st per ton-mile, including terminal
charges, ranges from 1.7 _mills_ per ton-mile to 4.4 _mills_ per
ton-mile.

In view of these facts it seems reasonable to suppose that motor
vehicles for use on the public highways are more likely to be employed
to supplement the rail transport than to compete with it. To the
actual cost of operation of motor trucks given in Table 2, there
should be added the proportionate cost of maintaining the highway for
the use of the truck, which is partly covered by the item "License
Fee" in the table. The license fee would necessarily be considerably
larger if it were to compensate adequately for the wear on the
highways over which the trucks operate. This will still further
increase the cost of hauling by motor truck.

Motor trucks are employed for many kinds of hauling where their speed
and consequently their daily capacity is an advantage over team
hauling that is decidedly worth while. It probably could be shown
that for many kinds of hauling, teams are more economical than motor
trucks, but when promptness and speed and the consequent effect on
dependent activities are considered, the motor truck often has a
distinct advantage, and the use of the truck to replace horse drawn
vans is progressing rapidly. This is true not only in the cities, but
also in the smaller towns and in the country. Motor trucks have been
adopted in a great many communities for delivery of farm products to
market, and this use of the truck is certain to increase rapidly. But
trucks in this service will use the secondary roads as well as the
main or primary roads.

These observations emphasize the extent to which the highway policy of
the nation must be predicated on the use of the highways by motor
vehicles.

CHAPTER II

HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION

The systems of highway administration extant in the various political
units in the United States present a patchwork of overlapping
authority and undetermined responsibility. Highway laws are being
constantly revised by state legislatures and with each revision there
is some change in administrative methods and often the changes are
revolutionary in character. In most states, the trend is away from
county and township administration and toward state administration,
with provision for considerable participation by the federal
government.

It will be pertinent to consider briefly the present functions of each
of the administrative authorities having duties in