Speech of Senator Harry S. Truman before the American Trucking Association, St. Louis, Missouri

ADDRESS BY SENATOR HARRY s. TRUMAN OF MISSOURI BEFORE THE AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATION, JEFFERSON HOTEL, ST. LOUIS, MO., OCTOBER 20, 1942. Ant. cad dig of betis not of 02 doo bris I am glad to talk to the minute mon of transportation. You are in the great army that delivers the goods to the army. No matter how remote are the sites for new army camps, you get the con- struction materials where they are needed. New war factories can be located. anywhere. Your trucks fetch the raw naterials and carry the finished product. In our time of greatest need, we recognize the many inval- uable qualities of motor transport. We see in the truck the pinch- hitter of our transportation team. Spare parts, small quantities of essential articles may be needed in a hurry to keep a war plant going. A truck is ready at the appointed minute to pick up and deliver. If there is a shortage of tank cars to bring northern milk to southern camps, tank trucks fill the gap, and roll a thousand miles, two thou- sand miles, from dairy centers to Florida. Hand in hand with refrig- erator cars go our refrigerator trucks-meat, fruit, vegetables for soldier, for sailor, for war worker, for our whole people. The truck reduces transpor tation wastes, cuts delays, makes our ital carriage of munitions and war equipment efficient If the route by rail or river is circuitous or roundabout, and the motor highway permits short and speedy delivery, up roll your cars to save time for our boys at the front. If a switch yard is a bottleneck, you provide a joint rail-truck service in place of a joint all-rail haul. You man the breach. If railroad trucks have been improvi- dently torn up (and we now know there has been too much recklessness in destroying railroad lines), you send your machines to do the whole job until the reconstructed rail lines are ready to carry their part of the load. We have taken our truck system for granted, sometimes with praise, some times without appreciation. But now we thank our stars that our great motor highways were built, and that men of vision set upon those highways a vast organization. As we see the platoons, the Battalions, and regiments of trucks, the huge army of five million vehicles ready day and night to roll on our roads and streets for our national needs-we take our hats off to the organizing geniuses in the trucking companies and to the steady hands and the tireless eyes at the wheel that are part and parcel of our nation's mobilization. The trucking companies, the truck operators-wy are all doing your part. The government must do its part too, It cannot ask you to make magic. You cannot operate without replacements. You can- not operate without new parts. You cannot send your machines without drivers. You cannot be expected to operate without rubber. That is where the Government can step in to help. It is trying to help. It cannot help on a peacetime basis. In 1941 you bought 700,000 new trucks. Of these, 450,000 were bought to replace wornout trucks. But now, in the civilian pool for allocation to all truckers there are only 70,000 new trucks. The War Production Board is trying to help. And if any man on its staff goes to sleep, Congressional committees put the spotlight on him, and arouse a public outcry to fill his ears. Nobody wants to criticize just to find fault. But materials are short and time is short. Every Government agency must keep on doing better and better. With ceaseless effort and wise planning we can have more new trucks and more spare parts you need to keep 'em rolling. TRUMA So it is about rubber. You need it, the Army needs it. NATIONAL ARCHIVES. RECORDS (OVER)