W hen the Transcontinental Motor Convoy–the first coast-to-coast movement of automobiles–rolled into the Columbiana, Ohio, homestead of rubber baron Harvey Firestone on Sunday, July 13, 1919, no one could have imagined the significance such serendip- ity might bring. But the experience left an indelible mark on a dashing, 29-year-old lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Tank Corps named Dwight D. Eisenhower. The military caravan debarked at 6:30 a.m. the next day, enduring many of the same routine chal- lenges that typified the 63-day, 3,251-mile trek from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco: broken rod bear- ings, radiator leaks, blown gaskets, punctured tires, and most discouraging, roads to nowhere. Arriving in Wooster, Ohio, on July 14, the con- voy of 300 soldiers and 70 vehicles encountered few exceptions from the norm. “Boxing and wrestling at camp in evening,” wrote Eisenhower in his daily log. “Warm with light rains. Fine brick roads, except eight miles [sic] dirt. Made 83 miles in nine hours.” Few exceptions apart from a pair of new trucks equipped with Firestone’s pneumatic treads. They did things the hard way because they had to. They saw opportunities and seized them, took risks, rolled with the punches, and reaped the rewards. They didn’t squeeze pricing or pinch service; everything was set in stone. And they hauled everything and anything during the Great Depression, World War II, and beyond. Join Inbound Logistics as we celebrate the legacies that made motor freight move.
September 2009 • Inbound Logistics 31
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