HORIZONS UNLIMITED

[Applause] here is a familiar roadside oasis American plan with 20th century trappings geared to the modern manner and needs here the caravans of commerce the Overland travelers pause for a while and demonstrate the mobility of a nation that has grown up on wheels whose system of transportation may be used as a yardstick of its progress you are the limitations in this setup Americans can go anywhere anytime quickly and economically can transport their goods obtain their varied services the same way here is convenience and flexibility without comparison in any other land a truly remarkable system this backed up by a three million mile web of roadway 50% of its surface more than the rest of the world has combined for every express highway every two lane country road no matter how remote is part of the criss cross lacework to anywhere anywhere at all north south east west across the mountains the plains the rivers the routes are charted the way is clear yes this is a nation whose economic and social structure seemingly is based on the automobile and the vehicles that have stemmed from it but there are many among us who can recall when there wasn't an auto to be seen on the streets less than fifty years ago this was still a predominantly rural country with much of its life really affected by extremes of weather and roads that were impassable for weeks at a stretch a whole era away from the ease and comforts' which today are considered almost part of the American birthright life on the farm was particularly difficult before 1900 almost primitive compared to the present convenience was for millions often only a word in the dictionary if you found time to look for each family was a close-knit unit of home production and largely self-sufficient partly because it preferred it that way but mostly because it had little if any choice the refinements the shortcuts were still not available but the turn of the century was to bring us an end to the isolation the long hours the limited way of life a new concept of living came into focus with the contraption called the horseless carriage at first mistrust spooked but gradually accepted as the Open Sesame to the new age the automobile age which was to have one of the greatest effects ever to rise from American mechanical genius [Music] these types were pure luxury in those days owned and operated by only a small percentage of the people but today's existence is geared to a base that visibly affects every American family or individual the automobile is no longer a luxury it is a virtual necessity and more than 50% of all driving is regarded as necessity driving in the full sense of a word whether we like it or not we must place a top-heavy premium on mobility consider the use of the car in getting to work allowing people to live in pleasant suburbs 10 or 20 miles from their drill-press sales counter or office desk for here is transportation available to anyone as millions of factory workers can testify factories incidentally that can be built bigger and better and far removed from congested areas because people can get to them more quickly but the factor of mobility is not the only important one today of equal importance is dependability bringing the doctor when you need him no matter where Kentucky backwoods cabin or city penthouse the kind of dependability that has largely contributed to the success of the consolidated school system and rise in our education level the kind of brings assurance of protection to our lives our homes our general well-being 24 hours a day every day there is in fact no other form of transportation that has contributed so much to the overall mosaic of modern Americana take a good look around what other method would enable people to find time for the needed stimulus of recreation the hours of leisure the bodybuilding that provides the sort of social and physical balance that most of us eat this does not mean that those without automobiles are abandoned to helplessness public transportation in this country rates a high priority among civic needs and the most versatile transit utility is the motor box the bus goes anywhere linking communities that aren't even within chris'll sound of a rail line it's mobility permits a scheduled frequency and low passenger rate of fare beyond the reach of any other form of transportation and as a means of getting about in sprawling crowded cities the bus rapidly is becoming the leading method of public travel its routes easily adjustable to population shifts and trends its maneuverability a particular pressing in rush-hour traffic and whether it is a bus line or truck line the public welfare is a prime consideration for those responsible for safety on our streets and highways periodic checkups and rigid maintenance are musses nothing is so trivial that they can afford to overlook it [Music] our Americans have long boasted that theirs is the highest standard of living on earth providing us with a cup that not only runs over but which helps care for less fortunate nations a standard however it would be unattainable without the miraculous partner of mass distribution spreading the products of our skills and enterprise so that no one in the land may lack what he wants or needs an impossible job without highway Transport there are thousands of communities not directly served by railroads for instance Milford Pennsylvania what it needs it gets just as any other city a pound of nails or an automatic toaster the world of whimsy and toys for the tots are as handy as Main Street [Music] wants to be worn to school or party the latest styles lose no time arriving here build a house a garage a bank the materials flow freely along with medical supplies for the corner druggist all the commodities for a full life [Music] or could the makers of these Goods thrive as they do without the transport that makes possible the integrated and continuous assembly line a line that may extend hundreds of miles link through three or four cities as in this tractor factory in Cleveland parts from several points funnel into a final assembly plant here one of many daily loads of steel plate rolls in from Pittsburgh to be made into tractor freight at the same time humming along another highway is a truck from Canton Ohio bearing another vital part the engines track shoes will come from still another city the advantages summed up may be stated brief the materials you want when you need them guaranteed by an efficient economical system of distribution they can make its own time schedule here the sum total of this system at work outward-bound tractors headed for a weak farmer in Kansas an apple grower in Michigan a potato producer in Idaho now our eating habits today are vastly changed from what they were 25 years ago when we were confined to the fruits and vegetables grown locally and in season and not much more today we enjoy the best balanced diet possible on a year-round basis beans from Carolina spinach from Maryland broccoli from Pennsylvania citrus fruits from Texas Florida or California all because of weight for nothing transportation often refrigerate which can deliver perishables of thousand miles award still fresh and flavorful when they reach the shelves [Music] it is this rapid door-to-door adaptability that puts the capital S in service in this country today you just buy it you don't have to lug it with you whether it's a dozen shirts or a grand piano deliver it please is a popular tune with an equally harmonious avocado on the department store cash register even a phone call will do it a swirl of the dial and a tank of fuel oil is on the way a moving van will transplant you to the next town the next state or half a continent away if ever anything contributes to our way of life it is these daily dates with a doorstep as a link between other types of transportation the truck today is solidly indispensable the iron horse has been fully tamed but it still can't pick up and deliver its burden to any door on any Street every rail line in the country depends on trucks for the mobile handling of freight with the railroads themselves owning and using hundreds of thousands of trucks daily [Music] the airplane shrinking the continent to a width of a few hours provides us with the fastest transportation yet available but hit two must have its earthing connections this high-flying great going or coming calls for a truck at both ends you all must be taken aboard in staggering quantities [Music] flames must be air-conditioned precooked meals go straight from the caterers kitchen to the Skyliners galley fail and Express must be collected and delivered to the airport in time and passengers must be brought from the heart of the city usually some miles distant the paint extensions of the sea lanes will never show on a skippers chart but it would be a longer time between voyages without the trucks found at every port as an industry trucking has come a long way indeed since American Commerce foster this device as the ideal beast of all burdens in their day these were up-to-the-minute marvels but by present standards very limited today as far as folks are concerned we may no longer credit our old friend necessity as the mother of invention the new and more important factor is imagination as truck manufacturers meet the need for types that are almost tools in themselves mammoth boobers to meet the rugged demands of loggers in Washington Oregon and elsewhere lumber carriers for easier handling of the finished product Kerry owns mobile x-ray units cement mixers insect sprayers dumptrucks pineapple harvesters rolling libraries [Music] but to the public the most prevalent conception of trucking as an industry stems from the over-the-road haulers who in the relatively short space of 25 years have added a vital and dynamic business to the roster of american-born enterprises an industry predicated on the idea that no better transportation formula has been devised involving the factors of load schedule and range of operation craters like this level the mountains span the valleys conquer the desert there is no crossroad Hamlet they will not or cannot reach operating on the vast scale that they do the trucker's have dispatchers offices with the romance all there all use of two-way radio telephone enables the dispatcher to keep in constant touch with members of the street wherever they may be perhaps one must be diverted on the highway to pick up a small but important cargo that hadn't originally been scheduled three what is your location we have unscheduled pick up at Middletown terminal come in please from truck six three five miles for Middletown okay in that pickup okay contrary to popular belief it isn't just anyone who can be a professional truck driver this is hard and intense work the job can't be placed in the hands of a man with physical or emotional shortcomings trucking companies insists on a rigid medical examination for their drivers over the road haulers are highly selective in putting a man on the payroll but they wind up with some of the best drivers on the highway a big and responsible industry this of 10 billion tons of Commerce moved yearly in America more than half goes by truck more than all other forms of delivery combined no wonder highway transportation is second to agriculture as an employer of Labor with 8 million people in its various phases production line workers salesmen loaders checkers mechanics oil field workers filling station attendants and road builders this is the vital end product they are maintaining ever longer wider and safer for more people to use and for the most part paid for by the users themselves more than two billion dollars in special highway taxes yearly by owners of motor vehicles a third of that total by truck and bus operators alone truly this is the only transportation facility the entire nation shares while this is a public pathway toward horizons unlimited providing mobility so vital to the uninterrupted exchange of goods and services this then is the 20th century trail to accomplishment the shortcut to progress this is one of a thousand routes with a common direction straight up the road to a better stronger more prosperous America [Music] [Applause] [Music]