THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



Giant Cord Tires for Motor Trucks. 



IN MANY RESPECTS the introduction of the motor truck has heen 

 not unhke that of the steam locomotive, some 90 years ago. 

 When the locomotive was ushered into a wondering and 

 incredulous world its sponsors entertained fanciful visions of its 

 future importance while the "iron horse" was still little more 

 than a giant toy. Road conditions prohibited its use. Then fol- 

 lowed a period during which the steel track was perfected. First, 

 the rails were of hardwood strips, then ribbons of iron were 

 replaced on these wooden rails, next all-iron rails were substi- 

 tuted, and eventually the heavy steel rail of to-day. 



The adaptation of the motor truck to present-day traffic uses 

 has been accomplished by conquering just such trying conditions 

 as those which confronted the locomotive promoters of nearly a 

 century ago. Gasoline makes the giant truck go, but without a 

 suitable "track"; namely, suitable tires, its coninicrcial ur inJiu- 

 trial advantages remain 

 quite limited. 



The first motor trucks 

 were fitted with solid rub- 

 ber tires since at that time 

 no other tires were avail- 

 able. But they were far 

 from satisfactory for ev- 

 ery purpose. Overloading 

 was the common cause of 

 failure, while their in- 

 ability to negotiate bad 

 roads set decided limits to 

 their utility. 



Interested manufactur- 

 ers began at once to de- 

 velop tires that would per- 

 mit the motor truck to 

 branch out into broader 

 fields of service. The ad- 

 vantages of pneumatic 

 had long been demon- 

 strated on the passenger 

 car and the plausibility of 

 this equipment for the 

 commercial truck was the 

 first thing to be investi- 

 gated. 



SPECTACULAR INTRODUCTION OF PNEUMATICS. 



In the early spring of 1917, just before the entrance of the 

 United States into the war, a motor truck service was inaugu- 

 rated over the 1400-mile, round-trip route between Boston and 

 Akron on a regular schedule with pneumatic equ'pment, the 

 object being to secure data for defining the distinctive fields of 

 solid and pneumatic trucking in view of all conditions. 



It thus occurred that the inhabitants along the Lincoln High- 

 way through Pennsylvania looked up in surprise one day to see 

 a large five-ton truck rolling along at touring-car speed, on 

 eight and ten-inch pneumatic tires, actually beating the one-way 

 express schedule, yet with such smoothness of motion that a 

 spare operator could sleep as comfortably aboard as in an ordi- 

 nary Pullman berth, if not more so. .\fter several trips back 

 and forth, three more long-distance trucks joined the pioneer to 

 form an express fleet, running on regular schedule from Ohio 

 to New England points, and people began to wonder whether 

 this might portend a new era in modern freight transportation. 



The experiment was fairly providential in relation to ihe war, 



Tire & Rubber Co 



A New Era for Pneum 



when railroads were badly overburdened and when the motor 

 truck had been called upon to save the nation from the peril of 

 totally inadequate transportation facilities and to perform many 

 feats to which they were wholly unaccustomed. Equipped with 

 solid tires they had been pressed into service for hauling loads 

 over long distances between cities, and even from the .Middle 

 West to the .-\tlantic seaboard. 



Two important facts had been revealed to the Government 

 through these experiences. First, that motor trucks on solid 

 tires were largely limited in usefulness to hard surfaced roads, 

 since these tires would slip and spin, or stall, in mud and ice 

 and snow. Second, it was clear that the pounding of the solid- 

 tired truck was damaging to every kind of road. 

 A prime end of the Akron-Boston experiment was to 

 Ignited States Government that the giant 

 pneumatic tire oflFered the 

 opportunity for motor 

 trucks to become vastly 

 more useful than they 

 ever could be on solid 

 tires. It was shown over 

 a period of two years on 

 every type of road and 

 through the snowy passes 

 of the Alleghenies that 

 pneumatic tires not only 

 enabled trucks to negoti- 

 ate snow and mud where 

 soli d-t i r e d government 

 trucks had stalled, but 

 also that the pneumatic 

 equipment meant a 

 marked saving to the 

 roads themselves. How 

 well, has been attested by 

 I he rapidity with which 

 the pneumatic tire was 

 adopted by the govern- 

 ment truck service and 

 also by the public follow- 

 ing upon that cpoch-mak- 

 ^ ^ ^ ing trial. Thousands of 



ATic Cord Trixk Tires. • . . i i . j 



private truckers hastened 



to adopt the new eciuipment. ihc economy and efficiency of which 

 is confirmed by the continuous operation of the Akron-Boston 

 service to the present day, two big trucks still handling rush 

 shipments from Boston to .-Kkron long after the railroad war- 

 time shipping crisis has passed. 



ADVANTAGES OF PNEUMATIC TRUCK TIRE EQUIPMENT. 



Pneumatic tires on motor trucks save the load, the truck and 

 ihe road, permit better time and therefore increase the amount 

 of load that can be hauled in a given time. They have thus been 

 a great aid in promoting universal use of the motor truck. 



The country has been discussing the subject of the effect of 

 heavy trucks on interurban pavements. Pneumatic tires on 

 trucks work no harm to the roads, for they are built to dis- 

 tribute the load properly on the road surface. It is not pri- 

 marily the weight of a truck that harms the road, but the bump- 

 ing and pounding of the truck. With pneumatics this is elimi- 

 nated, for the tire tread accommodates itself to the road surface 

 and has no more harmful effect than a passenger automobile 

 tire has. 



