MOTOR TRUCKS ON EASTERN FARMS. 



13 



Table VIII. — Percentage of time which trucks of different sizes save in hauling different 



materials. 



Size of truck. 



Time saved in hauling. 



Crops. 



Milk. 



Feed. 



Fertilizer. 





Per cent. 

 53 

 60 

 65 

 67 

 71 

 71 



Per cent. 

 52 

 42 



57 



Per cent. 

 35 

 53 

 62 

 66 

 75 



Per cent. 





57 

 52 

 63 

 75 





1£- to 1 Hon 



2-ton . 

















If the men who own small trucks had hauled as large loads with 

 wagons as the men with larger trucks did, the saving of time effected 

 by the small trucks would have been much less. As shown in 

 Table IV, the time per ton-mile required to haul crops with the 

 ^-ton trucks is 0.50 hour, while the time required per ton-mile by 

 these same men in hauling with wagons before the trucks were 

 purchased was 1.06 hours, the trucks thus saving 53 per cent of the 

 time. The men who now own 1^- and 1^-ton trucks required only 

 0.49 hours per ton-mile for hauling with wagons before purchasing 

 their trucks. This difference is due entirely to the fact that the 

 men who now own ^-ton trucks formerly hauled loads with wagons 

 which averaged 1,505 pounds, while the men owning 1\- and 1^-ton 

 trucks hauled loads which averaged 3,306 pounds. 



RETURN LOADS. 



The percentage of time which a truck is run without a load has a 

 direct influence on the cost per unit of hauling with the truck. If a 

 farmer can arrange to haul a load of produce to market and bring 

 back a load of supplies to the farm on the same trip, he will reduce 

 the time required and expense for hauling practically 50 per cent. 

 (See fig. 2.) The reports of these men show that they have loads 

 both ways for their trucks on an average of about 26 per cent of 

 their trips. Thirty per cent of the men, however, stated that they 

 never have return loads. The dairy farmers and general farmers 

 reported return loads a considerably larger percentage of the time 

 than did the fruit, truck, and crop farmers. 



ROAD HAULING FOR WHICH TRUCKS ARE NOT USED. 



A majority of these men still use their horses to supplement their 

 trucks in hauling on the road. While 516 men reported concerning 

 their present use of horses for road hauling, only 193, or 37 per cent, 

 stated that they did all their road hauling during the year preceding 

 the time of reporting with trucks. Table IX shows the reasons 



