Highway Transport Commitee Council of National Defence, Bulletins 1-5 | Page 2

freight within cities and originating in near-by points, 10, 20, or 50 miles from the cities. Much of this short-haul freight can be carried on the highways by motor trucks. It can be picked up at the door of the shipper and delivered at the door of the consignee, entailing only two handlings. It can be delivered the same day it is shipped, whereas the same shipment by rail would require several days if not a week or more. And the shipment can go forward by motor when a rail freight and express embargo precludes shipment by rail at all.
DEPENDABILITY OF MOTOR-TRUCK HAULAGE PROVEN.
The practicability and dependability of motor-truck haulage not only within cities but between neighboring cities have been demonstrated fully. Hundreds of local and intercity motor express lines are in successful operation in widely scattered sections of the country. The Return-Load Bureau system has been installed in England, where it is now considered unpatriotic to run a truck without a load. Manchester, England, for example, and all the surrounding cities have their Return-Load Bureaus and have reciprocal arrangements whereby they exchange information regarding available trucks and loads. Consequently, any Chamber of Commerce in a city whose merchants are adversely affected by rail embargoes and delays, freight congestion, or lack of sufficient and direct rail transportation, and where there is any considerable number of motor trucks, will not be embarking upon a doubtful experiment in establishing such a bureau.
NO RESPONSIBILITY ASSUMED.
A Return-loads Bureau can be established by a Chamber of Commerce without creating any legal liability to the shipper or assuming any other responsibility. The function pure and simple is to advise the shipper where and when a truck can be obtained to haul his goods and to advise the truck owner where a load can be obtained. It has been found in England that very often, when such a relationship has been established between the shipper and the truck owner, an arrangement is made between them for regular service, and they do not need to call on the bureau for further assistance, thus lightening the work to be performed by the Chamber.
It is left entirely to the shipper and the truck operator to make their own agreement as to the rate to be paid for haulage, liability of the truck owner or driver for safety of the goods in transit, and so forth. It is expected, however, that the Chamber of Commerce will exercise reasonable judgment and precaution, inquiring into the reliability of truck drivers and endeavoring to correct any abuses that may arise.
HOW TO START A RETURN-LOADS BUREAU.
No difficulty and no great amount of work are involved in establishing a Return-Loads Bureau. All that is necessary is to follow the example of Connecticut where through the initiative of the State Council of Defense, Return-Loads Bureaus have been established in 15 cities. The Council addressed letters to the Chambers of Commerce, inviting their cooperation in the movement. Return post cards were printed and mailed to motor-truck owners in the different cities. On the reverse side of the cards was a brief questionnaire to be filled out by the truck owner stating whether or not he would carry "back loads" for reasonable compensation, whether he would rent his truck at full capacity or partial capacity, number of trucks owned, number of hours a day or days a week the truck would be available under the return-loads plan, its capacity in tons, etc. As these reply cards came back, they were filed in a 3 by 5 card index drawer, arranged by cities and by routes out of the respective cities. It developed from this canvass that there were in the 15 cities more than 700 trucks of 1-ton capacity or more available for such service and that they operated over 49 main routes.
Names and addresses of truck owners may be obtained from the automobile registration bureau in the office of the secretary of state or the commissioner of motor vehicles, as the case may be.
DUPLICATE RECORDS IN NEIGHBORING CITIES.
Duplicates of this master file were furnished by the State Council of Defense in Connecticut to the Chamber of Commerce in each of the 15 cities, together with a map showing the location of each Return-Loads Bureau and all of the truck routes, numbered serially. Thus, the head of the bureau in each city knows just what trucks are available in the other cities and the routes over which they operate.
It is desirable that the State Council of Defense, where one exists, should indorse this movement, but it is not necessary that the Chamber of Commerce in any city should wait for it to do so. It is perfectly feasible for the Chamber to initiate the work itself in its own community and then propose to similar chambers in neighboring cities