It is the purpose of the Highways Transport Committee to bring about, just as quickly as possible, the organization of Return-Loads Bureaus in all the cities where it will be beneficial and to establish reciprocal relations among them on the plan of the Connecticut system.
Secure Cooperation of Motor-Truck Dealers.
Motor-truck dealers can be of great assistance to the Chambers of Commerce in promoting this movement and in helping to get the bureaus started. They are in direct touch with truck owners, know the routes over which trucks are operated, condition of the roads, railroad shipping difficulties, etc. It is recommended that the Chambers of Commerce call on them to appoint a representative committee from among them to cooperate with it. They can furnish a great deal of useful information and will be a valuable factor in disseminating information regarding the work of the bureau and making it 100 per cent useful.
(Copy of a bulletin is reprinted below, which was issued to its members by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Riggs Building, Washington, D. C.)
MOTOR-TRUCK TRANSPORTATION.
Return-Load Bureau.
The motor truck is a part of the transportation equipment in every community. Its use more nearly to capacity will help solve local problems.
More complete use means loads both ways. A motor truck usually carries a good load to its destination, whether the destination is in the same community or in another city. Too often, however, the truck makes the return trip with no load. Every time this occurs there is waste of at least half the capacity of a truck to do work in transportation.
Owners of trucks do not wish half the earning power of their vehicles to be lost. Manufacturers and merchants with goods piled up and awaiting shipment do not like to see empty trucks pass their doors. Both need a local clearing house for information about the trucks that are available and the shipments that are ready—i. e., to bring together loads and empty trucks.