EXPERIENCE WITH MOTOR TRUCKS. 9 
is the principal advantage of a motor truck for farm use ? " is given 
in Table III : 
Table III. — The principal advantage of a motor truck as given by 712 farmers. 
Principal advantage. &tiTg. 
Per cent 
of total. 
Principal advantage. 
Number 
reporting. 
Per cent 
of total. 
635 
32 
17 
6 
89 
4 
2 
1 
Better market 
4 
18 
1 
Other 
3 
Total 
712 
Nearly 90 per cent of the owners report that the saving of time is 
the principal advantage. There are other advantages, of course, but 
in the minds of these farmers this is the principal one. While only 
four of these men report that the principal advantage of the truck 
is that it enables them to go to a better market, more than a fourth 
of the total number are going to better markets now than before the 
purchase of their trucks. Going to a market which is farther from 
the farm is simply a matter of taking more time for marketing, 
and a considerable number of the men who say that saving of time 
is the principal advantage find that the truck saves them sufficient 
time to enable them to go to the better market. Reducing shrinkage 
when marketing live stock, which is often mentioned as one of the 
big advantages of a motor truck, is also largely a matter of reducing 
the time required for getting the stock from farm to market. 
The fact that such a small number consider the saving of horses, 
the reducing of expense, and added convenience, as the principal 
advantages of the truck, indicates that the amount of time which the 
motor truck will save, which may incidentally result in reaching a 
better market or getting live stock and crops to market in better con- 
dition, is the item which should be given paramount importance when 
considering the purchase of a motor truck. 
The disadvantages of a truck should be considered as well as the 
advantages, and these men were asked what they had found to be the 
principal disadvantage. A summary of 413 answers to this question 
is given in Table IV. Of the remaining 418 farmers 261 did not 
answer the question, and 157 stated that they knew of no disadvan- 
tages in owning a truck. 
Table IV. — The principal disadvantage of a motor truck as given ~by J^IS 
farmers. 
Principal disadvantage. 
Poor roads 
Cost of operation 
First cost 
Soft ground 
Mechanical trouble — 
19133°— 21 
Number 
Per cent 
reporting. 
of total. 
299 
73 
46 
11 
33 
8 
10 
2 
6 
2 
Principal disadvantage. 
Incompetent driver 
Other 
Total 
Number 
reporting. 
Per cent 
oftotal. 
