Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 58, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 October 1918 — TRUCK MEN SEE LARGER SERVICE [ARTICLE]

TRUCK MEN SEE LARGER SERVICE

Will Serve to Stimulate a Community Spirit and Have Far Reaching Influence. M. E. Noblet, secretary of the Hoosier State Automobile Association, believes the Rural Motor Express and Return Loads program will serve to stimulate a community spirit that will hate far reaching influence. Mr. Noblett declares the three great economic advantages increased food production, conservation of labor and relief of the railroads, are sufficient Justification for the extension of the enterprise. But he sees, also, through the more general use of the motor truck, a welding into closer relationship and better understanding, the country producer and the city consumer; the facilitation of the rural mail delivery, the increased interest in and support of good roads movements, and finally and most important of all, a direct contribution to the national forces engrossed with the problem of winning the war. Richmond and other Indiana cities, outside of Indianapolis, have witnessed the development of the usefulness of the motor truck as a common carrier. Individual truck owners had found much encouragement in establishing routes over which they made regular trips, delivering merchandise from the Richmond wholesale houses to the small town dealers within a radius of thirty miles, and bringing back produce and other tonnage from the small towns and farms. Passenger traffic also was profitable. The possibilities of the system appealed to a wealthy corporation, which established more than a dozen highpowered, large capacity trucks, which, until the war upset local conditions and depleted man-power necessary for the operation of the system, was one of the most valuable assets the community possessed. During the severely cold winter months the trucks assisted in clearing the roads for ordinary traffic, and especially for the rural mail carriers. Only on one or two when, during the spring thaws, did the unimproved roads make truck travel impossible, was it necessary to suspend the schedules. The result has been that these soft roads have been improved with gravel and it has been said with truth, that the Wayne county highways average above those of any other county in the state. The motor truck is to be credited with much of the incentive for this evidence of the necessity of a high standard of road- maintenance.

The economic value of the Rural Motor Express and Return Load Bureaus are not confined to the public which enjoys quick, efficient service therefrom. The truck driver also is an enthusiast on the subject of the possibilities of the system. C. L. Macy of Mooresville, Indiana, who has been driving a motor truck to Indianapolis daily, speaks authoritatively as a representative of the men upon whom directly rests the responsibility as a representative of the men upon whom directly rests the responsibility for the success of the plan. Mr. Macy was one of the original boosters of the Return Load Bureaus. He realized the wastage of a return trip with an empty truck. He knew his possibilities in relieving the established common carriers of the burden of the short-haul freight, and was quick to enroll with the Return-Load Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce at Indianapolis. He now adds to his revenue and efficiency, with a very little additional expenditure of energy or motive power. “This Return-Load idea is the. goods,” said Mr. Macy. “Why, should I not haul a load back? It doesn’t take much more time and only a little more work and it does a lot more good.

“The people are being educated out our way to this Return-Load idea and the difficulty of getting the return load is passing away aß'the time. "Of course,' we can afford to haul cheaper witjj loads both ways. That’s plain. Why, we can nearly cut it in two —not quite. "We truck men are doing a big job and it will be bigger as the months go by. Nobody suspected a year ago that we’d be hauling what we are now. But the possibilities of it are great. It amounts to this that most of the short-haul hauling will be done by the motor truck.”