The Rural Motor Express To Conserve Foodstuffs and Labor and to Supply Rural Transportation.   By: United States. Council of National Defense. Highways Transport Committee

BULLETIN NO. 2

MAY, 1918

THE RURAL MOTOR EXPRESS

TO CONSERVE FOODSTUFFS AND LABOR AND TO SUPPLY RURAL TRANSPORTATION

HIGHWAYS TRANSPORT COMMITTEE COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE

WASHINGTON, D. C.

[Illustration]

RESOLUTION PASSED BY THE COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE.

" The Council of National Defense approves the widest possible use of the motor truck as a transportation agency, and requests the State Councils of Defense and other State authorities to take all necessary steps to facilitate such means of transportation, removing any regulations that tend to restrict and discourage such use. "

WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1918

COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE.

HIGHWAYS TRANSPORT COMMITTEE.

WASHINGTON, D. C.

THE RURAL MOTOR EXPRESS.

The transportation burden on the railroads and highways of the country has been tremendously increased by the war. There is a larger load to be carried, of manufactured goods, raw materials, and foodstuffs. Not only has production of manufactures, raw materials, and farm products increased, but it is now necessary to transport a much larger proportion of these goods over long distances.

The burden is further increased by the fact that we have removed across the sea, 3,000 miles away, a considerable part of our population, which must be provisioned and maintained. These men were in our Army camps last winter. This year there are other men in these camps, and we must handle goods and foodstuffs not only to these 30 new cities but to a great population 3,000 miles away.

It is absolutely necessary to utilize our facilities to the maximum and to extend the use of the highways by the more efficient use of motor vehicles which can operate independent of fixed lines or terminals where congestion of traffic is likely to occur. The motor truck can help the railroad by reducing the short haul load, and also act as a feeder line in sections far removed from market.

Added to the increased loads of goods to be transported is the fact that man power must be conserved. Heretofore the farmer has done his own hauling to market, but adoption of the rural motor express will enable him to delegate his hauling and to devote his own time to farm operations. An enormous waste of time and labor of both men and teams can be prevented by consolidating the small loads from a number of farms into a single load to be carried by a motor truck.

In many localities local food supplies are in need of development. A better use must be made of agricultural lands in the immediate vicinity of population centers. It improves the business of the local community and adds to the total food supply of the country. The improvement of marketing facilities through the opening of regular daily traffic to market centers and shipping points is a most effective agency in encouraging food production.

We have, therefore, three outstanding facts that demand especial attention be given to the increased use of the highways for rural transportation:

1. The increased volume of foodstuffs to be hauled.

2. The need for more labor on farms.

3. The need to encourage local food production.

=The Purpose of Rural Motor Express.=