AUGUST 1, 1918
BULLETIN NO. 3
(FOR SHIPPERS)
"RETURN LOADS"
TO INCREASE TRANSPORT RESOURCES BY AVOIDING
WASTE OF EMPTY VEHICLE RUNNING
HIGHWAYS TRANSPORT COMMITTEE
COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
RESOLUTION PASSED BY THE COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE.
"The Council of National Defense approves the widest possibleuse of the motor truck as a transportation agency, and requeststhe State Councils of Defense and other State authorities totake all necessary steps to facilitate such means oftransportation, removing any regulations that tend to restrictand discourage such use."
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1918
COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE.
HIGHWAYS TRANSPORT COMMITTEE.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
HIGHWAYS TRANSPORTATION AS A WAR-TIME MEASURE ONE
OF THE SOLUTIONS OF THE SHIPPER'S
"SHORT-HAUL" PROBLEM.
To increase the highways transport resources as one of the means ofstrengthening the entire transportation system of the country, and forthe purpose of avoiding the waste incurred by running transportvehicles empty, return-load bureaus are established. These bureaus area means of bringing together the shipper having goods to move and theoperator of an empty vehicle which is possibly running to the pointfor which the goods to be shipped are destined.
With the cooperation of State councils of defense, chambers ofcommerce, local war boards, and other organizations the Council ofNational Defense, through its Highways Transport Committee and itsState Councils Section, is building up a system for the efficientutilization of the highways of the country as a means of strengtheningthe Nation's transportation resources and affording merchants andmanufacturers relief from necessary railroad embargoes and delays dueto freight congestion.
State Highways Transport Committees are being organized in all Statesof the Union. The primary functions of the State Highways Transportbodies are the development of the five outstanding activities to whichinstant attention is being given by the Highways Transport Committeeof the National Council of Defense, as follows:
Return Load Bureaus, Rural Express, Cooperation with Federal RailroadAdministration, Educational, Transport Operating Efficiency.
These activities encompass, briefly, and in the order named, thefollowing:
Elimination of empty running of trucks by bringing together shipperand truck owner in such way as to provide full loads whereverpossible.
Rapid development, over fixed routes, of daily power-vehicle service,with definite schedules of stops and charges and provision made forgathering shipments both on outgoing and incoming trips.
Substitution of adequate truck service that the intracity andshort-haul service of rail carriers may be relieved and partiallysupplanted; the relief of congested terminals, and an effectivestore-door delivery plan.
Organization of a campaign to place highways transport work throughoutthe States in its proper light before the public, that the support ofthe people