The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-03-23

III NJ
CHESTER BOwLES
Director
New England states, eighty per cen
Of all milk Is delivered direct to oui
door steps. This system OF door-to'
door deliveries largely explains oul
higher price.
II that's true, why don't we here
in Connecticut follow the example
Of Washington housewives and buy
our milk direct from our corner
grocerp II we did that, the present
price OF grocery store milk nigh
be reduced in line with the larger
volume.
! am afraid, however, that We
would soon find ourselves drinking
less milk. Milk Is heavy and It's moi
easy TO carry. II we are TO go or
drinking the milk we need each day
our system Of door to.door deliv.
cries must be maintained. Let's see
however, II II can't be made less
wasteful.
Tremendous Waste
A friend OF mine In West Hartford
tells me that each OF twelve homes
Immediately surrounding his own
takes milk from a different dealer
With every other day deliveries
flfty.four hundred miles OF driving
are required to deliver milk each
day throughout the city of New
Haven. T'hlrty-five hundred miles
Of driving are required to deliver
milk TO folks In Hartford. The aver
age mile of city street In Hartford
Is covered by milk trucks seventeen
times every day In the week.
These figures indicate the tremen-
dous waste which occurs In deliver
ing milk 10 our homes throughout
the state. Waste costs money. More
than that, waste retards the war
effort.
Can't something be done To
streamline our present costly sys-
tenn Of delivering milk and eliminate
this wastep The answer very defin-
itely Is "yes." In fact, something
has been done already. A plan was
worked out nearly a year ago which,
would cut the distance travelled BY
milk trucks throughout our state
by roughly eighty-1ive per cent.
This plan was prepared by the
Connecticut Dairy Conservation
Committee, which was set I'D last
spring by the State Defense Council
to study the problem Of milk dis
tribution In all parts OF our state.
The chairman was Donald Hammer
berg, milk administrator for the
state OF Connecticut. The members
OF this committee were not starry
eyed theorists. They were prac teal,
experienced dairy farmers, milk
dealers and members OF the state
milk administration staf.
This committee was asked to de-
velop o plan which would get milk
from the farmer to your doorstep
with greater directness and efficiency
and with all possible savings In
trucks, labor, gasoline and tires.
Z0ning Plan
After weeks Of study, O plan was
completed which called for the zon.
ing Of all important milk markets
In Connecticut. Each zone would be
covered by a single truck. A large
dealer would cover O large zone. A
small dealer would cover q small
zone. Each In proportion to the
relative volume OF his retail and
wholesale milk business.
In order carefully to test out this
plan. six cities and towns were Sc
lected for q detailed study by re.
search workers at the University of
Connecticut at Storrs. Milk zones
were established In line with the
number Of dealers and the volume
Of milk distributed by each. The
daily truck mileage necessary 10
cover all milk customers were care
fully tabulated.
This study proved that the thirty.
five hundred miles of driving which
Is now required to deliver milk each
day In the city Of Hartford could be
reduced to three hundred and
thirty-five miles. A ten to one re-
duction. In New Haven, the pres
ent fifty-four hundred miles could
be reduced to slightly more than one
thousand. In Torrington, the re-
duction was from eight hundred and
nfty-three TO two hundred and
forty-five. In the smaller towns,
the savings were less.
AS q general average, throughout
the state, 1t seemed clear that the
present average Of twenty-sev
miles OF driving per truck each day
could be reduced to three or four
miles. This means that the present
annual average mileage OF nine
thousand miles per truck could be
reduced to o little over one thou.
sand miles.
It is obvious at once that huge
savings in gasoline, oil and tires
could be effected by tire adoption OF
this plan. The savings on gasoline
alone would amount to three mil.
lion gallons annually. There would
be an additional savings OF one hun.
dred and fifty thousand quarts Of
oil, and six thousand FIVE hundred
truck tires.
Fewer Trucks
The present estimated total Of slS
thousand milk-trucks throughout
the state could be reduced 10 about
tive thousand trucks. The life Of
the average truck would be increas.
ed BY several years. Repair bill
would be cut TO O minimum. Hun.
dreds Of milk truck drivers coult
be freed for work in our defense
plants where their help Is 80 desper.
ately needed.
This plan would also reduce mill
bin collection costs. Under the pres.
ent system, o dead-beat custonel