Page:Highway Needs of the National Defense.pdf/109

Rh EFFECTS OF WAR ON MOTOR-FUEL CONSUMPTION

Although the gasoline-rationing program was directed primarily toward the conservation of rubber, it resulted in great savings of motor fuel, a commodity much in demand for military use in the United States, on the high seas, and in combat areas. The great reduction in civilian highway use of motor fuel during the war years is illustrated in the following tabulation:



The volume of motor-fuel consumption dropped in 1943 to 66 percent of its 1941 value, and rose only a little in 1944. Although shortages of tires and gasoline were less acute in 1945, it was not until the termination of gasoline rationing, immediately after the surrender of Japan on August 14, 1945, that the highway use of motor fuel began rapidly to regain, and in 1946 to overtake, its prewar level.