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JUNB 3, 1915. 



The Florists' Review 



15 



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MOTOR DELIVERY x 



Mr FOR THE FLORIST 



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HAT the 

 great bulk 

 of the haul- 

 ing and de- 

 livery work 

 of the coun- 

 try will in 

 the near future be done by motor 

 trucks, is an assumption that is 

 justified by the rapid increase in 

 the use of this type of vehicle 

 during the last few years. The eternal 

 movement toward better things in- 

 cludes the use of motor vehicles, and 

 they will be regarded as somewhat 

 "antique" whose equipment does not 

 include as an evidence of progress this 

 modern system of delivery. Our par- 

 ticular interest on this occasion, how- 

 ever, centers on the application of this 

 type of vehicle to the florist. What 

 are its advantages? 



The speed and ground-covering abil- 

 ity of motor trucks are proving a big 

 advantage to the florist. The swift- 

 moving power vehicle assures a rapid 

 and punctual delivery of the fragile 

 blossoms for weddings, dinners, ban- 

 quets, funerals, etc. 



One florist has been for four years 

 a user of motor trucks. With his truck 

 he takes care of the varied needs of 

 a general delivery of all kinds of flow- 

 ers, plants, ferns, etc., for a variety 

 of functions. The body of the ma- 

 chine has been built with a special re- 

 gard to the service it must render. It 

 is built high for plants, ferns, etc., so 

 that they will not be crushed in transit. 

 The fore-door construction, which is 

 built in and closed, protects the driver 

 from the elements, and makes it possi- 

 ble for the decorator to go along on 

 trips to places where his services may 

 be needed. It is a decided advantage. 

 Developing Business. 



The truck has been 

 a big factor in de- 

 veloping a lucrative 

 line of decorating 

 work at distant 

 points in the suburbs. 

 Assuming, for exam- 

 ple, a wedding: The 

 flowers and plants 

 can be packed into 

 the wagon, and the 

 decorator can go 

 along. It is possible 

 to make a twenty- 

 mile journey in a 

 comparatively short 

 time, and the work 

 can be readily han- 

 dled. The result of 

 thus possessing an 

 equipment capable of 

 going the distances, 

 has brought its re- 

 turn in the shape of 

 many profitable or- 

 ders. 



In one respect the 

 delivery of flowers 

 presents a different 

 problem from almost 



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A paper on "Motor Delivery," read at the 

 meetlntt of the Philadelphia Florists' Club. June 

 1, by F. W. Belrn, of the White Co. 



any other field where the truck is 

 used. Weight is almost entirely ab- 

 sent from the calculation. Not many 

 articles offered for sale carry less avoir- 

 dupois than the blooms used at wed- 

 dings, funerals and banquets and for 

 decorative purposes of all kinds. Yet 

 the motor truck is becoming the ve- 

 hicle preferred for the florist, and it is 

 not uncommon to see a vehicle of 3,000 

 pounds capacity making a trip with 

 ten pounds of blooms. 



This apparent contradiction is read- 

 ily explained. The florist uses a motor 

 truck because he is handling a com- 

 modity where speed and punctuality are 

 vital considerations. If he cannot get 

 to his customers on time, he might as 

 well go out of business. There is no 

 manner in which a wedding can be 

 postponed until flowers are tardily de- 

 livered. Funerals cannot be made to 

 wait, and the decorations for a ban- 

 quet must be in place before the guests 

 begin to assemble. Moreover, the 

 fragile nature of flowers puts a pre- 

 mium on dispatch in .handlinff them. 



A prominent florist puts some of the 

 more important arguments for the 



A Well-Known Truck Operated by Well-Knowo Florists. 



motor truck in the flo- 

 rists' business in the 

 following words: 



' ' We have to be 

 ready for a rush at all 

 times. There is no 

 fixed demand in our 

 line, no schedule of business as 

 in the case of so many staples. 

 A man has to have food every 

 day, but he needs flowers only 

 on certain occasions. A wedding, a 

 banquet, a funeral, or several of them 

 taking place in one day, can put a 

 most severe stress on delivery facili- 

 ties, and in order to cater to custom- 

 ers it is necessary to guarantee an ab- 

 solutely punctual delivery. 



' ' In this rush work, the motor truck 

 alone can rise to the situation. It is 

 necessary to have the right kind of a 

 car, right equipment and intelligent di- 

 rection. - With this combination, it 

 will be found that the truck cannot 

 fail to give results. 



"Trucks can be forced in a rush in 

 a manner that would not be possible 

 to horses. Trips that used to be diffi- 

 cult for the horses are the simplest 

 things in the world for a truck. With 

 a truck the florist is always in posi- 

 tion to handle an emergency order and 

 to make prompt delivery, no matter 

 what the volume to be carried or the 

 distance to be covered. Weather con- 

 ditions matter not. For this reason 

 trucks are really an essential of the 

 system. ' ' 



This excellent summary is the ex- 

 perience of many prominent florists. 

 Naturally all flo»ists do a large amount 

 of work in the suburbs, for it is in the 

 suburbs that a large part of the city's 

 wealth and social prominence are to 

 be found, and these are the people who 

 give a special regard to the handsome 

 decorations in which 

 flowers play so 

 marked a part. 



Covering the Suburbs. 



To send a pair of 

 horses to Paoli and 

 back is about the 

 limit thajt could be 

 expected of a pair of 

 animals in one day. 

 In fact, such a day's 

 work is likely to 

 leave them pretty 

 well fagged out for 

 the next day's toil. 

 Such a trip is easy 

 for a truck. It can 

 make the run to 

 Paoli in the morning 

 and be back in the 

 afternoon in time to 

 run to Jenkintown, 

 or even farther. It 

 is not uncommon for 

 trucks in the service 

 of Philadelphia flo- 

 rists to go to points 

 as far distant as 

 Chester, Wilmington 

 and Trenton. 



