Laurel outlook., 1944-08-30

The nations railroad freight load
now is at an all-time high and
wars transportation demands prom
Use to be more exacting than ever,
Col. j. Monroe Johnson, director of
the office of defense transportation,
said this week at Denver.
Reports received by ODT show
rail carloadings currently exceeding
1913 levels, rail hauls growing long
err, heavier loads carried per car,
and the ton-mile total still moving
impressively upward. With such
heavy freight movements now being
recorded, the railroads still face the
problem to be presented by the
seasonal traffic peak due in Octo-
Der, and later that of continuing to
carry heavy traffic with operating
efficiency diminished by winter
weather. The great volumn of non
military freight traffic is accounted
for by the enormous wartime slim
ulation of production of farm crops,
of basic raw materials, of the mis-
cellaneous commodities demanded
by workers.
There is little likelihood of any
early let-up in the direct military
demand for transportation, said
Colonel Johnson; "the broadening
out of the invasion from Normandy
and Mediterranean beachheads to
Paris and the Rhine call for more
rapid expenditure of ammunition
and fuel, increased destruction of
equipment, and more need for haste
in rushing supplies to the front.
Gwen the sudden collapse of Ger
many would not necessarily bring
relief to our railroads." he said, "as
it would mean the turning of the
tide of rail transportation toward
the Pacific instead of the Atlantic,
with the consequent longer hauls
from the production centers of the
east. The launching of major oper-
ations against Japan while the
European campaigns are in full
swing, which is now indicated, will
involve maximum traffic to both
coasts"
The most comprehensive index of
freight-carrying performance is that
of gross ton-miles, which takes in
the entire freight-train tonnage and
the distance it is carried. Freight
gross ton-miles for the first half
of 1914 amounted to 1873 billions,
ODT reported. This is an increase
of five per cent over the same per-
iod of 1913, of 10 per cent over the
pre-war year of 1899.
Several reasons for the heavy
traffic were noted by the
ODT director. First, there is the
military load-the guns,
tanks, ammunition, food and other
for the fighting men. Then,
The dislocations caused by the wal
have piled added traffic on the rails,
such as the freight once carried by
coastal ships now in the ocean
conveys and the quantities of petro-
cum products now carried by rail.
the war is responsible for
4 greatly increased production of
Jaw materials of all kinds.
The commodities normally carried
peacetime are bulking unusually
arge this year, Colonel Johnson
said. Total crop production in 1914,
he department of agriculture esti- !
mates, will be the second largest on
'ecord. The wheat crop of 1914 will
Freak all records with an estimated
of 1,132,105,0 900 bushels,
'00,000,000 bushels more than last
ear and 100000 900 more than the
bumper crop of 1915. The
winter wheat, already harvested,
an above the estimate, and it was
Iifficult to round up the cars to
AIRY it to market. Transportation
difficulties undoubtedly will be en-
ountered when the spring wheat
rop has to be moved during the
oming weeks.
The distance freight must be
arried has been greatly increased
uring the war years, said the ODT
~irector. From 1922 to 1943 the
verage freight haul on the entire
United States railroad system in '
reased from 308 to 470 miles, a
ain of 1872 miles, or SO per cent.
he point to be noticed is that
lille in 20 pre-war years the aver
ge haul increased by only go miles, ]
largely to the taking on of I
business by motor-trucks,
l the first two years of Americas
in the war, it increas- !
4 no less than 102 miles under the '
lfluence of the new direction given |
, traffic movement. In 1910 the ]
verage haul was 351 miles, in 1871 &