Evening star., 1950-01-22

trucks take the profitable and
easily handled shipments and
when they are offered cargoes
difficult to handle they plead that
they do not have the equipment
for it.
But the truckers point to the
fact that their service is much
speedier and Is accomplished with
less damage to the produce hauled
than is the case with the railroads.
There are studies which show
that the average movement of a
freight car is only At miles day.
Railway Age. the magazine
which speaks for the railroads as
no other publication does, made
survey some time ago of the
trend to motor carriers. One Of
the things it found was that dis
tillers shipping whisky by truck
from Kentucky to California OBJ
tanned deliveries in seven or eight
days. compared with II to Is days
when the shipments were by rail.
Also, In shipments by rail there
were sometimes as many as so
broken bottles to the carload;
this breakage frequently was elm
mated completely when shipment
was by truck.
The truckers also took smaller
loads than the railroad weight
minimums on shipments, an i'm
portant factor when inventories
are being held down. And of prime
importance, the magazine said.
the freight rate increase of 1943
gave the motor carriers a rate
advantage.
Gloomy Comparison
Railway Age said that the
whisky movement to Chicago from
Kentucky had gone 100 per cent
to trucks. It added that this was
similar to developments In large
number of high-value commodi-
ties. Cigarettes Is another example.
The magazine said that railway
freight traffic by itself did not
present a discouraging picture. It
cited that the rail movement of
manufactured products was up 1873
per cent in 1947 over 1899. But, IL
pointed out, the volume Of produc-
ton Of manufacturers was up 10
per cent in the same period.
Trucks are not the only COM
petitors Of the railroads. In 194S
the inland waterways handled Is
per cent of the total freight bust
ness and its volume was per cent
greater than the year before
when the railroads lost tonnage.
The movement Of fruits and veg
etables already has been men
toned. Live stock is moving to
market Ia trucks also and at new
highs In volume. Railway Age re-
ferred to this development over the
last 10 years as providing
gloomy" comparison.
Few would think that the trucks
would cut into the railroads busi-
ness of hauling steel. But this has
happened since the Supreme
Courts basing point decision in the
cement case in mid-1948.
That decision was intercepted
as ruling out the practices of pro-
ducerS absorbing all or part of the
freight costs so they could match
prices in distant markets with
other producers who were nearer
those markets. AS a result, the
steel industry, which had absorbed
freight charges under this sys-
tem-and in some instances col
lected charges for non-existent
freight hauls-went to a system Of
setting prices at the mill. the buy
er to pay all the freight.
Sawyer's Report
The consumer thereupon set
about whiting down the freight
costs as much as he could. This is
where the motor carriers came In.
Buyers in the Central States began
sending trucks for their steel
sheets and other steel products.
Secretary of Commerce Sawyer,
in his recent report recommend
ing unified program for the ma
tion's transportation, discussed
| the loss to the railroads in han
ding less than carload freight.
He said it has been estimated
that in 1947 the railroads
lost $126,000,00 on their express
service. almost $4,000 on their
shipments of less than 100 pounds
and $32.000.000 on shipments Of
less than 10000 pounds.
These losses, he pointed out.
must be made up by the railroads
charging. more for carload traffic
where the shipper cannot turn to
another and cheaper form of
transportation.
The experience of a large rail-
road in it's short-haul business
also was cited. Secretary Sawyer
quoted an official of the road as
saying it lost $51, 1,000,000 in 1948
on short-haul business, receiving
$500, 100000 to handle the traffic
WAiCh ~ tOOb pc14 4,OUOsVUU. llC
road showed small profit at the
end Of the year because of the
profit from other business.
According to this official, II
methods to increase efficiency Of
short-haul traffic handling fails,
there is but one course to take:
Raise the rates and force the
traffic to the agency best fitted
to handle the business 'seven
though that agency be one that
does SO through Government sub =
sidy."
The reference obviously is to
trucks.
The railroads insist that the
motor carriers are subsidized
and in part by the taxes the rail-.
roads pay. They say their CON-
petitors do not begin to defray
the cost Of the kind of highway