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Show MOTOR TRUCK OliS SHOULD AID THE OOeiEIT B G. A. Kissel. If I were asked what steps are necessary to provide against delays la overland transportation during the coming winter months, I would say Build good roads on the shortest routes connecting important centoiss. Protect these roads from washouis. cave-ins, and other obstructions caused caus-ed by snow and ice by building windbreaks, wind-breaks, protection embankments, etc. Build loading sheds with platforms that permit the quick loading and unloading un-loading of goods and supplies. Form return loads bureaus, and secure se-cure the co-operation of every truck owner in your community. Promote Motor Rural Express routes. aihong tho farmers, dairymen, produce growers, etc. Consolidate all retail deliver', local express, and moving equipment. Inaugurato motor truck highways around and through cities and communities com-munities to permit of uninterrupted passage of motor trucks. We must not forget that tho winter months, with their new problems, arc "just over the hill." This summer has seen increased aetivitifs in every line ,of business. The country iias doubled and trebled its production operations, with the result that we are apt lo for- ; get that while the summer months are conductive to such increased activities activit-ies in so far as transportation and haulage of gooda and supplies are concerned, con-cerned, tho winter months are light the other extreme. Last winter, in some sections of the country, particularly in the east and middle-west, the most severe weather in the history of the country was ex- : porienced, resulting in not only disarranged disar-ranged transportation schedules on the railroads, but also on the motor truck transportation lines that were then in operation. Complete tie-ups of badly needed goods and supplies, from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, were common. It was realized at that time that the lack of co-ordinated transportation trans-portation plans, coupled with bad roads and unimproved highways, wore the main reasons for such a condition of affairs. It brought forcibly to the transportation transpor-tation world the necessity of Improving Improv-ing highways and roads, and planning systems of motor truck transportation lines and auxiliary lines operating on a definite schedule over definite i routes. Casual observations brought to light the fact that there were no well-regulated motor truck routes, that motor 1 trucks were operated on haphazard : lines and that Instead of having roc- ognizod motor truck highways that ; would connect up the different points r r.f nllnn1.. nvwl r,. I U . VI I aUJJJJIJ rtUW Ul'lllllUU UVC1 IJ1I .1UUU est routes, truck drivers would take those roads that wore tho easiest lo navigate, oven if they were from 50 lo 100 per cent longer than other roads which they could havo taken had they been open to traffic. Such a state of affairs was also common com-mon in and about tho congested districts dis-tricts of the cities Trucks hauling supplies generally used the main thoroughfares, thor-oughfares, leading through tho busi-noss busi-noss sections, and were continually stopped between blocks according to the traffic regulations of that particular particu-lar city. If there had been a recognized recogniz-ed motor truck highway, skirting around the congested districts, much time, as well as labor and expense, would have been saved, and schedules easily maintained. Undoubtedly tho past spring and summer has witnessed tho heaviest traffic of motor truck transportation in the history of tho industry. It has been only through tho adaptability of the motor truck to thus take a great share of tho burden off the railroads, that the lines of haulage and delivery of goods have been kept open and "free from serious delays. We have been made to reallzo that it is just as necessary to maintain uninterrupted transportation of goods and supplies, ns it is to produce pro-duce thorn. Just as the different armies overseas are preparing for the long winter siege ahead by building and connecting railroads, rail-roads, orecting t;upply bases and depots de-pots so that there will be no delay In carrying out the program outlined by the genoral headquarters, irrespective of the intensity of the winter season, so industrial and mercantile Amorlca should do likewise. Transportation of goods and supplies is just as important, impor-tant, if not more so, during tho winter months as during the spring and summer sum-mer months. While a good many sections sec-tions of the country apparently realize the necessity of preparing for the coming winter, I 'do not believe that America, as a whole, has grasped the necessity of action in this matter. The very fact that the government is spending huge sums of money forj building and maintenance oT good roads, for the purpose of facilitating overland transportation, should cause every community to look into the road conditions in its neighborhood and between be-tween it and the next city, and act accordingly. ac-cordingly. It has been said that the lack of good roads is the weak link in our transportation chain. Without them, the maintenance of uninterrupted uninterrupt-ed schedules is almost an impossibility, impossibil-ity, because not only do bad roads cause delays, but they double and even treble the cost of operation, as well as increase the depreciation of trucks and we have not the necessary oversupply of motor trucks to risk having them put out of commission through the la'-k of suitable highways and by-ways. Right now is the time for every community to lay its transportation plans for the coming months. These plans include not only well developed and well defined" transportation lines, but strongly-built roads that will not be impassible at the first fall of snow or rain. Every property owner should realizo the vital importance, not only to his community but to himself, his home, his family anuVhis property, or doing his share to keep the lines of transportation open between the source of demand and the source of supply. By this, I do not mean to expend ex-pend exorbitant sums of money. A systematic sys-tematic community road building plan, in which everybody participates, can accomplish wonders in a short space of time. The experiences of the past winters havo shown every community the necessary steps to take to keep the roads open. Everybody knows that the railroads are far from being adequate now for, the demands being made upon them. I understand that thousands upon thousands thou-sands of freight cars and locomotives are being built in preparation for the coming winter, but it must not be forgotten for-gotten that with each day and week tho increased demands upon the railroads rail-roads keep pace with the new equipment equip-ment they are able to produce. Hence the safest thing for every community to do. is to plan its own transportation system and put it on an efficiency basis, so that when winter arrives, it is prepared to meet the many difficult problems that are bound lo come up and which can only be solved by preparation pre-paration in advance. |
