The Early Days of Trucking

THE motor transportation of lumI ber and building materials probably began some forgotten day shortly after the turn of the century when some ingenious soul tossed a few boards onto his horseless carriage and headed off for the job.

In time, trucks specifically designed to transport lumber and building materials began to appear. The first commercially produced tractor-trailer in America was the one here. It is a 1911 Ford lModel T converted to a truck with a "Smith Form-A-Truck" kit and fitted with a l9l4 Fruehauf semi-trailer. It was built for the F.M. Sibley Lumber Co., Detroit, Mi. It was also the beginning of the successful Fruehauf company, a major factor in the business to this day.

The no nonsense Jeffery Quad truck, carrying the logo of the Parsons Lumber Co., Kenosha, Wi., was built in 1914. ln August of 1916, Charles W. Nash bought the Jeffery firm and changed its name to Nash Motors Co., so the Jeffery Quad became the Nash Quad. Manufactured in relatively large quantities during World War I, production dropped off after the war and ceased in the early 1920s. Nash Motors eventually merged with Hudson Motor Car Co. to become the present day American Motors Corp.

Story ata Glance

The first commercially produced truck and trailer and an early four-wheel-drive lumber truck, pictured here, were among the country's earliest attempts at motor transport for lumber and building materials.