Early in the 20th century, the railroads held sway for transporting bulky and heavy cargoes, but the need for delivery of consumable products to the then growing state population base and with the advent of new technology, spawned an era of trucks that continues to this day. Which leads me to what did truck transport look like in the early days? For a clue, always look first to the beer distributors, including Rainier Beer.
Note the leather aprons. Apparently hauling crates full of bottled beer took a toll on clothes. The ability of small trucks to efficiently adapt their carriage to specialized cargoes proved to be an important trucking advantage. In this case, we had stacking of crates and cases of beer two high.
Crescent City Brew Talk 