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Show STEEL IE 15 liELflJill Truck Manufacturer Talks of Wear and Tear on Nation's Highways. There seems to bo a tendency on the part of some who Iiiwj not thought deeply on the subject to foster the idea that the only wear to roads comes from the use of the motor truck. "A few- years ago the automobile met with this condemnation," says li. K. Fulton, vie: president of tho International Inter-national Motor company, manufacturers manufactur-ers of Mack trucks; "but the automobile automo-bile is now a thing of such common use that hardly anyone finds fault with it anv more. "The motor truck is rapidly becoming becom-ing the uaiiou's freight carrier, while it is not true there aro people who beli.'ve it comes in direct competition with existing means of transportation of supplies, especially in rural communities commu-nities and between cities. "There has been some unwiso legislation legis-lation against motor trucks as a result of such an attitude. But with motor trucks hauling more than 3o0, 000,000 tons of farm products a .year, the people peo-ple can hardly sit idly by and allow legislation based on falso ideas to hit at the very sourco of their lifo supply. "Of all vehicles using our highways, tho motor truck probably causes the least, damage in proportion to tlic service serv-ice it renders. "There- are two things that cause dnmage to roads: one is tho impact of weight; tho other is wear to tho surface. sur-face. "With a substantial road bed the impact of wight does little damage. If tho road bed is faulty, weight tends to break it. It is simply a matter of gravity. "Perhaps the greatest destroyer of road surfnees and tho least condemned is tho steel tire. The steel tire hits the roadway with an absolutely ungiving impact. Its constant hammering crushes stones and shatters all particles that project from the surface of the road. "Steel tiiies are usually narrow and they wear and cut deep tracks and ruts. They pulverize the surface, so that automobiles, au-tomobiles, with the suction of their pneumatic tires, suck up the dust that is formed and scatter it to the winds. "The motor truck with its broad flat rubber tires and slow speed, compared with that of the automobile, causes practically no damage to the surface of the road. It causes no abrasion and there is no suction from the solid tires. Of all traffic on the highways the motor mo-tor truck does tlw least damage to the surface of the road. "As to the weight it imposes upon the highway, this is largely taken care of by tho 800-lb. limit per inch of tiro width. Legislation which arbitrarily limits the carrying capacity of motor trucks simply adds to the cost of transportation trans-portation and increases tho cost of living. liv-ing. "It is for the people to insist. .that legislation governing motor truelos be intelligently formulated. As the use of the motor truck becomes more and more an every day matter, much of the narrow-minded hostilitv manii'esiod in certain circles at this time will be completely com-pletely overcome. "It is for voters to use their own judgment and their influence." |