New Records

During the first six months of 1939 the total operating revenues of 1,050 Class I motor carriers (annual gross of $100,000 or more) were $130,108,000 (up 30% from 1938) on 19,184,000 tons of freight (22% over 1938). Last week American Trucking Associations, Inc. turned loose even more striking figures. Based on returns from 193 firms, it reported that in October, for the third successive month, highway motor trucking hit a new all-time peak. October traffic was up 5.4% from September, 33.4% over 1938, 23.2% over 1937, 51.3% above the 1936 monthly average.

Meantime, October railroad carloadings were up 18.7% over last year. This was not surprising. For 15 years, whether traffic is good or bad, trucks have tended to do a little better than railroads. In 1925, when anybody with enough spare cash for a second-hand truck could go into the trucking business, trucks carried less than 2% of all U. S. freight. The rest was taken care of by the railroads (76%), waterways (17%), pipe lines (5%). By 1937 trucks were up to 5%, railroads down to 66%, and the process apparently still goes on.

Three weeks ago Port of New York Authority pointed out that while Manhattan's railroad freight tonnage had dropped 50% to 4,000,000 tons a year since 1919, trucking to & from the city had zoomed to the point where trucks were hauling two tons of freight to the railroads' one. So serious was this turnabout that the Authority warned motor carriers that they had better build big motortruck terminals in order to cut operating costs and reduce traffic congestion.

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