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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
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DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1254 
Washington, D. C. 
September 27, 1924 
FARM MOTOR TRUCK OPERATION IN THE NEW ENGLAND AND 
CENTRAL ATLANTIC STATES. 
By L. M. Chuech, Assistant in Agricultural Engineering, Bureau of Public 
Roads. 
CONTENTS. 
Tage. 
Collection, of data 1 
Summary 2 
Number and location of truck own- 
ers' reporting 3 
Types of farms on which trucks are 
owned 3 
Distance to market 4 
Size of trucks 5 
Age of trucks 7 
Are these tracks profitable invest- 
ments ?____ 7 
Advantages and disadvantages of 
motor trucks 7 
The best size of truck 9 
Change of markets 10 
Page. 
Road hauling with trucks 11 
Road hauling for which trucks are 
not used 13 
Effect of different kinds of roads on 
use of motor trucks 14 
Hauling on the farm with trucks 15 
Custom hauling IB 
Annual use of trucks 16 
Cost of operation 18 
Cost of hauling with motor trucks__ 23 
Reliability 24 
Saving of hired help •_'■'« 
Displacement of horses 26 
Farms on which both trucks and 
tractors are owned 27 
COLLECTION OF DATA. 
When a farmer, contemplating the purchase of a machine, is un- 
decided as to its practicability for his use, the experience of other 
farmers who have owned and used that particular kind of machine 
should be of value. For the purpose of obtaining- reliable informa- 
tion, with which to assist prospective purchasers of motor trucks, 
several thousand farmers in the New England and Central Atlantic 
States known to be owners and users of motor trucks were asked 
in the winter of 1919-20 for detailed information covering the use of 
these machines in their farming operations. All replies reporting 
on second-hand trucks, on vehicles converted into trucks by the 
addition of attachments to passenger cars, on trucks which had been 
in use less than seven months, and on those used primarily for cus- 
tom work were excluded from the summary. A complete analysis 
of the reports from 753 farmer truck owners is given in Department 
Bulletin 910, " Experience of Eastern Farmers with Motor Trucks/' 
About 10 per cent of the excluded replies were reports on machines 
which had been used six months or less. In June and July, 1922, 
90337°— 24 1 
