Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1945)

:arrier truck crisis gives exhibitor new headache PB and ODT Refuse to Heed Pleas for Tires and New Equipment • BILL FORMBY Exhibitors struggling this long while with ^rational problems resulting from a war morny in the showing of their product are ing a new headache — getting the product >m the exchange to the projection machine. Ihe nation's film carriers — the men who deer the physical goods — are working with iipment which in many cases is literally ling apart, and in most others is being held ^ether with a prayer and a length of wire. And to most pleas for help, the War Producn Board and Office of Defense Transportar. lend an attentive ear but no new equipment Features, short subjects, Government screen stages, War Loan trailers and accessories i prints and advertising matter for other rtime drives will miss playdates if needed )lacements of mechanical equipment and tires ; not forthcoming soon. The customer will rn that the motion picture does not just hapi on the screen; that it has to be hauled :re. ler Double Normal Span, licks Still Going This is the situation pointed up in reports im Motion Picture Herald correspondents key points, and in information obtained from itional Film Carriers, Inc., an organization film truckers, and other reliable sources. Many trucks have passed the 600,000-mile irk and still are being kept on the highways. ie average effective life before the war was Dut 200,000 miles. Most of them are seven irs old, more than double the previous life in. New parts are denied in most areas, the Ofe of Defense Transportation ordering repairs th used parts. When they can be obtained, :se used parts break down quickly. Approximately one truck in five is out of mmission for repairs, lack of tires or because old age. Tires are' denied in several areas because :al ODT offices misinterpret the national i^incation for the carriers. When they can obtained, the tires usually provide low milee. In some territories there are plenty of e certificates but no tires. ick of Tires Most Serious Kansas City and Memphis Drivers are 'working overtime regularly, and 11 repair crews are putting in -long hours, ime trucks are out of use because there is not ough manpower to keep them rolling. Kansas City and Memphis are having parular difficulty due to lack of tires. The misderstanding by local officials of the national issification, which is Class 3, has kept several its in Kansas City off the highways since >t November. Alf efforts via ODT and the PB to win proper classification in these two ies have failed. Mileage is increased by necessary service to indreds of additional exhibition points estabhed at Army, Navy and Marine posts and ispitals, USO, Canteen and Red Cross cenrs, and war plants, frequently at points far SOME CARRIERS ADVISED TO QUIT BUSINESS Rationing officials in some areas have told film truck operators that no more tires will be available for the transportation of film and that the carriers should arrange to go out of business, the National Film Carriers, Inc., Philadelphia, charged in an appeal to the War Production Board in Washington recently. This organization of 26 film trucking companies, operating more than 600 trucks, told WPB that 43 per cent of the towns where theatres are located are reached only by highway. The appeal said that, unless tires were granted, the carriers "would be forced to discontinue operations and go out of business". It pointed out that the "system of film distribution will be destroyed. There will be no means whereby, with the limited number of prints and shipping containers, film can be delivered to military installations, hospitals and theatres. Exhibition of motion pictures will have to be greatly curtailed, newsreels made unuseable, and in a large percentage of instances theatres will have to be closed." removed from the civilian theatres regularly served. Trucks are overloaded. Delivery days have been reduced, and they are carrying prints and advertising accessories for pictures produced at the request of the Office of War Information, the Army, Navy, Treasury, State, Agricultural and other Government departments and war agencies to further recruiting, War Bond sales, foreign relations, war production, farm production, morale building, civilian defense, conservation of materials and reduction of waste, and general war propaganda. The material is distributed without charge to the Government. Highlights in the reports from Motion Picture Herald correspondents in the field are revealing. They present a dark, and darkening, picture of insufficient and aged equipment sustained in .worn tires and kept going on used parts ; of overworked manpower and overloaded trucks, and of units kept rolling by grace of grit and baling wire: BOSTON At present only two trucks are out of service. Trucking men, however, say that unless new tires and accessories are available very soon they will be facing a condition that may cause postponement of delivery for days. Shortage of manpower is a serious problem, but the services have been able to keep the majority of their trucks rolling by staggering deliveries and utilizing outside trucks. BUFFALO Homer Wilson, manager of Smith & Howell Film Service, Inc., reports that new equipment is needed, but that all units are currently operating except for a couple laid up for repairs. The company operates four days weekly. Film exchanges report considerable delay in servicing theatres. CHARLOTTE J. Ernie White, office manager of the Observer Transportation Company, says that his company "operates seven days a week and by perseverance keeps all trucks rolling. R: H. Jackson, manager of the Carolina Delivery Service in Charlotte, reports that "we have blowouts, and suffer some few delays for repairs. The tire situation for recapping is a headache. CINCINNATI An official of the Film Service Company, largest carrier here, declares that equipment is "practically falling apart." An average of one truck daily is in the garage for repairs. New parts cannot be obtained in any volume, and used parts break down quickly. The company has eliminated deliveries on Sundays and Tuesdays and the other carriers have cut out one day weekly at the request of the Office of Defense Trannsportation. No trucks make special trips or backtrack, cooperating in the delivery of competing accounts when justifiable. The tire situation is serious. The carriers are using recaps exclusively because the local office of ODT will not grant new tires. The office contends the carriers are non-essential. One truck was laid up six weeks awaiting recaps. CLEVELAND Louis C. Gross, in charge of the Central Shipping Terminal, handling all film deliveries in northern Ohio, reports a full fleet of 25 trucks are operating six days weekly. City deliveries have been eliminated on Mondays, with out-of-town deliveries skipped on the lightest day of the week. All except two of the trucks are over-age, averaging seven years in service as against an average of three years before the war. Each old truck has traveled more than 600,000 miles, double the maximum of pre-war years. The two new trucks were acquired during the past two years. One was a smash-up replacement. All Cleveland carriers are in urgent need of all types of equipment. Applications for new trucks and new parts have been consistently denied, the owners ordered to repair with used parts, most of which are unavailable. MILWAUKEE Carriers report that manpower is their greatest problem. Drivers are working overtime constantly on a six-day weekly schedule. No deliveries have been missed. There have been no new trucks since the advent of rationing. Of the 15 in service, six have piled up tremendous mileage, although none is out of service. NEW HAVEN There has been no interruption in Connecticut delivery service. Old equipment requires constant maintenance, and tires have to be handled carefully. The carriers are meeting the ODT requirements for a reduction in mileage by eliminating Friday service. OMAHA All film trucks handle farm deliveries as well as films. With a much heavier work load, at least double on light express units, the carriers are working without extra manpower or equipment, according to Frank Gartner, secretary-treasurer of the Film Transport Company. The company shipping facilities are used by the Rapid Film Delivery, Grand Island ; the Pierce Film Delivery, Pierce, and the Mills Film Delivery, Lincoln. Demands in the Omaha area by Army Camps for rush shipments, and the heavy burden of express make daily deliveries necessary on the main routes. Trips are made thrice weekly on the others. It is estimated that 20 per cent of the units are out of commission regularly. Repair men are working overtime. Tires are badly needed. There are plenty of certificates, but there are no tires. DTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 14, 1945 13