File:Railroad and street transportation (1916) (14758793305).jpg

Identifier: railroadstreett00flem (find matches)
Title: Railroad and street transportation
Year: 1916 (1910s)
Authors: Fleming, Ralph Douglas, 1880-
Subjects:
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio, Survey Committee of the Cleveland Foundation
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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ntury isto be a ^ horseless age^ seems certain. Motor-driven vehicles have long passed theexperimental stage and are being used in prac-tically every branch of industry. The gasolinetruck has a wide use in all kinds of local haulage.In suburban service it has little competitionfrom either horse-drawn or electric vehicles,because of its greater speed and carrying ca-pacity and the fact that its fuel can be replen-ished almost anywhere. The electric vehicle isfor the most part confined to city use, becausethe recharging of the batteries must be done atservice stations or garages after comparativelyshort mileage has been made. It has the ad-vantage of being clean and easy to operate. Itis used extensively in the delivery of merchan-dise, although in some forms of retail businessin which many stops must be made in coveringa route, such as in delivering ice, milk, etc.,the use of horses and wagons is still consideredthe most economical practice. In most establishments where motor trucks 52
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cX r it ■I. d have supplanted horse-drawn vehicles thedrivers have become chauffeurs. The driverunderstands the dehvery part of the work, andwith a httle training by a competent instructorsoon becomes proficient in operating the truck.In some cases a representative of the automobilecompany trains a driver on the job. He in turninstructs a helper who will sooner or later be-come a chauffeur. Some large companies, when they change fromhorse-drawn wagons to motor trucks, send theirdrivers to the automobile factory, where theyare instructed by an expert in the construction,operation, and care of the truck. The men arethen taught to handle the trucks in crowdedtraffic. In addition, printed instructions forkeeping the machine in good running order arefurnished all drivers. Where only one or two motor vehicles are usedthe drivers make minor repairs and simple adjust-ments, but in businesses requiring a large fleetof cars or trucks this work is usually done by re-pairmen. Private famiUes ow

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