9781422277102

configuration the way the parts of something are arranged diesel engine an engine using a specially formulated hydrocarbon-based gasoline called diesel fuel instead of standard fuel fifth wheel the coupling which fastens a trailer to a semitruck

Semitrucks

There was a particular problem that bothered transportation officials in the 1950s, and it was military in nature. There was no easy route available for the US military to move troops, tanks, and other ground equipment from one end of the country to the other. So a plan was hatched to build a new network of roads across the United States. These roads would be wider, made of the latest materials for smooth driving, and best of all, at no place in this system would a vehicle ever encounter a stop light. Once on the road, a driver could continue without a stop until reaching his or her destination. The new roads would go around cities, not through them, with offshoot roads delivering people and goods into city centers. This network of roads became known as the Interstate Highway System. Work began in the 1950s and the initial road plan was completed in the 1970s. Work continues today maintaining those roads and adding more freeway arteries to suburban sprawl. Until the Interstate system became developed enough to offer coast-to-coast transport by truck, most goods moved from one end of the country to the other by train. The reason for developing road transportation in favor of train transportation was speed. In the 1950s, goods took around ten days to go from one end of the country to the other by train. Once the Interstate system was complete, a truck could make the journey in about four or five days.

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