ge BULLETIN NO. 770, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
mon cases, poor roads may cause operating costs to be so high and 
truck operation so uncertain that the business is foredoomed to failure. 
A third limitation to rural motor transportation, which has come to 
light under actual operating conditions, has to do with the financial 
responsibilities of the carriers. This feature has been thoroughly dis- 
cussed in the paragraphs referring to the use of a standard bill of 
lading and the securing of adequate insurance coverage. The limita- 
tion is one which need cause no fear to the business-like operator who 
is willing to make the necessary changes in his business so that he may 
be on a par with other carriers. . 
The limitations herein mentioned must be carefully considered be- 
cause they are real factors in actual practice. All can be met and 
solved by the business-like operator. It is to be expected that they will 
be solved as a better knowledge of the rural motor business is obtained 
and the possibilities of this form of transportation become more 
apparent both to the operator and to the prospective shipper. 
CONCLUSIONS. 
The foregoing discussion, although general in character, has been an 
attempt to bring forth one thought, viz; that under proper conditions, 
and where a fair knowledge of the limitations and difficulties obtains, 
motor truck transportation promises to play an important role in 
rural districts. 
Mechanically, the experimental stage for the motor truck has passed. 
Its worth and its efficiency have been demonstrated very thoroughly 
under the most trying circumstances. . 
As operating equipment in a regularly established transportation 
business, where the financial difficulties faced by the ordinary common 
carrier are in evidence, the motor truck may still be considered as in 
the experimental stage. The problem of lifting it from this experi- 
mental stage is one that depends for its solution on careful planning 
and good business judgment rather than on greater mechanical per- 
fection of the truck itself. 
If the prospective operator can force himself to consider his motor 
equipment as merely a means toward an end, and will devote himself 
to a consideration of his business problems, his chances for success will 
be increased manifold. The motor truck as a common carrier has 
come to stay, but the measure of success for the individual will 
depend, as in other lines of business, on initiative and a proper sense 
of business proportions. 
