THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 1920. 



It has often been stated that the charges for truckportation 

 service amounts, on an average, to a cent a hundredweight a 

 mile. This, although true in some cases, is but a figure of 

 speech, even as an average, as will be seen. 



NEW YORK-PHILADELPHIA RATES 



Take the case of the American Motor Freight Corporation 

 operating a through daily over-night express service with 

 twenty-two or more trucks between New York and Philadelphia. 

 The distance travelled is almost exactly 100 miles by the high- 

 ways and its schedule of charges is as follows : 



1 to 25 pounds $0.50 



25 to 50 pounds 0.70 



SO to 75 pounds 0.90 



75 to 100 pounds 1.00 per hundred 



100 to 2,000 pounds 0.90 per hundred 



4,000 to 8,000 pounds 0.85 per hundred 



8,000 to 10,000 pounds 0.80 per hundred 



From this it will be seen that for merchandise weighing from 

 seventy-five to one hundred pounds the rate of charge is exactly 

 a cent ($0.01) a mile a hundred pounds, but for a consignment 

 weighing 2,000 pounds the rate figures but nine-tenths of a cent, 

 ($.009) a hundred pounds a mile, and a consignment weighing 



A friend of mine has recently contracted with a truckportation 

 company to move his household furniture from New York to 

 Boston. The rate quoted is 75 cents a 100 pounds, and, as the 

 distance to Boston is practically 250 miles, the rate per 100 

 pounds per mile is three-tenths of a cent ($0,003). 



BAUHAM'S RATE COMPARISONS 



In calculating the comparative cost of a shipment of mer- 

 chandise by one method or another, it is proper to take into 

 consideration all items of expense involved in the delivery of 

 the goods from the door of the consignor to that of the con- 

 signee. If, by one method of transportation, additional expense 

 is made necessary by boxing or crating requirements, this should 

 be taken into consideration. If, by such boxing or crating, addi- 

 tional weight is given to the consignment, this, also, should be 

 noted. W. J. L. Bauham, traffic manager of the Otis Elevator 

 Co., has made some interesting studies of rate comparisons, on 

 merchandise moving by rail freight and by motor truck, after 

 taking these items into account. I shall quote some of his find- 

 ings in substance. He includes in the freight cost the first- 

 class rate, plus fifteen cents per 100 pounds teaming charges from 

 shipper's warehouse to freight house, plus fifteen cents per 100 



The American Railway Express Company Uses Many Electric Trucks on Solid Tires for Short Urban Business 



10,000 pounds (a full load) would cost $80, or eight-tenths of 

 a cent, ($0,008) per 100 pounds per mile. 



Placed in contrast with the first-class railway freight service 

 between these points, the rate, as of March 1, 1920, was 33 cents 

 per 100 pounds, which was increased by the recent rulings of 

 the Interstate Commerce Commission to 46 cents, (or $0.0046) 

 per 100 pounds per mile, assuming the same distance is travelled 

 by the railway freight car as by the motor truck. 



Again, by comparison with a similar service by the American 

 Railway Express Company, the first-class express rate was 

 raised from ninety cents per hundredweight to $1.15 by order 

 of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which amounts to 

 $0.0115 per 100 pounds per mile, which practically equals the 

 conventional average quoted for truck service. It must be 

 remembered, however, that there is pending before the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission an application by the American Railway 

 Express Company for an additional increase in rates which may, 

 indeed, be granted before this article is published. In that event 

 the disparity in rates will be still more marked. 



Owing to the general shortage in railway equipment and con- 

 gestion at terminals, the American Railway Express is now 

 declining to accept matter weighing more than 200 pounds per 

 package. This, however, is considered as a temporary measure 

 only but, since the motor truck companies are prepared to accept 

 shipments up to two tons, it gives them, for the present at least, 

 an advantage they are not slow to follow up. 



pounds against teaming charges from freight house to re- 

 ceiver's warehouse, plus 24 cents per 100 pounds increased cost 

 of boxing to cover shipment made via rail freight, plus 17 cents 

 per 100 pounds increased weight caused by increased boxing. 

 The rate via motor truck he figures out covers delivery from 

 shipper's warehouse to receiver's warehouse ; and he tabulates his 

 results as follows : 



Rate Comparisons^Per 100 Pounds 



Rail Motor 



From New York, to — Freight Truck 



Newark, New Jersey $0.91 $0.15 



Paterson, New Jersey 0.91 0.20 



New Brunswick. New Jersey 0.91 O.40 



Trenton, New Jersey 0.98 0.60 



Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1.02 0.80 



Wilmington, Delaware 1.13 1.20 



Bridgeport, Connecticut 1.10 0.70 



New Haven, Connecticut 1.13 0.73 



Waterbury, Connecticut 1.16 0.75 



Hartford, Connecticut .'.. 1.21 0.9O 



Springfield, Massachusetts 1.25 1.00 



Worcester, Massachusetts 1.31 1.50 



Providence. Rhode Island 1.32 1.10 



Boston, Massachusetts 1.36 1.50 



It will be noted from the above that the motor rate between 

 New York and Boston is double that which I previously quoted 

 in the case of transporting household furniture. It will be 

 further noted that the motor rate between New York and sev- 



