The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY. MAY 3, 1926. MOTOR TRANSPORT.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 May 1926, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY. MAY 3, 1926. MOTOR TRANSPORT.

Interesting views upon tlie future of motor truck transportation supported by facts bearing upon t-lie subject were presented according to an American journal, by Major Elihu Church, transportation engineer of the New York Port Authority, at the annual banquet of the Traffic Club at Cleveland, on the 18th. February. Heretofore the opinion has been commonly held that the motor truck was destined to displace the horse in terminal operations. hut that its use for long distance hauling was limited because its ton-mile costs were so much greater than similar costs on railroads. Major Church presented a different view of the situation. He told his hearers that the horse was holding his own where it oame to hauling heavy loads in congested districts, 73 out of every 100 trucks handling freight to and from the railroad and steamship piers on Manhattan Island being still horse drawn. The reason for this is that the cost of trucking is measured by time—not distance. In quoting a price for a hauling job it is much more important to know how long it will take than how far the goods must be moved. It costs about six cents a minute to keep a truck on the streets whether standing still or moving. It is true that trucks are made that mn carry five tons at the rate of 20 miles an hour all day long, hut in New York traffic conditions, '

time taken for loading and unloading and street congestion result in a truck carrying an .average load of but a ton and a-lialf at an average speed of about four miles an hour and actually moving less Ilian hlalf of the time. The Port Authority is now planning a system of union freight stations which will be located in various parts of the city and are intended to make possible heavier loading, shorter hauls and more continuous operation. Mpjor Church bases his prophesy for -the increasing use of tlie motor truck for long distance hauling on the door-to-door service of the truck, eliminating many of the boxing, terminal and other incidental expenses necessary when shi|>ping by rail. While it is a fact that once goods are in a ear they can he earned by a railroad more cheaply than in any other way lie pointed out that the crating, handling, and trucking incident to making a shipment by rail often amount to ten times wh'nt is paid to the carrier for the line-haul. In other words the railroad only gets ten cents out of the transportation dollar. An example was given where goods wore shipped a hundred miles liy motor truck, hut there was a saving of tlireo hundred dollars per trip on boxing alone. In his opinion the growing use of motor truck for long distance work will soon make it necessary to have separate roads for commercial and passenger vehicles. In other words there will he motor-truck trunk-line highways. They will lie located and built as railroads are with low grades and easy curves, for the audience was told that much of the highway traffic of the future will be done hv tractors and trailers. Grades would limit tho number of trailers in a highway “train." They will be controlled by air brakes operated by the chauffeur on the tractor. Already a large proportion of our taxes go for highways. It would lie manifestly unfair, the speaker said, to ask the public to pay for roads built for such traffic. The savings effected by tins method of transportation would lie so great, however, that lie expects companies to lie formed to obtain charters to construct and operate such highways on a toll basis.