page_title: Liberty truck
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Liberty truck / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Polish soldiers loading a Frist-Series Liberty truck on a train car. Note the Polish Air Force insignia on the side of the Cargo body. They were most likely used for the towing and transport of Aircraft. ca. 1919-21
context_page_description: The Class-B Standardized Military Truck or "Liberty Truck" was a United States Army vehicle designed and produced during World War I. It was designed by the Quartermaster Corps with help from the Society of Automotive Engineers in 1917 in an effort to help standardize the immense parts catalogue and multiple types of vehicles then in use by the US military, as well as create a truck which possessed all the best features of heavy truck technology then available. It was the first official standardized motor vehicle adopted and produced by the US Military.
context_section_description: The Liberty truck was designed by the Motor Transport section of the Quartermaster Corps in cooperation with the members of the civilian Society of Automotive Engineers.
  Prototype design of the 3–5 ton truck began in mid-1917, and the first two running prototypes appeared 69 days after the design was finalized in mid-1917. Both trucks were assembled and driven over 400 miles from their assembly locations to Washington D.C., arriving without any major breakages or halts on October 19th, 1917 and presented to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker. Following its approval and subsequent small changes to some design and technical aspects, official production of the First-type truck began in January 1918 with parts being produced by 150 different companies and assembly contracts awarded to 15 companies. The following are numbers produced in total prior to the signing of the Armistice of 11 November 1918:
  Bethlehem Motor Truck Corporation of Allentown, PA- 675
  Brockway Motor Company of Cortland, NY- 589
  Diamond T Motor Car Company of Chicago, IL- 638
  Garford Motor Truck Co. of Lima, OH- 978
  Gramm-Bernstein Company of Lima, OH- 1,000
  Indiana Motor and Vehicle Co. of Indianapolis, IN- 475
  Kelly-Springfield Motor Truck Company of Springfield, OH- 301
  Packard of Detroit, MI- 5
  Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company of Buffalo, NY- 975
  Republic Motor Truck Company of Alma, MI- 967
  Selden Motor Vehicle Company of Rochester, NY- 1,000
  Service Motor truck Company of Wabash, IN- 337
  Sterling Motor Truck Company of Milwaukee, WI- 479
  United States Motor Truck Company of Covington, KY- 490
  Velie Motors Corporation of Moline, IL- 455
  Of the 9,364 produced prior to the Armistice, several made it to French shores all of the 1st Series variant with electric lights. The first trucks arrived in early October 1918 and steadily flowed into French ports before and after the Armistice. Few made it into frontline service by wars end. Contracts for an additional 43,000 vehicles were canceled in December 1918 and production halted on trucks entirely by 1919. Following the war, many Class-B Liberty trucks were sold-off surplus to the civilian market and other militaries. Some trucks would see use by foreign armies such as the early Polish Airforce and Army during the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920-21, as well as with the American Expeditionary Force, Siberia. However, several trucks would continue service with the US Military into the lean days of the late 20s and early 30s receiving engine, body and tire upgrades transforming them into wholly different trucks. The trucks seem to have generally disappeared from military use by 1940.
caption: First Series Liberty Truck in use by Polish AirForce ca. 1919-20
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