16 



MM&i 



\m 



■itr- 



The Florists^ Review 





Jdnb a, 1«1{5. 



There are many fine residences in the 

 suburbs, not situated along the rail- 

 road lines. These are often too re- 

 mote to be reaehed by horses and 

 wagon. Here is another application for 

 the truck. 



. ^ Advertising Value. 



A special advantage in the use of 

 trucks is that it is possible to have 

 the vehicles arranged to suit the par- 

 ticular needs of the florists ' business. 

 Mention has already been made of the 

 elevation in the body to permit the 

 ■carrying of tall plants. It is possible 

 to have the bodies built so that they 

 ■combine elegance and good taste with 

 proper advertising value. Electric 

 lights are installed so as to facilitate 

 the handling of the flowers, so that the 

 . <3river or his helper will not break or 

 damage the flowers in removing them. 

 Artificial heat in the interior of the 

 vehicle is also feasible, and is a most 

 helpful factor. This is especially valu- 

 able in cold weather to protect the 

 more fragile blooms. A device some- 

 thing similar to the foot warmer more 

 or less used in carriages, gives this 

 safeguard against too low a tempera- 

 ture. Thermometers in the truck make 

 it possible to regulate the temperature. 

 There is an undoubted advertising 

 value in motor trucks for floral deliv- 



sidered only as a means for transport- 

 ing things from place to place. But if 

 one stops to consider, it is discovered 

 that the motor truck is also an adver- 

 tising factor of growing importance. 

 The motor truck symbolizes progress; 

 people think of it as one of the signs 

 of the times, one of the things which, 

 along with the wireless telegraphy, air- 

 ships, skyscrapers, etc., separate the 

 present from the past. "When a busi- 

 ' ness firm places its name and the name 

 or illustrations of its products promi- 

 nently upon its motor trucks, it is an 

 effective advertisement and creates 

 prestige for the advertiser with the 

 thousands who see it daily. 



The Philadelphia Public Ledger ex- 

 presses the opinion that "in a system 

 of good bookkeeping a large portion of 

 the cost of maintaining a motor truck 

 delivery system would be charged to 

 advertising. By this method justice 

 would be rendered in the amount of 

 profitable publicity that accrues from 

 the possession of power vehicles. The 

 motor truck, with the name of its owner 

 prominently displayed, is a moving bill- 

 board that advertises a firm in all parts 

 of the territory in which its business 

 is located. A power vehicle is accepted 

 by the public as a demonstration of 

 the ability of the firm to make good 

 its delivery promises, and to reach on 



PrimuU Malacoides. 



«rieB. People like to see a handsome 

 power vehicle in front of their home, 

 and it is nothing uncommon for a flo- 

 rist to get a request to have an order 

 of flowers delivered by his truck rather 

 than a horse and wagon. Moreover, 

 the vehicles carry the name of the flo- 

 rist through the fashionable sections 

 and help to attract public attention to 

 a firm that has the modem equipment 

 to take care of its custottieni. 



The motor truck is commonly con- 



schedule time sections inaccessible to 

 other forms of transportation. This- 

 kind of advertising is invaluable. It 

 is both a business-getter and a busi- 

 ness-holder. Such advertising costs 

 nothing in direct outlay. It is a bonus 

 with the truck. It comes as an inci- 

 dent of an improved service. 



Many firms have demonstrated, by 

 actual test, that every time a truck 

 goes into an unexploited territory it 

 produces new customers. People see 



the vehicle pass. It is striking. They 

 admire the enterprise it represents. In- 

 stinctively they figure that the firm 

 that owns it must be modern, and must 

 be selling high-grade articles. 



The character of the medium is one 

 of the important elements in any ad- 

 vertisement. The firm or the producl; 

 represented by trucks advertises ', 

 through a medium most potential in 

 prestige-creating value. 



It will be seen from the foregoing 

 that the great advantage of motor de- ■ 

 livery in this line of business is ef- 

 ficiency. This efficiency, however, is 

 not to be obtained in a haphazard man- 

 ner. Much forethought and careful de- 

 liberation should be given to the selec- 

 tion of motor equipment, and the co- 

 operation of transportation analysts, 

 whose services are extended by most . 

 truck companies, should be obtained, so 

 that the proper size and style of equip- 

 ment will be the result. 



Selection of Truck. 



There are many important points to 

 be considered in the selection of a mo- 

 tor delivery vehicle. On many points 

 of motor construction, manufacturers 

 dispute and differ widely, and every 

 truck on the market today has various 

 good talking points which may,. or may 

 not, appeal to the prospective pur- 

 chaser. But when all is said and done, 

 the construction which gives the best 

 results in actual operation is the cor- 

 rect one, and all theoretical practice 

 without the test of widely varied serv- 

 ice, is of little consequence. 



Your selection of a truck should be 

 influenced by four factors: Simplicity 

 of construction, accessibility, economy 

 of operation and service. By simplic- 

 ity, I mean that it should be of inter- 

 est to you that your vehicle, going as 

 it will into the hands of unskilled driv- 

 ers, should be devoid of all unnecessary 

 complications and should have as few 

 parts as is practical. All working parts 

 should be accessible, so that when ad- 

 justments and replacements become nec- 

 essary, the amount of labor consumed in 

 making said replacements and adjust- 

 ments is by this accessibility reduced 

 to a minimum. The more accessible the 

 machinery and parts of your vehicle, 

 the less the mechanical upkeep will cost. 



Economy of operation is also impor- 

 tant, and the mileage per gallon of gaso- 

 line and oil should be carefully looked 

 into. While it may be true that gaso- 

 line does not cost much, and that a 

 gallon per day more or less seems 

 trivial, yet when this is multiplied by 

 approximately 300 working days in the 

 year, its value becomes more apparent. 

 The cost of tires is an item to be 

 strongly considered, and the vehicle se- 

 lected should be well balanced, with 

 weight so distributed as to give great- 

 est life to the tires. The weight of 

 the vehicle should also be considered, 

 as it is poor economy to select any ve- 

 hicle whose own weight is excessive for 

 the load it is to carry. 



Service is a most important factor 

 to the prospective truck purchaser, and 

 he must needs be assured that the de- 

 livery which supplants his horses shall 

 be continuous and uninterrupted. As- 

 surance on this point can only be in- 

 sured by investigation on the part of 

 the prospective purchaser. He should 

 be sure in the first place that the com- 

 pany whose proposal he is considering 

 is big enough and healthy enough to 



