TRUCKS AND ROADS

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 74, 24 September 1927, Page 25

TRUCKS AND ROADS

CANADIAN IN SYDNEY POINTS IN ECONOMY "Among recent arrivals in-New South Wales who are deeply interested in motor transport and its developments is Mr. A. P. Reynolds (of Van- j couver, Canada), who, besides being I the head of a leading commercial organisation dealing with the carriage of goods by motor vehicles, is also the chairman of the Heavy Truck-owners' Association, and its delegate to the Good Roa,ds League; rep | sentative to a conference of road engineers which discussed the important question of limiting the loads on the roads, and formerly chairman of the final Delegation Conference of Municipalities engaged in drafting the Highway Traffic Bylaws for the Province of British Columbia," says the "Sydney Morning Herald." "For health reasons Mr. Reynolds has corns to Australia, and is so pleasantly impressed with the country and its climate that he intends to remain. ■■''Speaking of motor vehicle legislation, Mr. -Reynolds points out that J everywhere the revision of motor legisr lation shows a well-defined trend towards higher license fees and more rigid restrictions regarding weight, speed, and 'size of vehicles permitted to use the roads. Motor traffic is increasing at such an enormous ratq that adequate fiinds far TPa4"'JU!l^'llS a«d maintenance n^ust be supplied and used to the best advantage, and motor vehicle legislation and highway maintenance have become closely linked. WEIGHT AND SPEED, " 'It would not be fair to adopt the motor vehicle regulations at present in force in Great Britain, where the highways were built by past generations, and provide a solid foundation for. the modern paved surfaces,' said Mr. Keynolds. 'Here the roads aro absolutely new, and some balance must be struck tctwcGn t(ic cost of mniiitcijjincs of these roads and the regulations of motor vehicles-'which will take into account the economic point where the two factors meet. On the question of gross weights of vehicles, and what shall be permitted for each inch of width of tire, road engineers, motor vehicle users, aud manufacturers all have different ideas. The operators and manufacturers maintain that lower costs a.re secured by the use of large motortruck units, but the highway engineers contend that large, heavily-laden vehicles are the chief agents of destruction of the roads, and that the apparently lower haulage costs are more than offset by the higher road maintenance and construction costs which their use creates.

" 'The construction, aintenance, and financing and control of roads is already a State problem, and is expanding so greatly that it will soon become a national one for the Commonwealth. To decide vrhat is the economic point calls for consideration of the typo or grade of highway, the expense of maintaining existing roads to make them capable of carrying the load determined as tho lim}t economically. It is now proved that tliore is a limit to tho weight of the motor-truck, beyond which it ceases to be an economical unit, although niotpr-truclcs, when properly regulated as to tires, load distribution, etc., can carry a greater weight economically than other vehicles. It is this exact weight limit which must be investigated and decided upon. A KATTTRAL SAFEGUARD. ■" 'Of course, the, truck operator who owns a fleet of five-ton motor vehicles believes the limit to be the sum total of this unit, carrying a load of seven tons, making a total weight on the tires of 12 tons; the road engineers, however, wjll probably object strongly that a five-ton vehicle should not be permitted to take a load exceeding its own weight. Tho enforcement of thia compels the vehicle owner to" operate his truck «t a very expensive rate. ''' In calculating the reasonable and economic weight which should be tAr lowed here, the facts were established in similar investigations abroad are of interest. It was found that a 12 tons load on 12-inch tires cxqrted a pressure of 8401b to the square inch on the road surface, at the 1 rear wheels. If, however, the size of the tireg was increased to 14in, the pressure was reduced to 7201b, while a reduction of the weight to 10 tons gn J2in also reduced the pressure to 6941b, or on 14in tires to 5991b. The overloaded one-ton truck, with its three-inch solid tires, aa a matter of fact, iocs more than its share of damage to t)iq road surface, compared with the heavier type, its greater speed and deficiency of tire surface agitating the road surface continuously, unless of the hardest types of concrete. We find that the damage to good roads from heavy trucjcß js more imaginary than real, as these vehicles are very costly, and owners recognise that the capital invested in them must be conserved by avoiding excessive overloading, or travelling ai very high speed, They are fitted with large tires, and their | quieter rate of operation causes them to roll the road Tather than crash over it, and this vehicle therefore is orally to the road engineer. : AJJ.Y OP THE RAILWAYS. " 'The fact that the State owns the railways in New South Wales is liable to give the officials in control a fallacious notion that in building good roads capable pf -usq by motor vehicles, carrying large Jpadg, t)ioy aro giving this form of transportation an advan- ; tage, thus reducing railway revenue. It wpujd be more justifiable, however, fpr the railway authorities to regard i

the motor vehicle as an ally or partner, as the motor track thrives on the short; haul, and in acting as feeders to the railways, country will be opened up which would otherwise be dormant and undeveloped for want of transport. However, a determined effort must be made to fit the road for the truck carry? ing the economical load, not the truck for the road. This does not mean ;i road to carvy a gross weight of 20 tons, as the wear and tear on equipment with such an excessive amount ,eseeeds the limit of economy from a working point of view. The total weight which is really busiuess-liko from every point of view has to bo discovered by practical test, and in mr vestigation in every country, in the different States of the United States, it varied from about 11 to 13-i tons, but thp weights are also governed by tho tire widths and other factors.' "