FARM MOTOR TRUCK OPERATION. 
21 
Seventy -three had owned their machines from 43 to 54 months, and 
their average repair bill from time of buying their trucks had been 
$104. The average repair bills for the 54 men who had owned their 
machines from 55 to 66 months was $165, while for the 24 men who 
had owned their trucks 67 months or longer the average expense for 
repairs had been $335. 
As the repair costs for the trucks which had been in use from 43 
to 54 months had been $104 the annual repair bills had averaged 
about $25. It is evident that the average annual repair cost for the 
entire life of the machines will be higher than the figure given, and, 
therefore, in the absence of more accurate data the following allow- 
ances have been made as fair charges for the average annual repair 
costs in figuring the cost of operation of these machines for their 
assumed life : 
-J-ton trucks 
-|--ton trucks 
1-ton trucks 
1| and l§-ton trucks 
2-ton trucks 
Average 
annual 
repair 
costs. 
Average 
repair 
costs 
per mile 
of 
travel 
(cents) . 
1.5 
1.8 
2.8 
3.3 
4. 2 
GASOLINE AND OIL. 
The average number of miles per gallon of gasoline for the dif- 
ferent sizes of machines was approximately the same in 1922 as in 
1920, that is, 15.2 miles for the J-ton, 11.9*miles for the f-ton, 10.9 
miles for the 1-ton, 9.1 miles for the lj-ton and H-ton, and 8 miles 
for the 2-ton trucks. The expense per mile for the lubricating oil 
for these machines is but a small part of the cost of operating them, 
and their owners were not asked concerning it. The cost per mile of 
the grease used would ordinarily be so trifling that no inquiries were 
made concerning it. 
In 1920 the owners of the ^-ton trucks stated that their machines 
averaged 59 miles per quart of lubricating oil; the f-ton trucks, 58 
miles; the 1-ton trucks, 48 miles: the 1^-ton and 1-J-ton trucks, 49 
miles, and the 2-ton trucks, 40 miles. The cost of lubricating oil, 
as shown in this summary, is based upon these amounts. 
The price of gasoline to farmers in the area covered was approxi- 
mately 25 cents per gallon. The average price of lubricating oil of 
the quality commonly used by these truck owners was probably not 
far from 65 cents per gallon. On this basis the total cost per mile 
for gasoline and lubricating oil for the trucks of the different sizes 
would be as follows: 
Cents. 
i-ton trucks 1. 9 
f-ton trucks 2. 4 
1-tou trucks 2. 6 
U and 1^-ton trucks 3.0 
2-tou trucks 3. 5 
