Peterbilt When our country was at war, the military identified the need for trucks. Trucks were very important because it was difficult to find away to transport all the supplies, troops, and food. After WW1, this brought an increase in good roads plus an expanding economy. This helped grow the trucking industry. The 1920’s were the years of innovation. The balloon tires were introduced along with the rail road’s that were established “piggy-back” service. The first mechanically refrigerated van was introduced. In 1925, there were 500,000 miles of hard surface roads in the U.S. In 1926, a fully loaded 2 ton truck was driven from New York to San Francisco in five days. Theodore Alfred Peterman was the founder of Peterbilt Motors Company in 1937. Theodore had a problem. He couldn’t get logs from the forest to the lumber mill quickly or efficiently. The first truck Peterman and his employees helped rebuild was an old army truck. The army truck helped solve his problem. He figured out that if he placed the battery on the starter instead of the crank, it would work. Peterman did not live to long after starting his business and selling his invention for six years. His wife Ida Peterman sold the business to seven individuals within the Peterbilt organization a year after Theodore died. He did in 1945. When it was sold to those seven individuals, it was expanded into a serious producer of heavy duty trucks. The shareholders eventually sold it to PACCAR (Pacific Car & Foundry Co.) They had already acquired the assets of Kenworth in 1945 and was planning on becoming a player in the heavy truck market. Pacific Car made Peterbilt Motors a wholly owned subsidiary. Peterbilt finally carried its own tradition while retaining its ... ... middle of paper ... ...hed “piggy-back” service. The first mechanically refrigerated van was introduced. In 1925, there were 500,000 miles of hard surface roads in the U.S. In 1926, a fully loaded 2 ton truck was driven from New York to San Francisco in five days. Theodore Peterman couldn’t have been better inspiration for trucking industries. It started out with just an idea on how to move the logs from the forest to his lumber fast and efficiently and it turned out to be one of the most well known trucking industries in today’s economy. Unfortunately, Theodore had past November 16, 1944 of cancer. His wife Ida had to sell the organization and land. Peterbilt trucking has helped with not only carrying heavy equipment but also became a great asset to our society. The Peterbilt industry has worked on making Peterbilt trucks more Eco friendly. This became their environmental mission.
After 1830, the construction of railroads and macadam turnpikes began to bring improved transportation facilities to come American communities, but the transportation revolution did not affect most rural roads until the twentieth century. Antebellum investors, public and private,...
Through out the 1920’s many inventions were created that altered human civilization. Transportation was successfully mastered. Radio communication was becoming more common and medicine was saving more and more lives every day.
In the late 1800's, the invention of the internal combustion engine led to the powerful towboats seen on the Mississippi today. Towboats move 70 to 85 million tons of cargo annually between Minneapolis and the Missouri River [http://www.emtc.nbs.gov]. Underscoring the economic importance of such a feat, one 15-barge tow (one towboat pushing a 15 unit barge) can push the equivalent of 900 semi-trailers while using only 10 percent as much fuel [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1996].... ... middle of paper ... ...
From 1865 to 1900, technology transformed the United States during the period known as the Gilded Age. During this time, the lives of the American people ultimately changed, for many Americans, including farmers, were able to share better food, yield more land, and help contribute to the overall standard of living. However, in order to attain a profit, farmers had the precarious responsibility of gathering the essential tools and crops to meet the nation’s demands. As a result, more raw materials, such as wood were being consumed in factories. In order to uphold the continuum of the vast growing nation, there was a demand for faster and easier means of transportation.
On April 3rd, 1860, the first rider Johnny Fug headed west bound for Sacramento. Every rider road for 75 miles and they would switch horses every 10-15 miles. The very first letter traveled the 2,000-mile journey from St Joseph Missouri to Sacramento California in only 10 days to the hour of departure. This journey used 27 men and 133 horses. The Pony Express cut the normal 20 days of travel into 10 days, nearly cutting it in half.
The 1920's were a time where North America became modernized. Whether it was the music, the culture or the growth in technology, this time era is known to most people as the point where America advanced itself to become a world renowned country. An advancement that will be focused on is the Ford Model T. During this time owning a car was a symbol of wealth. Henry Ford, the creator of the Model T, made a system that revolutionized the automobile industry as we know it today. Henry Ford made it possible for people with an average income to own a motor vehicle by creating the assembly line and the theory of mass production. "The horse, which had been the chief means of land transportation for 3,500 years, had given way to the automobile, and the country's largest industry had been born." (Gordon)
The United States was also in the process of industrialization. Industries were built and electricity was the new form of power. Electric lights became available and the first movies were made. "By 1916, 21,000 movie houses were testimony of a new industry" (Hacker and Zahler 99). Automobiles became prevalent and that caused the need for roads to be built: "The early growth of the automobile industry wakened a new and much stronger demand for surfaced roads" (Hacker and Zahler 101). Henry Ford was a major contributor in propelling the automobile industry. He improved the assembly line and mass production of parts. "By 1914, the automobile industry had developed such characteristic features as standardization of parts, minute subdivision and mechanization of labor, and even the assembly line in manufacturing" (Hacker and Zahler 100). The United States experienced great social and industrial change on a national scale as well as international scale.
In the real world, life has its ups and downs. In the 1920's, corporations started to take better care of their workers than they had in the past. Workers were paid higher wages and worked shorter hours. With more time and money on their hands, workers turned into consumers, which caused an increase in the production of consumer goods. One of the most popular consumer goods was the automobile. To keep up with the high demand, the automobile industry had to create a way to make a lot of cars in a short amount of time, at a low price. The solution was the assembly line. With the assembly line the time to create one car dropped from 12 hours to 90 minutes. The price of the automobile fell greatly also, which further increased the demand. The automobile industry inspired other industries to form, such as the steel, rubber, petroleum, machine tools, and road building industries. But life wasn't just peaches and cream in the 1920's. Immigrants and farmers were facing some serious adversity. After World War I, the United States began to put a cap, or put a quota, on how many immigrants could come into the country.
Trucking has been a relevant career in the United States ever since the 19th century during WWI the army used trucks to transport goods to the soldiers. People in the towns and cities saw they were good transporter so as roads were built and paved more people start owning them. The Interstate Highway System was a big movement for truckers now they could haul there companies goods farther to other cities. The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 helped drivers who went on strike because of the price of gas to run and operate the trucks. Alex Debogorski was a long haul trucker introduced to trucking when he was looking to earn more money to do for his family. As he drove he realized how good the open road looks as the road meet the sky. Now he is on some of CMT’s episodes of Ice Road Truckers, he said If it wasn’t for his parents and wife he wouldn’t have made it. He also open the door for most of the truckers with criminal records. He helped pas the law that states if your drving record is good you can go in for the long haul.
“Motor Age Geography” describes land use practices and new transportation policies, which in turn helped reshape roads. These key aspects helped centralized rural America, while urban areas in America were decentralized. Specific landscapes from then to now required that people of America would have to own a motor vehicle to function effectively on a day to day basis. “Fueling the Broom” goes into detail about oil wells, pipelines, service stations, and so forth. This term explains how taxes on gas became a significant source of funding for road building. “The Paths Out of Town” examines mass production and how it increased the demand for the iron ore, wood, rubber, and many other raw materials. As the need for automobiles steadily increased, American construction workers built one mile of road per square mile of land. When Americans built highways, soil erosion came into the picture along with the natural habitat for wildlife. At this time planners focused on creating a “car friendly nature” (Wells). The book informs the reader on the historical period from 1940-1960 where the government granted housing to the suburban area and highways
Transportation improved from the market revolution through many new inventions, railroads, steamboats, and canals. Pressure for improvements in transportation came at least as much from cities eager to buy as from farmers seeking to sell. The first railroad built was in 1792, it started a spread throughout the states. Cumberland which began to be built in 1811 and finished in 1852, known to be called the national road stretched over five hundred miles from Cumberland to Illinois. By 1821, there were four thousand miles of turnpike in the United States. Turnpikes were not economical to ship bulky goods by land across long distance across America, so another invention came about. Robert Fulton created steam boats in 1807; he named his first one ‘Clermont.’ These steam boats allowed quick travel upriver against the currents, they were also faster and cheaper. The steamboats became a huge innovation with the time travel of five miles per hour. It also stimulated agricultural economy of west by providing better access to markets at lower cost. While steamboats were conquering the western rivers, canals were being constructed in the northeastern states. The firs...
The 1920s exploded with fast paced and lively creativity and culture that influence the world, yet no invention affected American everyday life in the 20th century more than the automobile. The rapidly growing automobile industry led by Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Increased wages and lower cost vehicles made possible through mass production meant that cars became increasingly affordable, although 3 out of 4 cars were bought on installment plans. Company produced new and better models every year to supply the insatiable public demand( http://www.1920-30.com). With, automobiles it made it easier for people to go place to place, it also was affordable for the people to buy. The automobiles were easy to make because of the assembly line in that
As demand for automobiles grew to unexpected heights in the 1920s, General Motors set the pace of production, design, and marketing innovation for others to follow. During their success in the 20’s GM added overseas operations, “ including
...ve | Transportation History." America on the Move | Transportation History. Smithsonian Institute, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
A major powerhouse that pushed the boundaries during the early 20th century—especially during the 1920s—was the United States. After coming out of World War I victorious and with relatively little losses, The United States’ post-war economy was the epitome of consumerism. As the cost of production continued to drop, items once thought of as a luxury, such as vehicles, became within the price range of everyday consumers. The trend began when Henry Ford created the assembly line and continued to pick up momentum as the century progressed. This eventually led to widespread adoption of other goods once considered luxury, such as radios, telephones, and refrigerators. As more money was poured into these emerging fields, the infrastructure behind them continued to grow. Roads were paved, telephone lines were strung, and gas stations began popping up. In essence, these advances