Motor Road Transport For Commercial Purposes
(Liquid Fuel, Steam, Electricity)

4 MOTOR ROAD TRANSPORT man would not be able to run his motor service successfully on economic lines if similar to those adopted of necessity during time of war. But that it was not only a triumph of organization in regard to the handling of great numbers of machines and vast quantities of loads, but also a most convincing testi- mony to the motor itself, is not to be denied. As regards elasticity it is an established faet that motor road traction possesses this asset to a greater extent than any other form of transport; and the value of this was amply demonstrated during the war. The flexibility of our military transport and the lack of it on the part of the Germans was largely contributive to their defeat. Commercially, the value of being able to make extra detours on a delivery round or to change a route at a moment’s notice speaks for itself. The matter of economy is dependent on several factors, notably upon the rightful application of the motor in respect of the nature of the work which is to be undertaken, and in the majority of cases, as may be seen from definite figures and facts in later chapters, the motor can be maintained at a cheaper rate than the horse when mileage is taken into consideration. Enormous Development. The following charts are illustrative of the enormous development of Military motor traction during the war. Taking the four classes of vehicle illustrated in Charts 1, 2, 3, and 4 (see pp. 5, 6, 7), it will be seen that the expansion in each case from September, 1915, to January, 1919, was as follows—• Sept. 1915 Jan. 1919 Chart 1. Tractors . . . . 108 1,045 Chart 2. Steam Wagons . . . 235 835 Chart 3. Lorries .... 9,400 32,650 Chart 4. Cars, light pneumatic-tyred Vans, Ambulances . 3,900 13,300