By the late 1920s, USPOD officials recognized that airmail moved rapidly from airport to airport but that delays in getting the mail to and from the planes wasted much of the time saved. In 1928 a special "courier service" was tried in New England. In order to gain time and permit later closing of air mail, the president of Colonial Air Transport, General G. F. O'Ryan, proposed an experimental "feeder line" by truck**. This truck would call at neighboring towns, pick up the air mail, and deliver it to Brainerd Field, Hartford, Conn., in time to connect with Colonial's Contract Air Mail route #1 planes to New York. O'Ryan contended that this would ensure a speedier dispatch and would increase the use of air mail.

Investigation showed that the operation of a motor truck was too expensive for the poundage of mail that could be expected in the immediate future. Mr. W. S. Bouton, manager of Municipal Sales for the Indian Motorcycle Company of Springfield, MA recognized the opportunity. He suggested to O'Ryan that a motorcycle with side van could handle up to 400 pounds of mail, at a cost of less than 3c per mile — substantially lower than a truck. Bouton offered his company's facilities for an experimental period. Thus began the short-lived 1928 Experimental Airplane-Motorcycle Courier Service.









** See this thread for information on the Chicago Truck which also supported USPOD airmail service.

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