MOTOR TRUCKS ON EASTERN FARMS. 
17 
CUSTOM HAULING. 
While all the men whose reports are included use their trucks pri- 
marily for hauling to and from their own farms, about 28 per cent 
reported that they did some custom work during the year preceding 
the time of reporting. Of 492 farmers who reported concerning 
custom work 355 said that during the past year they had done none 
whatever. The remaining 137 had received on the average $174 
for such work. The number of men who reported hauling different 
materials, and the price which they received per ton-mile, are given 
in Table XL 
Table XI. — Returns for custom work. 
Material. 
Number 
of 
reports. 
Price 
per ton- 
mile. 
60 
6 
6 
6 
71 
$0.37 
.69 
.39 
.28 
.48 
Milk 
Feed 
Other 
About 30 per cent of these men who had done custom work stated 
that it had not been profitable. Many of them stated that the main 
reason for doing custom work was to accommodate their neighbors, 
and ordinarily in such cases the price was not high enough to make 
the work profitable. Most of the custom work reported was done by 
men owning large or medium sized trucks. Only seven of the men 
who own half-ton trucks reported, that they did any custom work, and 
the average amount received by the seven for the work which they did 
during the past year was $53. 
EFFECT OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF ROADS ON USE OF TRUCKS. 
It has been shown that the majority of these farmers considered 
poor roads the greatest disadvantage in the use of a motor truck, and 
that most of those who still use horses for part of their road hauling 
do so because of poor roads. In order to gain a more definite idea 
of the effect of the kind of roads on the use of motor trucks, each 
farmer was asked to specify the kind of roads over which his truck 
traveled and the number of weeks during the past year the roads 
had been in such condition on account of mud or snow that the truck 
could not be used. 
All kinds of roads, from unimproved dirt roads to high-class State 
highways, were reported. Twenty-nine per cent of the men who 
reported on this point stated that their trucks ordinarily travel only 
on dirt roads, 46 per cent stated that the roads which they ordi- 
narily use are part dirt and part improved, and the remainder stated 
that they have all improved roads, either macadam, gravel, or better. 
8335°— 20- 3 
