCE of De-
fense Transportation said, in an in
formal opinion on the order. Under
present practice, newspapers deliver
each edition to news stands and
route agents.
The order defines a carrier as
ANY rubber-tired vehicle propelled
or drawn by mechanical power or by
horses"
1t was explained at Mr.. East
mans office that some hardships re-
sulting from the regulations may be
relieved by pooling arrangements or
by obtaining special exemption. AS
1t stands, the order exempts only
trucks or automobiles engaged in
maintenance Of public safety and
health and public utilities, or serv-
ing the armed forces Of the Federal
Government or State. Trucks
used In farming are excepted, and
so are those hauling explosives or
other dangerous articles"
Special deliveries - other than
mail-are prohibited.
The department stores already
have taken steps to curtail their de-
liveries. For some time they have
discouraged delivery of small parcels
and virtually have banned special
service to customers, requiring them
to wait for regular delivery. Some
stores have restricted deliveries to
every other day.
Routes Consolidated.
A local bakery executive said his
company already had started cutting
down truck milage by consolidating
several routes.
Householders who have milk de-
livered to their homes may find,
eventually, that they have to 80 to
the corner store for it, unless they
may in time have to adopt such
measure TO cut down their truck
milage, though no such plan is
under consideration at present.
The Laundry-Dry Cleaning Own
erS' Association is at work on the
problem.
An executive of big laundry said
customers would have to change
their habits somewhat.
when we deliver the laundry" I"
he explained, the customer will
have to be ready to turn in his
soiled clothes. We can't make re-