Red Ball Express

The Red Ball Express is a textbook case of middle-mile trucking under pressure: with French railways wrecked, a dedicated road network kept the front supplied. At its peak nearly 6,000 vehicles carried 412,193 tons of supplies on one-way loop routes reserved for convoys, with drivers working around the clock, most of them African American soldiers. The operation also showed the cost of stretching a supply line too far, from worn trucks to fuel use and driver fatigue. Dedicated lanes, round-the-clock dispatch, and trailer pools are all familiar to linehaul operations that keep distribution centers stocked today.

• Middle MileMoves between facilities before final delivery
• Full TruckloadFTLA shipment that fills a whole trailer
• Dry VanStandard enclosed trailer

• Brehon B. Somervell1892–1955 · Commander of Army Service Forces

• Liberty Ships1941–1945 · US yards build 2,710 cargo ships to one design
• The Hump Airlift1942–1945 · Allied planes fly supplies over the Himalayas to China
• Sea-Land Vietnam Container Service1967 · Containers clear a jammed war supply line

• Lend-Lease Act1941 · 1941 law supplying Allied nations in World War II

1. Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume II, Chapter V (US Army in World War II) ibiblio.org
2. Keep 'em Rolling: 82 Days on the Red Ball Express nationalww2museum.org