January-February - Air Defense Artillery

But the 6x6 suffers the same disad,'antage as the 1~-ton
it's got tOOmany feet. Tire expense would be needlessly
ioh in long-haul operation. considering that commercial
~tS commonly average 150,000 miles a year. And again,
e soft cab is a 'disadvantage in bad weather.
Such trucks as the 2~'2-ton dump can jump right into
idlian life without even a change of uniform. \Vorkino
under a power shovel, dump trucks are normally given
alt'the load that can be piled on. \Vhen such loads consist
of broken brick and similar heavy rubble, clay or wet earth,
the tandem rear axle~ are in their element.
The dream of some GI's is to start in with a little senrice
station in a small- or medium-sized town and build up a
number of allied services on the side. One of these would
be delivering fuel oil; the 2~-ton, 750-ga]]on tank truck
sounds right for the job. But it must be remembered that
at least twice that load is normally carried on commercial
tankers in the 2~-ton class without a'tandem rear axle.
i\nd here it is not simply a matter of obtaining economy by
O\'crloading; the capacity of the tank is fixed.
The usual recommendation in cases like this where the
\rmy truck doesn't guite fit, is "modify it." But the businesswise
GI will tote up the cost of all these modifications, add
t)em to the initial cost of the truck and decide whether
\e's still getting a bargain. It's easy enough to say, "Knock
lit the front-wheel drive and put on a new body," but it's
I hand-tailoring and likely to run into important money.
I In the 2Y2-ton and 4- or 5-ton truck tractor department,
0)
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\VANNA BUY A TRUCK? 67
especially the 4x2's, the prospecth'e vet will be buying
right into a truck that is already a commercial stand-by. No
guesswork about it: the same goes for the semitrailers they
pull.
\Vhen it comes to wreckers, the opportunities are much
whittled clown. In the MAM company the wrecker was
good for any and e,'erything. but a sawed-off old Cadillac
with a superstructure can be seen doing the same thing on
smooth streets and highways. However, in rough occupaions
like lumbering, the wrecker many find a home.
For trucks above four tons, the field is even smaller. As
a matter of fact, it gets so small that maybe it disappears
altogether. A 6-ton, 7~-ton, or 10-ton prime mover is no
triRing matter. A lot of truck, and unless the prospective
businessman has some very clear-cut ideas on what he's 00-
• 0
ing to do with it, he'll find himself with a white elephant
in 0.0. paint on his hands. For one thing, state weight laws
put a very definite kibosh on operating these behemoths
over their nice clean roads.
In the beginning, Uncle Sam designed his trucks with
an eye to angle of approach and departure, Rotation on soft
terrain, heavy-duty pulling and carrying ability. Did all this
make Army motor transport too muscle-bound for life in the
smooth-roaded civilian world? The answer is yes ... no
... and maybe. It all depends on what you're going to do,
how you are going to do it and where.
Do your dreaming with paper and pencil.