10 BULLETIN 931, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



It is seen that 73 per cent consider that " poor roads " is the prin- 

 cipal disadvantage. A large percentage of the reports stated chat 

 there is some time during the year when the roads are in such a con- 

 dition that motor trucks can not be used. (See p. 17.) The men who 

 live on unimproved roads, of course, have the greatest handicap in 

 this respect, but even the best of roads may be impassable for a truck 

 because of snow at certain times of the year in this section. After 

 poor roads the cost of the truck, either the cost of operation or the 

 first cost, is considered the greatest disadvantage. The fact that the 

 truck can not be operated satisfactorily on soft ground is next in im- 

 portance, and troubles due to incompetent drivers and mechanical 

 defects complete the list of disadvantages mentioned by more than 

 one or two farmers. 



ROAD HAULING WITH TRUCKS. 



All of the material hauled to and from these farms has been divided 

 into five general classes — viz, crops, live stock, building material, fuel, 

 and other material. An idea of the relative amounts of these different 

 materials hauled by the trucks can be obtained from the fact that, 

 during the year covered by the reports — 



481 farmers, reported hauling a total of 40,029 tons of crops. 

 339 farmers reported hauling a total of 6,629 tons of live stock. 

 * 166 farmers reported hauling a total of 7,111 tons of building material, 

 including fencing. 

 120 farmers reported hauling a total of 1,642 tons of fuel. 

 132 farmers reported hauling a total of 7,704 tons of other material. 



All crops are included, but a large percentage of the total is grain. 

 Similarly hauling all kinds of live stock was reported, but hogs make 

 a large percentage of the total. (See fig. 2.) 



Each farmer reported the weight of the load which he ordinarily 

 hauls, the length* of haul, and the time required for the round trip 

 with the truck. Similar information was given for hauling with 

 horses and wagons before the purchase of trucks. The time required 

 for the round trip includes the time required for loading and unload- 

 ing the truck or wagon. 



Table V shows a comparison of the size of load, length of haul, and 

 time required for hauling crops with trucks of different sizes, and 

 with wagons before the purchase of trucks. Table VI gives a like 

 comparison for live stock, Table VII for building material, and 

 Table VIII for fuel. 



The hours per ton-mile in each case are obtained by dividing the 

 hours per round trip by the product of the size of the load in tons and 

 the length of haul in miles. For instance, in Table I, a ^-ton or f-ton 

 truck hauling a load of 2,652 pounds a distance of 8.0 miles ac- 



