18 DEPARTMENT BULLETIN 1254, XL S. PEPT. OF AGRICULTURE. 
day used was materially increased. According to the 19:2:2 reports 
the trucks on the general and fruit farms were used on a smaller 
number of days, and traveled over 500 miles less during the preced- 
ing year than in 1919. 
COST OF OPERATION. 
FIRST COST. 
The average first cost of the trucks of different sizes concerning 
which reports were received in 1922, including extra equipment 
bought for use with them, was as follows : 
J-ton trucks ^==^ $599 
H d bra fcs 1,315 
1-Ton trucks '■-' 
H and It-ton trucks : _. 1 
2-ton trucks 2, a 
Frequently the quoted price of a truck does not include some 
equipment which is necessary or desirable to have for use with it. 
as is shown by the statements of about 7:2 per cent of the truck owners 
who furnished information on this point. One hundred and ninety- 
four men reported buying such extra equipment and the average 
amount spent for it was about $84. In some cases the money was 
spent for minor attachments costing but a few dollars, while in 
others cabs or bodies had been purchased, and the added investment 
in the more expensive extras sometimes ran as high as $300. The 
cost of trailers bought by a few of the truck owners reporting was 
omitted from the amount spent for extra equipment. 
LIFE OF TRUCK. 
The average life of the trucks of all sizes included in this summary, 
based on the average length of time they had been owned and used 
at the time of reporting, and the estimates of their owners as to their 
remaining life, will be 8.5 years, whereas these same men in 19:2'^ 
estimated that the average life of their trucks would be 6.7 years. 
It would seem, therefore, that the longer use of these machines has 
led a considerable number of their owners to believe that they will 
give satisfactory service for a longer period than in the light of 
their shorter use had seemed probable. The average estimated life 
of the trucks of different size> will be as follows : 
*-ton trucks 8 
J-ton trucks v - 
1-ton trucks S. 1 
1 and " -ton trucks 9.1 
2-ton trucks 1". 4 
The estimated remaining life of a truck depends not only upon its 
condition at the time of reporting and the probable amount of work 
it will do and the care it will receive, but also upon the owner's 
belief as to when it will be cheaper to discard it and buy a new one 
than to spend more time and money on it for repairs. There is. of 
course, a wide variation in the individual estimates, but the averages 
shown will give the prospective purchaser a fairly definite idea of 
the amount of service he may reasonably expect from such a machine, 
and they also furnish the best available basis for figuring deprecia- 
tion costs. 
