,transcriber's ,note3 ,one obvious      
typographical error 7poulation for      
population7 was corrected1 but the      
remainder of the text was left as       
originally printed4     ,,bulletin ,,no4
 #b  ,,may1 #aiah    ,,the ,,rural      
,,motor ,,express  ,,to ,,conserve      
,,foodstuffs ,,and ,,labor ,,and ,,to   
,,supply ,,rural ,,transportation       
,,highways ,,transport ,,committee      
,,council ,,of ,,national ,,defense     
,,washington1 ,d4 ,c4    ,illustration  
,,resolution ,,passed ,,by ,,the        
,,council ,,of ,,national ,,defense4    
,the ,council of ,national ,defense     
approves the widest     possible use of 
the motor truck as a transportation     
agency1     and requests the ,state     
,councils of ,defense and other ,state  
authorities to take all necessary steps 
to facilitate such     means of         
transportation1 removing any regulations
 that tend     to restrict and          
discourage such use4     ,,washington   
,,government ,,printing ,,office #aiah  

99       99       99       99       99  
,,council ,,of ,,national ,,defense4    
,,highways ,,transport ,,committee4     
,,washington1 ,d4 ,c4  ,,the ,,rural    
,,motor ,,express4   ,the transportation
 burden on the railroads and highways of
 the country has been tremendously      
increased by the war4 ,there is a larger
 load to be carried1 of manufactured    
goods1 raw materials1 and foodstuffs4   
,not only has production of             
manufactures1 raw materials1 and farm   
products increased1 but it is now       
necessary to transport a much larger    
proportion of these goods over long     
distances4  ,the burden is further      
increased by the fact that we have      
removed across the sea1 #c1jjj miles    
away1 a considerable part of our        
population1 which must be provisioned   
and maintained4 ,these men were in our  
,army camps last winter4 ,this year     
there are other men in these camps1 and 
we must handle goods and foodstuffs not 
only to these #cj new cities but to a   

great population #c1jjj miles away4  ,it
 is absolutely necessary to utilize our 
facilities to the maximum and to extend 
the use of the highways by the more     
efficient use of motor vehicles which   
can operate independent of fixed lines  
or terminals where congestion of traffic
 is likely to occur4 ,the motor truck   
can help the railroad by reducing the   
short-haul load1 and also act as a      
feeder line in sections far removed from
 market4  ,added to the increased loads 
of goods to be transported is the fact  
that man power must be conserved4       
,heretofore the farmer has done his own 
hauling to market1 but adoption of the  
rural motor express will enable him to  
delegate his hauling and to devote his  
own time to farm operations4 ,an        
enormous waste of time and labor of both
 men and teams can be prevented by      
consolidating the small loads from a    
number of farms into a single load to be
 carried by a motor truck4  ,in many    
localities local food supplies are in   

need of development4 ,a better use must 
be made of agricultural lands in the    
immediate vicinity of population        
centers4 ,it improves the business of   
the local community and adds to the     
total food supply of the country4 ,the  
improvement of marketing facilities     
through the opening of regular daily    
traffic to market centers and shipping  
points is a most effective agency in    
encouraging food production4  ,we have1 
therefore1 three outstanding facts that 
demand especial attention be given to   
the increased use of the highways for   
rural transportation3       #a4 ,the    
increased volume of foodstuffs to be    
hauled4       #b4 ,the need for more    
labor on farms4       #c4 ,the need to  
encourage local food production4   ,the 
,purpose of ,rural ,motor ,express4     
,the motor truck has demonstrated its   
adaptability to the hauling of farm     
products4 ,it is dependable wherever the
 roads are capable of carrying its load4
 ,the use of the motor truck for farm   

transport is growing rapidly and in the 
vicinity of many cities regular routes  
are now maintained4 ,the purpose of the 
organization of rural express on a      
national scale is to bring to           
agricultural communities throughout the 
country an understanding of the greater 
benefits to be derived from regular     
daily service over the main highways    
from farm to city and from city to farm4
  ,by ,rural ,motor ,express is meant   
the use of the motor truck in regular   
daily service1 over a fixed route1 with 
a definite schedule of stops and        
charges1 gathering farm produce1 milk1  
live stock1 eggs1 etc41 and delivering  
them to the city dealer and on the      
return trip carrying merchandise1       
machinery1 supplies1 etc41 for farmers  
and others along the route4 ,this       
service amounts to a collection and     
delivery that comes to the farmer's door
 with the same regularity that the      
trolley car passes over its tracks4     
,the ,plan of ,organization4  ,the      

,council of ,national ,defense adopted  
the following resolution on ,march #ad1 
#aiah3       ,the ,council of ,national 
,defense approves the widest possible   
use of      the motor truck as a        
transportation agency1 and requests the 
,state      ,council of ,defense and    
other ,state authorities to take all    
necessary steps to facilitate such means
 of transportation1      removing any   
regulations that tend to restrict and   
discourage such      use4  ,the highways
 transport committee of the ,council of 
,national ,defense is charged to carry  
out the purpose of this resolution4 ,the
 several ,state councils of defense have
 been asked to appoint highways         
transport committees1 or to delegate the
 organization of rural express to some  
committee which will have charge of the 
development of the work within the      
,state4 ,these ,state committees will in
 turn further the work through local    
organizations4   ,indorsements of ,rural
 ,express4  ,the ,council of ,national  

,defense approved the widest possible   
use of the motor truck in its resolution
 of ,march #ad1 #aiah4  ,the ,post      
,office ,department has demonstrated the
 value of motor-truck transportation    
through experimental lines of           
parcel-post trucks now in operation in  
several of the ,eastern ,states4   ,the 
,need4  ,the ,united ,states ,food      
,administration has approved the plan in
 the following statement by the ,food   
,administrator3       ,the development  
of the rural motor express idea1 in my  
opinion1 is      in the line of progress
 and should redound to the benefit of   
the      producer1 the consumer1 and the
 railroads4 ,this means of              
transportation should facilitate        
delivery1 conserve labor1 conserve      
foodstuffs1 and should effect delivery  
of food in better condition4  ,the      
,united ,states ,department of          
,agriculture through its bureau of      
markets has inaugurated an investigation
 of the efficiency of motor-truck       

transportation in the marketing of farm 
produce4  ,the ,united ,states          
,department of ,labor through its       
employment service urges the adoption of
 motor-truck transportation facilities  
in order to conserve the time of men in 
farming neighborhoods during the period 
of planting1 cultivation1 and harvest1  
so as to relieve the farm labor         
shortage4  ,the preliminary surveys by  
the highways transport committee in     
sections of ,maryland and ,virginia have
 shown that farmers and merchants       
enthusiastically indorse the plan and   
wherever rural motor express lines have 
been properly developed they have       
received the support of the communities 
which they serve4   ,present            
,development of ,rural ,express4  ,the  
rural express is in successful operation
 in the vicinity of many of the larger  
cities4 ,the development of this system 
of transportation has been particularly 
rapid in ,maryland and a survey of      
existing routes in this ,state has been 

made by the highways transport committee
 and shows the general possibilities of 
the idea4  ,a detailed survey was made  
of #bb routes1 leading from agricultural
 sections into ,baltimore1 ,md41 and    
,washington1 ,d4 ,c4 ,on these routes   
#cj trucks were found in operation2 the 
total capacity of these trucks was #gc  
tons2 the mileage traversed daily was   
#a1egd miles2 the average length of the 
routes was about #ej miles for the round
 trip4 ,most of these routes are        
operated by truck owners living at the  
outer terminal1 making daily round trips
 into the marketing center4 ,many of    
these routes are operated by farmers who
 first learned the advantages of        
motor-truck transportation by using     
trucks for their individual needs4      
,these lines have been developed on a   
sane1 practical basis without any       
special promotion or encouragement from 
any state or national organization4 ,the
 trucks start at a small town1 gather   
the produce of farmers and merchants    

along the road to the city1 deliver it  
at the market1 secure a return load from
 city merchants1 including orders by    
farmers1 and return to the country      
terminal1 delivering the orders along   
the route4 ,these lines have developed  
chiefly on the roads of the state road  
system where the condition of the roads 
facilitate the use of trucks4 ,many     
farmers living short distances away from
 the rural express route bring their    
milk and produce to a point on this     
route with horse-drawn buggies and      
wagons and these constitute feeders to  
the lines4  ,a preliminary survey for   
the ,state of ,california has been made1
 showing an extensive use of motor      
trucks for passenger1 freight1 and      
express hauling throughout that state4  
,over #acf separate lines were found2   
some traversing routes as long as #abe  
miles on daily trips4 ,large quantities 
of farm produce are handled1 and charges
 are made according to published rates4 
,the excellent highways of ,california  

made it possible for these lines to     
develop rapidly4  ,the detailed survey  
among patrons of a number of these      
routes discovers the fact that there are
 three great economic advantages in this
 method of transportation3       #a4    
,food production is stimulated since the
 regular outlet to market               
encourages many farmers to expand       
production which they would not      be 
justified in doing if they were obliged 
to transport their own      produce to  
market4       #b4 ,shortage of labor is 
greatly offset from the fact that the   
system leaves the farmer on the farm and
 his time is not consumed      in trips 
to market4       #c4 ,there is immediate
 improvement in the efficiency of the   
farm      since supplies1 machinery1 and
 repairs can be secured promptly from   
city distributers of fertilizers and    
farm machinery4  ,from the national     
standpoint these routes aid in several  
ways3       #a4 ,they relieve the       
railroads of local freight which permits

      car-load lot of materials and     
foodstuffs from distant points to       
enter the terminals4       #b4 ,they    
help to avoid the necessity for local   
freight embargoes4  ,the need for the   
system of carrying goods to market      
without requiring men and teams is      
generally recognized by farmers and     
where production of the individual      
farmer has justified the purchase of a  
motor truck1 the adoption has been very 
rapid during the past few years4 ,on    
many farms1 however1 the quantity of    
production is not sufficient to justify 
the investment in a truck by the        
individual farmer if he must maintain   
his teams for farm power4 ,the use of   
the rural express with its greater speed
 enables the farmer to operate the same 
or an increased acreage with fewer      
horses1 making more land available for  
food production which was previously    
needed to grow grain and hay for teams4 
,in many instances1 the introduction of 
rural express has enabled farmers to    

engage in the production of milk which  
requires daily marketing4  ,the rural   
express greatly aids the country        
merchants in carrying more complete     
stocks of goods2 in filling special     
orders promptly1 and in avoiding        
temporary shortage of staples due to    
delayed shipments or embargoes on the   
railroad4 ,in many instances the country
 merchants have reported that their     
business has been greatly improved      
because of the daily delivery service   
from wholesale centers4   ,expansion to 
a ,national ,system4  ,the success of   
existing lines of rural express is      
convincing evidence that the expansion  
of the system is an immediate necessity1
 both for its value in meeting the      
present emergency and as a means of     
permanently improving rural             
transportation4 ,what has already       
developed becomes an integral part of   
our national transportation system4     
,the present strain on our              
transportation facilities has emphasized

 our need for improved means of internal
 communication not only between cities1 
but also reaching out into every        
agricultural community4  ,the rural     
motor express is not1 however1 a        
development to meet an emergency only1  
but rather an expansion of              
transportation facilities to meet the   
growing demands1 to bring the consumer  
in closer touch with the producer2 to   
relieve the producer of the burden of   
marketing his produce and permit him to 
remain on the land where his labor is of
 highest value to the community4   ,the 
,organization of ,new ,routes4  ,the    
state highways transport committees are 
organizing local committees in all      
communities where there appears to be   
the need for improved rural             
transportation4 ,the local committee    
first secures co-operation of the local 
press and leading organizations         
interested in transportation and food   
supplies4 ,among the various groups who 
might be interested are the following3  

,chambers of commerce1 boards of trade1 
merchants' associations1 local food     
administrators1 farmers' clubs1 county  
agricultural agents1 dealers in farm    
implements1 feed1 fertilizers1 grain1   
and other farm produce4  ,meetings of   
the representatives of these            
organizations are held to explain the   
plan of rural express and to make       
general survey of local needs4 ,among   
the facts that are brought out at such  
meetings are the following3       #a4   
,experience of existing motor-truck     
lines in the locality4       #b4        
,instances of localities now lacking    
such facilities4       #c4 ,conditions  
of highways in such localities4         
#d4 ,labor shortage among farmers4      
#e4 ,transportation facilities of       
country merchants from wholesale        
centers4  ,after a general survey of the
 country or district has been made the  
local committee conducts an intensive   
survey by means of mailed questionnaires
 or personal visits among farms and     

merchants along route of prospective    
lines4 ,lists of names of farmers and   
merchants are secured through county    
agricultural agents or their local      
organizations4  ,when the desirability  
of establishing a new route for a       
certain section has been determined the 
committee proceeds to consult owners of 
trucks1 farmers1 and other private      
owners to locate a man to establish the 
route4 ,questions of scale of charges1  
the schedule of the trips1 character of 
produce to be carried1 etc41 are worked 
out by the committee on the basis of    
experience of existing lines in the same
 community1 or other lines which have   
been surveyed by the state committee4   
,detailed suggestions on conducting     
these local surveys1 methods of making  
surveys through questionnaires1         
questions concerning roads1 charges1    
etc41 will be furnished by the highways 
transport committee of the ,council of  
,national ,defense through the state    
committees4 ,the plan of organization is

 to adapt the service as perfectly as   
possible to local requirements1         
utilizing at the same time the          
experience of communities throughout the
 country as gathered by state and       
national committees4