The Rural Motor Express | Page 3

is greatly offset from the fact that the system leaves the farmer on the farm and his time is not consumed in trips to market.
3. There is immediate improvement in the efficiency of the farm since supplies, machinery, and repairs can be secured promptly from city distributers of fertilizers and farm machinery.
From the national standpoint these routes aid in several ways:
1. They relieve the railroads of local freight which permits car-load lot of materials and foodstuffs from distant points to enter the terminals.
2. They help to avoid the necessity for local freight embargoes.
The need for the system of carrying goods to market without requiring men and teams is generally recognized by farmers and where production of the individual farmer has justified the purchase of a motor truck, the adoption has been very rapid during the past few years. On many farms, however, the quantity of production is not sufficient to justify the investment in a truck by the individual farmer if he must maintain his teams for farm power. The use of the rural express with its greater speed enables the farmer to operate the same or an increased acreage with fewer horses, making more land available for food production which was previously needed to grow grain and hay for teams. In many instances, the introduction of rural express has enabled farmers to engage in the production of milk which requires daily marketing.
The rural express greatly aids the country merchants in carrying more complete stocks of goods; in filling special orders promptly, and in avoiding temporary shortage of staples due to delayed shipments or embargoes on the railroad. In many instances the country merchants have reported that their business has been greatly improved because of the daily delivery service from wholesale centers.
=Expansion to a National System.=
The success of existing lines of rural express is convincing evidence that the expansion of the system is an immediate necessity, both for its value in meeting the present emergency and as a means of permanently improving rural transportation. What has already developed becomes an integral part of our national transportation system.
The present strain on our transportation facilities has emphasized our need for improved means of internal communication not only between cities, but also reaching out into every agricultural community.
The rural motor express is not, however, a development to meet an emergency only, but rather an expansion of transportation facilities to meet the growing demands, to bring the consumer in closer touch with the producer; to relieve the producer of the burden of marketing his produce and permit him to remain on the land where his labor is of highest value to the community.
=The Organization of New Routes.=
The state highways transport committees are organizing local committees in all communities where there appears to be the need for improved rural transportation. The local committee first secures co-operation of the local press and leading organizations interested in transportation and food supplies. Among the various groups who might be interested are the following: Chambers of commerce, boards of trade, merchants' associations, local food administrators, farmers' clubs, county agricultural agents, dealers in farm implements, feed, fertilizers, grain, and other farm produce.
Meetings of the representatives of these organizations are held to explain the plan of rural express and to make general survey of local needs. Among the facts that are brought out at such meetings are the following:
1. Experience of existing motor-truck lines in the locality.
2. Instances of localities now lacking such facilities.
3. Conditions of highways in such localities.
4. Labor shortage among farmers.
5. Transportation facilities of country merchants from wholesale centers.
After a general survey of the country or district has been made the local committee conducts an intensive survey by means of mailed questionnaires or personal visits among farms and merchants along route of prospective lines. Lists of names of farmers and merchants are secured through county agricultural agents or their local organizations.
When the desirability of establishing a new route for a certain section has been determined the committee proceeds to consult owners of trucks, farmers, and other private owners to locate a man to establish the route. Questions of scale of charges, the schedule of the trips, character of produce to be carried, etc., are worked out by the committee on the basis of experience of existing lines in the same community, or other lines which have been surveyed by the state committee.
Detailed suggestions on conducting these local surveys, methods of making surveys through questionnaires, questions concerning roads, charges, etc., will be furnished by the highways transport committee of the Council of National Defense through the state committees. The plan of organization is to adapt the service as perfectly as possible to local requirements, utilizing at the same time the experience of communities throughout the country as gathered by state and national committees.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Rural Motor