Milford chronicle., 1955-10-21
WHAT THE PUBLIC INTEREST
REQUIRES

hEaOlhEO
Toward the end of September, the first
Congressional hearing was held on the report
Of the Presidential Advisory Committee on
Transport Policy and Organization-a report
which urges that regulation of the carriers
be relaxed to the extent that they will have
more freedom in pricing their services on a
competitive basis.
One witness was Secretary Of Commerce
Weeks. This report, he emphasized, "is not
aimed at giving one form Of transportation
an unfair advantage over any other. IN
stead, he went on, it "paves the way for all
modes of transportation to give more eff
fective service to the public. In nutshell
ii is aimed at providing greater national Sc
curity and better and less expensive trans
pOrtatiOn for the American people He
also made this observation "Ours is the only
wholly private transportation system left in
the world. To keep it so, and have it develop
sOundly and in response to the needs of our
dynamic economy, we must constantly scru-
tinize the pattern Of Federal transportation
policy. Public interest requires regulation
Of transportation, but it also requires prompt
and timely correction of Outdated or unwork-
able concepts in order that the full economic
capabilities Of the transportation system shall
be realized"
Another witness was Secretary Of De
fense Wilson. He paid high tribute to the
magnificent work Of common carriers IN
national emergencies, and stated that the in
creased freedom in rate making advocated
by the report will be advantageous to all
users of transportation.
Many other top experts have made. sinai-
lar statements. The burden of it all is that
commercial transportation is now highly
competitive and that, in the public interest,
the regulatory laws should reflect the con-
ditions of the present.
1swSS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALL OF US
Seven million people, we are told, will
join in Americas biggest birthday party"
which is to be celebrated the week of NOvem-
Der I3 to 10. These are the people who work
at the business of trucking, and who are
said to constitute the largest work force in
volved in any job except farming.
Their festivities will dramatize National
Truck Transportation Week which is spon-
sored again this year by the Independent Adj
visory Committee to the trucking Industry
more informally known as ACT.
But the seven million are merely those
involved with the production, maintenance
and peregrinations Of the more than ten mil
lion trucks and trailers-lnOye than half of
all the trucks in the wOrld--that serve the
American public. AS the beneiciaries of the
industry, all 100 million of US might well
join the party that stems from the inspira-
tiOn of forgotten and unsung hero in De-
troit who, in 1900, hitched his wagon, not to
a star, but to his Model T.
Today we are reminded that everything
we eat wear or use travels at least part of
the way by trucks and trailers. But we might
consider too that the speed, fiexibility and
economy of this modern transportation has
much to do with the fact that, family for
family, we are eating, wearing, using so
much more than in 1900!
Nor should we forget that we are indebt-
ed to trucks for effective fire protection
maintenance Of telephone, gas and power
lines; petroleum exploration and prOduc-
tion and all types of construction. Trucks
bring our beefsteaks and pork chops On-the-
hoOf from the farm to the packing-house, our
groceries from the field to the professor OF
the market.
Last year, trucks rolled up 199 billion
tOn-miles. The end-tO-end layers say this is
equivalent to 100 round trips from the earth
TO the sun. But we can all be glad they came
our way instead
~SGO&G