Roaring 20's were good for Trucking

With the end of WWI, trucks had convincingly proved that they were not an alternative to the horse, but invaluable in the distribution of material during the conflict. In fact, many attributed the final victory resulted from the use of trucks, more than any other single factor. Clearly, trucks were here to stay.

Trucks became mainstays in many vocations such as logging, where their power--even with unsophisticated four and six-cylinder engines and lack of braking or chassis refinement, could out perform horses and offered much greater flexibility.

Trucks also made major inroads in municipal and utility fleets for hauling and service tasks. Aiding their acceptance was the transfer of 20,000 military trucks to the states for road maintenance purposes. Also their relative speed and pumping power made them popular with fire fighting applications.

Returning servicemen who had seen duty with the army engineers were quick to apply trucks to the construction industry during the building boom of the 20's.

Trucks also made significant inroads into the distribution of goods, mostly in straight trucks of up to eleven tons nominal capacity, though many were severely overloaded with such cargo as sacked goods and paper rolls.

Long distance trucking was not getting the same start even with the demonstration trips by truck manufacturers to promote their product. Some effort was made to promote the possibility of coast-to-coast trucking. One of the most notable was the War Department First Transcontinental Army Convoy that departed Washington, DC, July 7, 1919, to determine weather a truck convoy could make it as far as the west coast.

The convoy comprised of 300 enlisted men and officers, and 65 trucks and other vehicles. And because of the primitive roads of the time, five 7 1/2 ton AC Macks were loaded with timber to shore up bridges and make road repairs on the way.

The convoy followed the route of the Lincoln Highway, whish had been planned prior to the war as part od the 1916 Federal Road Act. In command was Col. Charles W. McClure, assisted by a young Lt. Col. Dwight D. Eisenhower---who decades later as president, signed legislation that would create the Interstate Highway System.

It took two months not without many ordeals, to complete the trip, ending with a celebration in San Francisco. This did help to kick off the population to insist on the federal funding of a highway system throughout the country. It would be easier to ask for and very difficult to accomplish. Many hurdles would have to be surmounted, with highway marking, funding problems, states rights and so on. Truck Safely out There.