The article “Ike and the Great Truck Train—1919” by John E. Wickman, former Director Emeritus of the Eisenhower Library, offers a detailed historical account of the 1919 U.S. Army Transcontinental Motor Convoy, a cross-country expedition that profoundly shaped Dwight D. Eisenhower’s later vision for America’s interstate highway system.
A Roadmap by the Lincoln Highway Association. Source: Ike and "The Great Truck Train."
In the spring of 1919, Eisenhower was a 28-year-old lieutenant colonel stationed at Camp Meade, Maryland, frustrated by the monotony of postwar demobilization and his inability to serve overseas during World War I.
The planned convoy—organized to test military vehicles and demonstrate the need for better roads—offered him a welcome challenge. Along with his friend Major Sereno Brett, he joined the mission as a tank observer, catching up with the column in Frederick, Maryland, after it departed Washington, D.C.
Source: Ike and "The Great Truck Train."
The convoy, comprising eighty-one military vehicles, thirty-seven officers, several hundred enlisted men, and civilian participants from automobile and tire manufacturers, stretched nearly two miles on the road.
It traveled 3,251 miles from Washington to San Francisco, following the Lincoln Highway, a route promoted by the Lincoln Highway Association and its tireless field secretary, Henry C. Ostermann.
The expedition, under Lieutenant Colonel C.W. McClure and Captain Bernard McMahon, sought to test vehicles, assess road conditions, and publicize the military and economic importance of good roads.
"Small Bridge in Wyoming." Source: Ike and "The Great Truck Train."
The journey revealed the appalling state of America’s early highway system—unpaved stretches, collapsed bridges, muddy plains, and deserts that turned deadly under the summer sun.
The average speed was just over six miles per hour, and breakdowns were constant. Eisenhower and Brett oversaw a tank carried on a flatbed trailer, while maintenance crews labored day and night to repair trucks. Food shortages and poor sanitation plagued the men until new leadership improved conditions.
Despite hardships, the convoy became a national spectacle. Towns welcomed the soldiers with banquets, parades, and “good-roads” celebrations. Industrialists such as Harvey Firestone hosted the men lavishly and filmed their visit. In Boone, Iowa—his wife Mamie’s hometown—Eisenhower briefly reunited with her and their infant son.
As the column pushed west through Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada, the challenges multiplied: desert heat, limited water, collapsed roads, and impassable mountain passes. The final approach over the Sierra Nevada across the King's Grade required heroic effort from engineers and drivers alike.
The convoy reached San Francisco on September 6, 1919, greeted by Mayor James Rolph Jr. and military dignitaries. Over 3.5 million Americans were estimated to have seen the “truck train” pass. The official reports documented extensive mechanical failures and the need for better-built vehicles and roads.
Source: Ike and "The Great Truck Train."
For Eisenhower, the experience was transformative. It revealed the vital link between mobility, national defense, and economic progress. Decades later, as President of the United States, he drew directly on those lessons when championing and signing into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, creating the modern Interstate Highway System.
Source: Ike and "The Great Truck Train."
“Ike and the Great Truck Train—1919” concludes by noting the irony that shortly after this arduous journey, Eisenhower found himself mired once again—this time in the mud of Oklahoma during a family road trip—reinforcing his conviction that the United States desperately needed durable, interconnected highways.