218 CITY MILK SUPPLY 



stations of the milk companies for house-to-house delivery by wagons, or 

 for loading directly onto the delivery wagons. The milk that arrives in 

 cans has to be carried to the milk plants, often for pasteurizing and al- 

 ways for recanning and bottling. Before the advent of the motor trucks 

 the best location for the milk plants was near the terminals, because 

 the milk often arrived at a rather high temperature and so needed 

 prompt cooling, which it could not have if it was to be hauled a long dis- 

 tance by horses in heavily loaded wagons in which the icing of the cans 

 was impracticable. The location of the plants at the terminals necessi- 

 tates long hauls by the delivery wagons, and by the wagons that carry 

 cases of bottled milk to the branch distributing stations. Bottled milk 

 in cases weighs more and is more bulky than the same quantity of milk 

 in cans; consequently it is true economy to plan so that the maximum part 

 of the distance each gallon of milk is carried, shall be in cans. The speed 

 of the auto truck makes it feasible to locate the city milk plant further 

 from the railroad, in the heart of the retail section so that the delivery 

 wagons which carry the bulk of the bottled milk shall have short trips 

 and the branch delivery stations shall be conveniently accessible. There 

 is some tendency to reconstruct the city milk business along these lines 

 but heavy investments in plants at the terminals make readjustment 

 slow. In city use, motor trucks have demonstrated their superiority to 

 horse traction in the severe storms of winter, and in the torrid spells in 

 summer when the horses suffer from the heat and traffic becomes slow 

 and unreliable. 



The Commercial Vehicle in 1914 investigated the use of auto trucks 

 in the dairy business of Greater New York and found all of the 13 leading 

 milk companies of the city using them; these concerns had 59 trucks in 

 use. There were fifteen 10-ton, eight 6- and 6j^-ton, three 4J/-ton, 

 six 4-ton, thirteen 3-ton, two 2-ton, six l)^-ton and six 1-ton vehicles. 

 The popularity of the 10-ton truck is due to its economy. Motor truck 

 efficiency depends on the principle that the larger the load the greater 

 the efficiency provided this is consistent with good mileage and provided 

 the tonnage can be carried the full distance. Some of the lighter trucks 

 have proved unsuccessful, for the loading time is no less than with horses, 

 so that in the limited running period, the truck has not long enough to 

 show its efficiency. A four-horse team, making one trip per night, 

 hauls more cheaply than a 5-ton truck making two trips. These 5-ton 

 trucks have proved profitable in distributing to outlying delivery depots 

 to which three trips a day may be made and considerable mileage covered. 

 Trucks of more than 5 and less than 10 tons capacity were profitable 

 because they admit of more rapid handling of the milk. Light trucks 

 find their field in delivery to retail stores, in distributing condensed milk 

 and in special deliveries. These light vehicles have expanded the radius 

 of custom, accelerated the speed of delivery, cut down the number of 



