MOTORS V. TRAINS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18430, 10 July 1925, Page 5

MOTORS V. TRAINS.

WILL TRUCKS AFFECT RAILWAYS? EXPERIENCE OF AMERICA. Over 10 per cent. of the motor vehicles in use in the Dominion according to registration figures to hand are trucks, and there can be no doubt that the number is bound to increase year by year, for some considerable time to come. The question naturally arises in consequence: "Will the motor-truck hurt the railroads? in answer to which Mr Yvm. M. Jardine, secretary of Agriculture to the United States, says ">To. The truck has found its place in the short haul. It is not taking over any business the railroads can do as well or better. There is no basis for the fear that the motor-truck is going to compete seriously with tho railroads." Mr Jardine sets out his views in the following article, a summary of which is taken from "Motor Land":—

Within the last two centuries there have been developments in transportation facilities which have been recognised by the public as improvements ever pre-existing modes of travel. New users of the highways have sprung up from time to time who have found a way to move persons and goods more expeditiously, more cheaply 01 with greater comfort. The flying stage coaches of early days constituted such an improvement over the pack horses that preceded them, but they were noti so recognised by the owner's of pack horses. The railroads at a later time wrought much greater improvements; and if ynn think that they were essentially different from the* earlier improvements merely because they | were nrivafolv controlled, I call your j attention to the fact that practically all j important roads of the time when ' the railroads were, coming into existence were privately controlled and financed by tolls. Certainly the railroads were acclaimed by "the public with the same enthusiasm which greeted the appearance of the stage coaches; and certainly, also, they mot the same resistance from the stago coach operators and others, whose business interests were affected.

I have faith lhat in the long run the motor vehicle will find its place in the whole scheme of transportation naturally and inevitably as have all the earlier "new users'' of the highways; but we may help it to find that place by wise restraint of its more enthusiastic proponents and by refraining from regulations which may have a crippling effect. One thing we know very definitely—there is no basis for the fear that the motor-truck .is going to compete seriously with the railroads. The facts we have found in all our surveys tvro sufficient to convince me. The truck has found its place in the short haul, and it is not taking over any business that the railroads can do as well or better. In Connecticut wo have found that nearly forty per cent, o* the total tonnage is moved less than ten miles and nearly seventy per cent, less than thirty miles. T'he movement which runs to one hundred miles and over is largely a movement of furniture and household goods in which promptness of delivery and a minimum of handling are the controlling elements. In that State wc have found that two factors are, in general, responsible for tho transportation of commodities by truck over thirty miles. Tho first is the lack of the rail service which would enable shippers to obtain rapid and dependable transportation of less-than-carload freight. The second is the one I havo mentioned that certain types of commodities, notably furniture, but including also groceries, meat and vegetables distributed from the citie3 to the smaller towns are in their very nature adapted to motor-truck shipment. Jump clear across the country to California and you find the same situation. The difference, is one of degree only. There we find that twenty-five per cent, of the total tonnage is hauled less

than ten miles, and sistv per cent less than thirty miles; and the tonnage that is hauled more than seventy miles is less than twenty per cent. The reasons tor the greater long distance movement are fairly clear. Thcv are the greater distance between cities and the l&ss complete service afforded by the railroads.

Come back to Cook County, Illinois, and you find the same storv. again differing only in small degree: tweutvtour per cent, of the movement is less than ten miles; seventy-five per cent. less than thirty miles;' and less than three per cent, moves farther than one hundred miles. These are the facts in regard to the length of motor-truck hauls in three typical areas in three widely separated sections of the United States. Thcv arc not arm-chair opinions. Our observers have gone out on the roads; they have stopped the trucks and asked the drivers where they were going and where they came from. Wo stand on these figures, and I think they prove very conclusively that the truck is not invading the long-haul field. From the standpoint of tho producer the reasons which compel him to prefer tho motor-truck to tho railroad within the short-haul zone are:— tho motor-truck gives a market outlet for milk produced in territories which formerly were too far removed from rail shipping points to be reached by waggon. Second.—The motor-trucks pass the producer's gate and furnish a complete service that cannot be duplicated by the railroads. Third.—The driver of the truck is the producer's agent from the farm to the city dealer, and performs .1 marketing as well as a transportation service. 1

Fourth.—Shipment by truck reduces the number of handlings from half a dozen or more to only. two.

Fifth.—The farmer loses fewer cans. Sixth.—There is an estimated saving of five cents a hundred-weight oa all milk trucked in by the elimination of the haul from the railroad milk platform to the city milk dealer. And last, within the short-haul limits the motor-truck makes possible an actual saving in time of delivery from the farm to the city milk plant of an hour or more by the reduction in handling and the elimination of the hauls to and from the railroad at the two ends.

These illustrations, drawn from the facts as we find, them in our surveys will serve to indicate to you the nature of the service that is being rendered by the motor-truck. Although, in each case, they point, to ft transfer of business from the railroads to the highways, you will observo that in each case the business transferred is limited to a short-haul movement. Similar studies of the movement of nonperishable agricultural products, especially those which are shipped iong distances in bulk, or the movement of the products of mines and forests, would reveal a different situation. Apparently the motor-truck is finding its place very naturally. It has not yet shown an indication that it will ever function satisfactorily except on the short haul. But it is proving itself a valuable supplement to the railroads in'the local field, and in the vicinity of the terminals.

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It takes about 2000 miles on any car to wear t.h» piston rings and hearings into a perfect seat.