Highways and Highway Transportation

by George R. Chatburn

Other Uses of the Truck.

—But the use of the truck in the lumbering industries is not limited to logging. About the saw mills it is used for getting the logs to the saw and taking the sawed lumber away. And at yards, all over the country, for taking the lumber from the railroad tracks to the storage piles and for delivering it to customers. Special loading devices save much time. A gantry or other type of crane will pick up and handle an entire load of lumber at one time.

Amos Log Loader.

—The Amos log loader is described as an efficient loading machine in which a friction drive takes power directly from the drive shaft of the motor truck and by means of a worm gear transmits it to a long winding shaft, or small diameter drum, which extends the length of the truck bed, being mounted parallel to it just under the bed. Loading chains are attached to this drum either at the ends or middle as the driver wishes. The movement is regulated by means of a lever just over the truck step. By a small movement of his foot the driver has control of the friction drive while his hands are free to operate the engine. He can raise or lower the log or stop it at any point. Stopping it if desired so he can leave his position to make needed adjustments of the log, chains, or skids. The small diameter of the winding drum insures steady strong pull. It may also be used for skidding logs into position for loading. It is claimed the truck driver soon becomes very expert as he realizes the possibilities of the loading device. After the logs are loaded the loading chains are used to bind them to the truck.

In the Yards.

—After the logs are sawed the lumber is stacked up in yards either at the point of sawing or elsewhere. It must be hauled to the shipment point and from the cars to the yards. Trucks are applicable for all these purposes. When it comes to delivering the lumber to the consumer a wagon known as a dolly is of great assistance for collecting materials to load on the delivery truck. Most retail yards now deliver their lumber by truck even to a distance of 15 or 20 miles. When an order for mixed grades, sizes, or kinds of materials is received, a light wagon or cart having a dolly upside down for its floor, the whole known as a “dolly,” is used in the loading. The dolly has a roller placed cross-ways of the wagon bed and the lumber is piled directly upon it, care being taken that some long pieces are used for the bottom of the load. The dolly is pushed by hand from place to place in the yard until the order has been filled with the various pieces desired. The truck, which may be out during the time the selection is being made, is backed up to the end of the dolly, the floor of the truck body passing under the lower boards; then by turning the cross roller with a crank the whole load is conveyed to the truck. To facilitate the action another roller is placed in the floor of the truck near its rear end. Both rollers may be turned at the same time. The dolly may have two or four wheels.

A short truck is often arranged for a semi-trailer which may be loaded in a manner similar to the dolly. With two or three of these trailers a busy yard will keep the truck and driver on the road practically all the time at a considerable saving in expense over waiting time if the lumber is loaded directly upon the truck.

Mining.

—The building of railway tracks to mines was at one time a very expensive part of a railroad’s business. It required much expert knowledge on the part of the railroad officials to determine whether or not such a road would pay. In fact a great many miles of such tracks have been abandoned and very likely the loss to the railroad has been equal to that of the mining companies. Motor trucking is to a large extent doing away with the enormous track building that formerly went on in the mining communities. This eliminates the switching charge which seldom paid the railroad, and possibly the trucking is more convenient and cheaper to the mining company. Here again the use of trailers, special bodies, and mechanical loading and unloading devices will greatly expedite the work. When the mine has grown so that the quantity of ore or coal taken out will pay for it a railroad track may be laid without risk of loss to either railroad or mine.

The hauling of mine products a long distance is not altogether uncommon. Transporting borax from Death Valley, California, was formerly done by twenty-mule teams. It is now much more expeditiously and cheaply hauled by motor trucks. And the transport of supplies from point of purchase to interior and isolated mines, or to depots from which they may be continued by pack horses is common practice.