Feature Truck for Winter/Spring 2004:  1919 Moreland

by Ed Roberts

Did you know that Moreland started the long-haul trucking industry? Moreland trucks are not very well known because they were made in small numbers and sold primarily in the West. Nevertheless, Moreland had a big impact on trucking. Moreland and Fageol started making the first 6-wheel trucks about 1925. The dual rear axles allowed the trucks to carry much larger loads than 4-wheel trucks. (Interestingly, the engineer hired by Moreland to design its tandem axle bogie arrangement was one of the Fageol brothers, who was not involved in the Fageol company.) Moreland company founder Watt Moreland was very involved in civic affairs and argued tirelessly for better roads and more favorable trucking regulations. So long- haul trucking really started in California with Moreland and Fageol (and also Kleiber in California and Kenworth in Washington).

Morelands were actively sold in the 11 western states, but company advertising said they were also used as far east as New Orleans and also in Mexico, Central and South America, Australia, and Japan. Many Morelands were used by the Army Quartermaster Corps.

After working as an engineer for Winton and Durocar, Watt Moreland founded the Moreland Motor Truck Co. in Burbank in 1911. Early Morelands used Continental and Hercules gas engines. Later models were available with Waukesha gas engines and Cummins and Hercules diesels. Moreland began with Brown-Lipe transmissions, but later made many of its own transmissions and axles. Moreland was always a very innovative company. Early trucks were equipped with gasifiers, allowing them to burn low cost distillate fuel (similar to kerosene).

The featured truck in this issue is HATM’s 1919 Moreland Model l9C 2-1/2 ton distillate truck. This truck has a Continental Model E4 350 cubic inch 4- cylinder engine, equipped with the Moreland gasifier. The Moreland 4-speed transmission feeds power to a Timken worm-gear rear axle. The truck has a top speed of 15 mph on its solid-rubber tires. It cost $3,775 when new.

A proposed merger between Moreland and Fageol in 1931 failed to go through. Moreland sales fell in the late 1930s, and few trucks were built after 1938. Moreland last offered trucks for sale in 1941. The Cook Brothers truck company bought Moreland in 1949 and turned it into a parts and service operation.

Addendum

Tandem axle straight trucks were popular for long- distance hauling from the late 1920s through the mid I930s. By the late I 930s tractor-semitrailer rigs had largely taken over this role. The hard economic times of the Depression forced truckers to carry the biggest possible loads per truck (and per driver). Semitrailers had actually been invented much earlier. In 1909, Charles Martin, a Knox employee, patented a “rocking fifth wheel” for attaching semitrailers. In 1911 he set up the Martin Tractor Co. next to the Knox plant and began making Knox-Martin 3-wheeled tractors. In 1914 Knox began building 4-wheel tractors. Many of these were used as tank transporters in World War I.