[Transportation Committee Bulletin, April 1944]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
BULLETIN
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION
VOL. II, No. 4	APRIL 1944
“Plant Designation" Made Urgent Business by Amendment 113
Plant Designation was removed from the realm of the theoretical and became a practical matter of urgent importance to Transportation Committees in Areas A and B (that part of the country west of the Gasoline Shortage Area) when Amendment 113 became effective March 22.
Restoration of the 60 occupational miles per month which drivers in these areas thereby lost from their Basic A Rations was a simple matter for drivers in those plants which had been designated as “satisfactory” with respect to Car-Sharing performance.
Plants which had been classified as “unsatisfactory”—although their individual employee-drivers are eligible for restoration if they have full car-*	clubs—are urged to move swiftly to bring the
average car occupancy of the principal shift at their plant up to 3.5 persons which will make them eligible for reclassification.
Gasoline Rationing Areas As of March 22
Area A means the States of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. (“B” ration ceiling 400 miles per month.)
Area B means the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, the portion of the State of Florida which lies west of the counties of Gadsden, Liberty, and Franklin, the portion of the State of West Virginia which lies outside of and west of the counties of Mineral, Grant, and Pendleton, the portions of the State of Georgia which lie within the corporate limits of the cities of Rossville and West Point, the portions of the State of Pennsylvania which lie within the corporate limits of the cities of Farrell, Sharon, Sharpsville, and Wheatland, and the portions of the State of Virginia which lie within the corporate limits of the cities of Bluefield and Bristol, w (“B” ration ceiling 475 miles per month.)
Gasoline Shortage Area
This is the area east of Area B—and includes the New England, Middle Atlantic, and South Atlantic States. (“B” ration ceiling 325 miles per month.)
The Black Market In Gasoline
The distribution of counterfeit and stolen ration coupons has become one of the most profitable rackets in America. Ration stamps are ideal bootleg currency. A packet the size of a large book sells for $8,000. A man can carry as much pay-cargo in a satchel as the gangs that flourished during prohibition could transport in several trucks. Today the organized underworld that trafficked in liquor in the ’20’s, and in narcotics, organized prostitution, and counterfeiting of money in the years since, is now deep in the business of distributing fraudulent coupons.
Our best estimates show that at least 1,500,000 gallons of gasoline are daily spilling into the black market because of counterfeit coupons alone. Perhaps another million gallons is being lost through stolen coupons and sales of legitimate coupons.
In addition to the 15 percent of “C” coupons which are turned in for gasoline,and found to be counterfeit, approximately 8 percent of “B’s” are counterfeit, and smaller percentages of “A,” “E,” and “R” coupons. Only the “D%coupons—the motorcycle rations—and the new serially numbered “T’s” are at present free of counterfeiting.
We have set up special machinery to deal with this racket. We are obtaining the cooperation of industry. But the black market cannot be dried up without the full cooperation of the American motorist. The simple fact is that there would be no black market in gasoline if every motorist bought gasoline only with the coupons issued to him by his ration board and if he endorsed his coupons as soon as the board issued them.
Most motorists don’t realize when they ask Joe, the filling station operator, to sell a few gallons of gasoline without collecting ration coupons, that they are making Joe a criminal and are financing a vicious racket. For the filling station operator cannot sell gasoline without coupons unless he obtains coupons to cover those sales. He obtains them by buying counterfeit or stolen coupons—at a price that makes big money for the gangs handling “hot” coupons on a wholesale scale.
Swap Shop
How do you use employee publications to promote car-sharing? The Editor, Transportation Committee Bulletin, Run-stop 252, OPA, Washington 25, D. C., will appreciate a place on your mailing list. An idea exchange will help all.
Amendments to RO 5C in Short
(Amendments of more than passing interest to Transportation Committees appear in boldface.)
AMENDMENT 109, effective March 15.—(1) Requires endorsement of “E” and “R” coupons with the ration-holder’s name and address. If the coupons are presented in a strip or block the name and address need be written only once. When separately presented each coupon must be endorsed. If the dealer or distributor detaches coupons from the strip or block which carries the ration-holder’s endorsement he is required to write the ration-holder’s name and address on the detached part. ( 2 ) Revises and liberalizes the regulations which require coupon endorsement in ink or indelible pencil so as to make legal, endorsement by means of any writing or printing instrument.
AMENDMENT 110, effective March 18.—Permits issuance of a special ration for use in towing house trailers from manufacturer to dealer.
AMENDMENT 111, effective March 13.—Puts into effect throughout the Nation on April 1 a slightly modified form of what has come to be known as the “Georgia-Florida Plan” of handling nonhighway rations. The essential features of this plan are: (1) Invalidation of 5-gallon “R” coupons at most filling stations. (2) Holders of “R” coupons who customarily purchased nonhighway gasoline from a nearby filling station may request exchange of their 5-gallon “R” coupons for an equivalent value of 1-gallon “E” coupons which will continue to be valid at all filling stations.
AMENDMENT 112, effective March 24.—Permits issuance of a special ration for use in making delivery—regardless of the distance involved—of passenger automobiles, transfer of which is governed by RO 2B, or of station wagons manufactured after July 31, 1941, which have never been sold except for purposes of resale.
AMENDMENT 113, effective March 22.—(1) Redefines Area A to exclude the States of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming; Area B is redefined to include these States. (2) In both Areas, the valid periods of Class A coupons bearing the numbers “11” and “12” are extended to 3 months. This action removes from the Class A ration the,60 miles per month which was assumed to be available for occupational use, and which heretofore has been deducted from supplemental mileage allowances. (3) The nonpreferred— Class B—mileage ceiling in Area A is set at 400 miles per month; in Area B it is established at 475 miles per month. (4) Ration-holders in both Areas who suffer a loss in occupational mileage due to the extension in the valid periods of Class A coupons are eligible for restoration of the lost mileage, upon application, if their need, and their compliance with supplemental ration requirements, is shown.
AMENDMENT 114, effective March 31.—(1) Invalidates for consumer use, on April 1, the following types of ration evidences: Old-type “B” and “B—1” coupons (issued on Forms OPA R—527 B and R—527 C) and “C” and “C—1” coupons (issued on Forms OPA R—528 B and R—528 C) which have not been issued since November 30, 1943; old-type “E” and “R” coupons (issued on Forms OPA R—530, R—530 A, R-531, and R-531 A) which have not been issued since October 1, 1943; all strip “T” coupons which do not bear a quarterly designation (Form OPA R—532 C), which expire on March 31; old-type “Acknowledgments of Delivery” printed on blue-gray safety paper (Form OPA R-544, Rev. 9-30-42).	(2) In the few
cases in which these evidences are part of currently valid rations with an “expiration” or “earliest renewal” date later than March 31, ration-holders may exchange them at their Boards for coupons of types now valid. Invalidated “Acknowledgments” can be exchanged only with the issuing officer.
Plant Terminals for War Worker Transportation
(Editor’s note.—This is the fourth and concluding chapter of a discussion of terminal facilities at war plants that has been reprinted from “War Worker Transportation,” a report published by the Institute of Traffic Engineers. The subject was covered in four installments: (I) General Considerations, (II) Public Carrier Terminal Operations, (III) Parking Lots and Their Operation, and (IV) Pedestrian Handling.
Part IV.—Pedestrian Handling
The handling of pedestrians at terminals for war plants, as has been pointed out, is an important problem. Definite aisles and channels are required within the plant and definite fenced-in walk-ways are required without. Every care should be taken to reduce conflicting paths of pedestrians with vehicle movements to a minimum, and when such conflicts must prevail, the confining of pedestrian movements to well-marked and well-lighted pathways under police supervision is advisable.
Attention is called to one plant where the terminal requirements were given thoughtful study. The workers (pedestrian flow) are but a few steps to subterranean concourses under the plant, and thence out to grade, and by way of sheltered overpass, over a main arterial route, to the bus loading aisles and platforms or to parking lots. It is to be noted that this well-channelized and protective method provided bomb shelter, as well as decentralized time clock racks. A maximum of safety to employees was also rendered by clear walkways, rather than cluttered shop floors.
Summary
The terminal arrangements at war plants are an integral part of the employee transportation prob
lem. Provisions for each mode of transportation must be made with special care for pedestrian accommodations. The segregation of flows by type of vehicle is urged. By a sound program of staggered hours and group riding, a minimum of terminal facility will be required. The safety and facility of movement, and the detail location of terminal areas with due respect for size, number, and arrangement, are of basic importance in all terminal facilities.
Streetcars and buses, both through-bound and terminating, require specific types of treatment.
Special fare collection arid transfer terminals are sometimes warranted for these operations.
Parking lots are subject to high, sharp overloads at the critical time of shift change. This characteristic, together with the travel habits and staggering of hours, dictates lot capacity. The functional requirements of such lots require careful planning, design, and operation.
Pedestrian movements at plants, when properly accommodated, make for safety and efficiency in plant operation, as well as the plant terminals.
Rubber Director’s Fifth Progress Report
The following has been excerpted from Rubber Director Bradley Dewey’s Fifth Progress Report dated March 17, 19U:
“Progress Report No. 4 of the Rubber Director issued November 10, 1943, emphasized that a serious shortage of essential rubber goods was then at hand and would continue at least through the early part of 1944; it also stated that this country had demonstrated its ability to produce synthetic rubber. Little has happened since that time to create any hope for relief from shortages and it is now all the more evident that they will continue throughout the current year. This is despite the fact that during February 53,000 long tons of synthetic rubber were produced and that we are now making synthetic rubber at a rate greater than that at which crude rubber was consumed in this country in any year prior to 1941.
“War demands are insatiable and immediate. As military operations increase, so does the consumption of the thousands of rubber products essential to a proper prosecution of the war. Behind the actual theaters of war, however, is our essential home front, which is also geared to a rubber economy. As time passes a greater and greater attrition of tires and other products takes place. While new facilities are still building, demand continues to grow, creating a cumulative deficit which cannot be made up for some time to come.
“The rubber factories of this country will, in 1944, consume more rubber than ever before in history. To accomplish this, new facilities were approved last fall for increased production of cotton and rayon tire cords, and a broad program of new plants and equipment was undertaken by the rubber manufacturing industry. These programs are proceeding, but the benefits to be derived from them will come largely during and after the second half of this year.
“Other new war programs, rated as more vital and immediate, have caused delays in the final completion of some of the large butadiene-from-petroleum plants. Consequently, production will not be at full capacity until the second half of 1944.
“No one will deny that vital military programs must come first and in some military items a shortage of up to 25 percent now exists. Essential civilian transportation must be maintained ...
“As Buna S synthetic became available in quantity last fall, certain amounts were allocated for admixture with reclaim rubber in the manufacture of camelback for retreading purposes. This was done to conserve manpower, tire cord, and the use of machinery. This new Grade C camelback gives much longer service than does the allreclaim Grade F camelback. However, as factories learned to use Buna S and as demands for it in other products have outstripped production, it became necessary to withdraw the use of it for retreading and return to the use of Grade F camelback.
“Passenger tires cannot be produced in the quantities desired during the immediate future, for tire factories must for the present use their supply of Buna S and tire cord on production of tires for military vehicles, airplanes, and essential trucks and busses. Until July, only slightly more than 1,000,000 passenger car tires will be built each month and some of these will be held as a reserve to protect against unexpected new emergency demands which might later interfere with production.
“All of this spells a continuing shortage as far as the American civilian is concerned and accentuates the need for even greater conservation of tires now in use. Some carelessness has crept into conservation practices as the rubber supply situation seemed to approach clarification. Now a renewed effort must be made to extend the life of existing tires.
“A serious situation can be avoided and drastic action averted if the public understands that their tires must be made to last while a steady flow of goods is maintained to the Armed Forces and essential transportation. I appeal in the strongest possible way to the various State governing bodies to keep their roads in repair, to aid in the conservation of all tires, and enforce low speeds. In this connection it must always be recalled that the life of a tire at 35 miles per hour is 50 percent longer than at 45 miles per hour and three times longer than at 60 miles per hour. These measures and repeated recapping are necessary if the driving essential to war production is to be maintained. . .
“Military and truck and bus tires. The tire production policy of this Office is based upon the premise that the first responsibility of the industry is to satisfy, to the limit of facilities and manpower, demands for essential military and civilian tires. . . .
“An exhaustive testing program conducted both by industry fleets and a special Government test fleet, operated under the direction of this Office, has shown that allsynthetic passenger tires and small truck tires will give entirely adequate service . . .
“Passenger car tires.—Progress Report No. 4 recorded that passenger car tires made with cotton cord and 100 percent Buna S are eminently satisfactory and 'of high quality. Since then' further testing has confirmed this. However, the wear and tear incident to any driving and the casualties resulting from normal use, are gradually bringing about a situation which will inevitably result in more suffering to the careless driver who forgets the effect of speed upon the life of his tires and the decreased life that results when any tire, whether made of synthetic or crude rubber, is run underinflated, damaged by hitting holes in the road, run on improperly aligned wheels, or otherwise abused.
“In the last progress report it was felt that the result of normal attrition would call for the building in 19of 30 million new passenger car tires. Based on present conditions it is now believed that, with the public’s cooperation, 22 million passenger tires will be sufficient for essential driving. However, driving “as usual,” or indifference to making tires last as long as possible would endanger civilian transportation. Only the public can make its tires last. We cannot. We count on the public. The present production plan contemplates making 22 million, 15 million of which will be produced during the last half of the year. Meeting this goal will not be easy. This total will be plus or minus 10 percent, depending upon the trend of military .requirements throughout the balance of the year.
“Everything pertaining to the rubber program is tight but, with the continued active cooperation of the military, other Government agencies, and the civilian population in conserving rubber, and subject to no untoward developments, particularly a& to skilled and technically trained manpower or shortages of essential products from allied programs, there will be sufficient synthetic rubber for the manufacture of rubber products to supply the needs of war and our essential home front.”
Where Our Gas Goes
PT base in New Guinea. Crewmen roll drums of fuel for the Navy’s deadly little PT boats off the ramp of an LCM.—U. S. Navy Photo.
Car Sharing Saves Gas
OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, D. C.
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
BULLETIN
APRIL	1944
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