Modern Trucks Save Roads and Cut Costs For Farmer, Truck Operator and Consumer

By Theodore R. Bill, Vice President Fageol Motors Company

The remarkable progress made in designing modern trucks throws entirely new light upon California's laws regarding heavy road hauls. The present legislation was enacted at a time when it was necessary to save highways from the terrific pounding of solid-tired trucks. But the development of the low-pressure balloon-tired trucks has greatly cut the cost of road maintenance and effected tremendous economies for farmer, trucking contractors and consumer. Today, the farmer moves his produce to the market in fast time and at low cost. In consequence, thg consumcr gets fresher greenstuffs at a fair price. And operators of large fleets in road construction and other work are able to do business on a basis of economy to the buyer.

The great savings made possible by balloon'tired trucks have readily been shown by several surveys. With the enactment of the 22,m lb. maximum weight for fourwheeled trucks, the cost of running a solid-tired truck was 20c a ton mile. But the balloon-tired truck and trailer, each carrying 22,N0 lb, loads, as permitted under the law, run at 7c to 8c a ton mile.

Under the 34,000 lb. maximum weight law for six-wheel trucks, even greater economies are effected with modern truck models. A balloon-tired truck and trailer, totalling 68,000 lbs. load, can be run at the amazingly low cost of 2c to 2/zc a ton mile ! And the deterioration of the highway due to the motor truck over it, is a bare fraction of

Jack Thomas Returns From San Francisco Bay District Trip

Jack Thomas, Coos Bay Lumbet Co., Los Angeles, has returned from a business trip to San Francisco and Bay Point where he spent a few days conferring with offrcials of the company.

what it was with the solid-tired truck. In fact, the big soft balloon, air filled tires cushion the road. Furthermore, engineering genius has made the modern six-wheel truck as easy to handle as a passeng'er car, for its larger size permits the installation of absolute braking equipment.

Ardent proof of the economic importance of the large truck is conclusively shown in that twenty-six states haVe allowed increased ioad weights for both- four-wheel and six-wheel models, ranging up to a 4OOOO lb. maximum.

If misguided legislation should restrict gross truck weight to some such figure as 16,000 lbs., for example, the ruinous effects would be at once manifested. The cost of transportation would jump to six or seven times the present low rate per ton mile. Consumer and farmer would suffer. Truck operators in every line of hauling would be forced out of business. Thousands of truck-users, in every field of California industry, would, of necessity, junk their present models and purchase trucks meeting i6e requirements of su'ch an unfortunate measure. In addition there would be congestion on every road, for such a law would put two to three times as many tru.cks on the highways-and in consequence would increase the risk of accidents per vehicle on the highway. Fortunately, nationwide sentiment has not'permitted injurious legislation of this type. In fact, the trend is to increase the maximum load weights, so as to secure even greater transportation economies for farmer, merchant and truck operator; economies whi,ch can be passed'on to the ultimate 'consumer.

Paul Overend Visits Southland

Paul E. Overend, manager of the insurance department for the California Fruit Exchange, with headquarters in Sacramento, spent a few days in Los Angeles the latter part of September where he attended to business and called on his lumbermen friends.