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Show OVERLOADING IS THE BIGGEST EVIL OF TRUCK OPERATION OVERCAPACITY 1ST COSTLY IN LONG RUN Majority of Failures Are Caused by Not Knowing What Constitutes Load. Driving Parts Built for Limited Lim-ited Capacity; Excess Weight Causes Breakage. Evils Of operitiem and evils of maintenance main-tenance are many in the truck field, but there is no other so frequent and so disastrous dis-astrous as overloading. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say fhat the majority of motor truck failures, by that we mean failures fro m d is! n t agra t Ion of t he mechanism, are due to overloading. The experienced motor truck operator has learned the bitter lesson of what overloading means, but the business man most invariably falls into this error. The reason for this is that the newcomer la accustomed to using horses. In this field the question of overload adjusts itself, it-self, practically automatically. Horses can pull just so much and their flesh and blood rebels. The motor truck, on the other hand, will carry double its rated capacity for a considerable time and then suddenly, like te "one-hess shay," it falls apart. The motor truck cannot protest when it is overloaded, there Is no question of humanity, and the operator, unused- to this metl.-l of transportation, naturally thinks he t pile on all tiie weight that the vehlcic n be forBd tn stand up under. But It. : r amine the effects of overloading i;; -e;ail. Profit Lost. "By carrying a continuous overload a .emporary saving is effected In the cost per ton mile of haulage. Fine, thinks the new operator, but ha dos nor realize that the truck is being strained beyond its resistive powers every rcinuterMrtat it Is being driven. Before long some sv part of the mechanism gives under the strain; follows a repair bill and the vehicle ve-hicle is out of service for a given time, loss through idleness. These incidents occur with Increasing frequency and very soon the entire profit piled up by the temporary reduction of coat per ton mile is wiped out and a debit stands against the truck. ! As to the physical effect of overload- : ing. it may well be compared to the effort ef-fort when a hor3e tes.m 3tarts to pull Its vagon. The harness draws tights, when the weight of the vehicle Is felt. So when an overloaded truck is being operated op-erated all the parts are tightened beyond be-yond their Intended condition. This means increased wear on the mechanism as a whole. Need System. But there is a mora serious pi.ase of the -question than thl3. The various mechanical me-chanical units in the truck are built to carry Just so much weight. Their ability to stand up under this load is accurately .end scientifically determined. Place a greater load on them and you are bound to put a strain on them that will sooner or-later lead to breakage. One by one the various units will show the effect of the strain Imposed upon them. First the clutch may go, then the transmission bearings, then the universale, each carrying carry-ing with it its own little bill for repairs and replacements. And the tires the effect of overloading overload-ing on the tires is simply disastrous. In fact, overloading exercises exactly the same effect on tires as fitting too small a size, or, in pneumatics, running with the tires underinfiated. Tires are built to carry a certain definite load and every hundred pounds added to that increase? the wear In what amounts to geometrical Progression. In fact, persistent tire trouble trou-ble may be accepted as a hint that the, trucks are being overloaded. But even after the truck operator has been persuaded that overloading means eventual loss it is not always easy for - toe owner to prevent it. In cases where ' materials of the same type are always handled it is comparatively easy to design de-sign bodies that will permit only the rated load to he carried. This i3 possible pos-sible with coal, sand, gravel, etc. but Ifiis method is not always available. Xext to this, perhaps, weighing each load s the best way of handling the matter. But again this is not always possible. Some truck owners have a system of measuring spring deflection to euard against the overload, whih is certain to show in the springs. There Is now on the market a device which Indicates when a truck Is fully loaded and also rer-ords all overload. Some definite method of determining a ioad should certainly be employed. In the case of express companies compa-nies it is not always possible to have an exactly definite method of fixing the load, out drivers can be taught to estimate within a hundred pounds or so of the ca-r ca-r Paclly, Beware Overrating. This question of overloading brings up tue Importance of the truck operator buying buy-ing in the first place vehicles that will firry his usual maximum load without i -'train. Tt is a trick of some fly-by-night truck builders to overrate their trucks. This may be guarded asrainst by buying from a reliable maker who has a reputation reputa-tion to sustain. If a truck is overrated. t';e operator carrying the given capacity is actually overloading it ail the time and ill suffer tfie penalties subsequent to ' that abupe, though the truck maker is tne one to blame in this Instance. This question of the rapacity to be purchased is one that - needs careful consideration, for at the opposite extreme to overloading I the maintenance of a truck larger than '8 needed, which sp-lis inefficiency and actual money loss. This department will he glad to advise prospective truck own- rs. If they will elve full details of their I particular problems. When Eod Rattles. Brake rode or ot.h.r rods beneath the i car sometimes slap against each other lr or agaiiiKt ogher metal parts. To locate ill thin trouble have one person drive the 'r while another f-its on one of the II forward fenders and listens for the noises, jl If 'he horn U gripped tightly and the 'aW !:iltles oaso it is reasonable to blame nT) t!ly h0rT1 |