Trucking--The Very Beginning

How many truckers today remember names such as Hays, Autocar, Winton, Knox and White. These early gasoline powered trucks had a lot of competition from then popular electric powered Windsor, Walter and Rollin White. The electrics were good for pickup and delivery in the bustling cities of that time because of their quiet operating, but were limited by the time between battery charges. Steam power for trucks was never a viable source of energy. The White Brothers developed a flash boiler that could build a head of steam in seconds and became famous powering their "Whistling Billy" race car. It set an early record for a mile at 74 miles per hour in 48.3 seconds. They dropped steam for gasoline in 1910.

Just think about hard rubber tired wheels, chain drives, mechanical brakes and the evolution of all the equipment needed to make trucks dependable and economically acceptable. One of the biggest challenges turned out to be a highway system. Roads were mainly wagon trails anywhere away from a city and delivery between cities became a real challenge. Whistle stop trains were the order of the day and the trucking industry would have to prove themselves.

Looking back to the good old days makes a person wonder how they did it. Of course good old American ingenuity and strong backed workers would find a way. In the early 1900's, there were 461 truck builders who filled the roads with over 100,000 commercial vehicles. Some of the imaginative names were Meserve, Pak-age-car, Gasmobile and Famous.

With numbers like this, the horseless carriage put dobbin to pasture. Business owners were slow to replace their hay burners, but once they did the never looked back. Trucks and the trucking industry were here to stay. Truck Safely out There.