Quick Way Truck Shovel Company in World War Two

"Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company in World War Two
Denver, CO
1929-1954 as an independent company
1954-1970 with different corporate owners

This page updated 8-27-2024.

In 1929, Mr. Luke E. Smith marketed the first truck mounted shovel. This was an idea that took ten years to fully develop into a working product. In 1919, Mr. Smith noted how slowly a crawler mounted shovel moved in the Colorado mountains near Durango. He realized that by installing the shovel onto a truck, it could drive itself to a job site while also moving more quickly from one location to another while at the job site. Over the next ten years, Mr. Smith developed the idea, found financing, and then opened for business in 1929 as the "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company on South Nevada Street in Denver, CO.

The new idea was successful and during the 1930s the company produced several hundred truck mounted shovels. Also during the 1930s, "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company teamed up with the nearby Coleman Motor Works in Littleton, CO, which provided 5-ton 4x4 truck chassis on which the "Quick-Way" shovels were mounted.

If we fast forward 94 years to 2023, we find this modern version of a mobile crane similar to what Mr. Luke Smith invented in 1929. Author's photo added 6-20-2023.

Currently, one sees various types of self-propelled cranes in transit to and at construction sites across the country. They all can trace their heritage back to Mr. Smith and the "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company of Denver, CO. Author's photo added 6-20-2023.

In 1929, when Mr. Luke E. Smith sold his first crane trucks, he had no idea that 95 years later his invention would develop into a class of crane trucks designed to reach the top of cell towers and wind mills. I was able to photograph this tower truck at the intersection of U.S. 31 and I-65 in Taylorsville, IN. Author's photo added 8-27-2024.

Author's photo added 8-27-2024.

The following seven photos are courtesy of the Denver, CO public library. The collection is dated 1935. There is a shovel and a crane being tested that are mounted on an International truck chassis. This collection of photos shows the state of the art for the "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company" as of 1935. It also appears that the employees like digging in the dirt.

This is the only photo that has a description. In this case, it is the names of some or all of the company's workers. Mr. Luke E. Smith is the one with the hat, second from the right. This is the only known photo of the Mr. Smith who started the company and was its President for 25 years. Photo courtesy of the Quick-Way Truck Shovel Company Records, M2078, Western History Collection, The Denver Public Library added 10-24-2022.

In this image the employees are using the crane with a drag line to dig in the dirt. Photo courtesy of the Quick-Way Truck Shovel Company Records, M2078, Western History Collection, The Denver Public Library added 10-24-2022.

The crane was also useful around the factory to move the heavy swing table gears. Photo courtesy of the Quick-Way Truck Shovel Company Records, M2078, Western History Collection, The Denver Public Library added 10-24-2022.

Photo courtesy of the Quick-Way Truck Shovel Company Records, M2078, Western History Collection, The Denver Public Library added 10-24-2022.

This is a unique set-up for a "Quick-Way" crane which has been mounted to a modified International truck. The passenger side of the cab has been removed to allow the crane to occupy that area. Photo courtesy of Jeff Lakaszcyck added 11-1-2022.

This 1930's era "Quick-Way" crane is mounted on a Coleman 4x4 truck. Photo courtesy of Jeff Lakaszcyck added 11-1-2022.

Not all "Quick-Way" cranes and shovels were mounted on Coleman trucks. This one is mounted on a Mack truck at the Howe Brothers Coleman truck dealer ship in Troy, NY. Photo courtesy of Jeff Lakaszcyck added 11-1-2022.

As World War Two approached, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tested the "Quick-Way" shovel mounted on a Coleman chassis and found that the unit was acceptable for use. Orders for the units then quickly followed. The Greeley Daily Tribune of Greeley, CO had several short Associated News clips in its 1941 editions about "Quick-Way" being awarded Army contracts. The first was on May 5, 1941, for $1,076,000 for mobile truck cranes and attachments for bridge and other emergency army engineering work. On June 25, 1941, another news clip reported that the company had been awarded a $705,000 contract for truck cranes, attachments, and trailers by the army engineers. On December 6, 1941, the Greeley Daily Tribune reported that "Quick-Way" had been awarded a $43,216.37 contract for crane parts. The "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company was going to war.

The following page is from the War Department Technical Manual TM 5-1174, "Crane, Truck Mounted, Gasoline, 3/8 Cu. YD. Quick-Way, Model E with IH Model U-9 Power Unit." The page is the introduction for the manual and gives an excellent explanation of the "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel concept. Because the manual was written by "Quick-Way" for the military, this particular page was most likely written by Mr. Luke Smith, President of the company, or someone in the sales or marketing department. It gave the company an opportunity to promote the virtues of the "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel to the soldiers that would be operating it.

After World War Two, the company expanded and even produced crawler type shovels.

In June 1954, the Penn-Texas Corporation of New York, NY purchased the "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company for $1.5 million. Mr. Luke E. Smith, President and founder of the company, stepped down from that position, but remained with the company as a consultant.

The sale to Penn-Texas was the first of several changes of ownership for the company. Sometime after this 1955 newspaper ad, Penn-Texas Corporation sold "Quick-Way," because in December 1958 "Quick-Way" and General Trading Company of St. Paul, MN agreed to manage the Denver plant as a joint operation. Between 1959 and 1961, H&B American Corporation and Fairbanks-Whitney Corporation each purchased 50% of "Quick-Way." This is known because the historical record shows that in June 1961, Universal Marion Company of Jacksonville, FL, purchased the "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company from H&B American Corporation and Fairbanks-Whitney Corporation. Universal Marion indicated it would continue the Denver, CO operation as a division of the company. In October 1970, Universal Marion was liquidated by order of the company's Board of Directors. What remained of the original "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company on South Nevada Street in Denver was sold off. Today, the location of the factory has been re-purposed and there is nothing left of the plant.

The "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company won the Army-Navy "E" Award two times during World War Two.

"Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company World War Two Products: "Quick-Way" was unique among companies during World War Two because it produced the same product for the war effort that it produced for its civilian market. The only difference was that its truck shovels were painted with olive-drab paint instead of whatever color its civilian customers wanted. During World War Two, "Quick-Way" produced 1,634 truck cranes for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This was the Model E, which was mounted on two different types of truck chassis, one of which being the Coleman Motors 5-ton, 4x4 G55A chassis. The "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company produced 296 of this type. Table 4 indicates that during World War Two, neither Army Ordnance nor the Corps of Engineers purchased any truck chassis from Coleman Motors Company. This implies that "Quick-Way" purchased the Coleman chassis and mounted its cranes on the units. It provided a total end product for the Army Corps of Engineers.

In the second case, Army Ordnance purchased 1,338 6-ton 6x6 chassis from the Brockway Motor Company and Four Wheel Drive Auto companies between 1943 and 1945. These then became Government Furnished Equipment provided to "Quick-Way" on which the company mounted its Model E crane.

Table 1 and Table 2 show that "Quick-Way" had $25,475,000 in major government contracts. $20,854,000 was for cranes, which was 81.8% of the total amount. The company also had three major contracts totaling $3,585 for crane trailers, which was 14.1% of the company's contracts in World War Two. Technical Manual TM 5-1174 notes that the trailer that carried the different shovel attachments was a Timpte Model QW-8T. While the Timpte Brothers of Denver, CO had several semi-trailers listed in the "Summary Report of Acceptances, Tank-Automotive Material, 1940-1944," which was published by the Army Services Forces, Office, Chief of Ordnance-Detroit, Production Division, Requirements and Progress Branch, January 21, 1946," there were no acceptances for a QW-8T trailer. This implies that "Quick-Way" used the $3,585,000 to purchase the trailers directly from Timpte.

Table 1 - "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company World War Two Major Contracts Product Classifications
Product Type	Amount	Percentage
Cranes	$20,854,000	81.8%
Spare Parts	$1,036,000	4.1%
Crane Trailers	$3,585,000	14.1%
Total	$25,475,000	100%

Table 2 - "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company's Major World War Two Contracts The information below comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945." This was published by the Civilian Production Administration, Industrial Statistics Division.
Product - Customer	Contract Number*	Contract Amount	Contract Awarded	Completion Date
Truck Cranes - Army		$706,000	5-1941	11-1941
Cranes Trailers - Army		$361,000	5-1941	9-1941
Cranes Trailers - Army		$383,000	8-1942	2-1942
Cranes - Army Engineers		$375,000	12-1941	5-1942
Cranes - Army Engineers		$386,000	1-1942	6-1942
Cranes Trailers - Army Engineers		$2,841,000	3-1942	1-1943
Cranes Truck - Army Engineers		$816,000	4-1942	2-1943
Crane Parts - Army Engineers		$99,000	9-1942	11-1942
Cranes - Army Engineers		$1,096,000	10-1942	5-1943
Power Shovel Parts - Army Engineers		$50,000	11-1942	12-1942
Crane Parts - Army Engineers		$224,000	11-1942	2-1943
Cranes - Army Engineers	1122-ENG-1292	$5,287,000	12-1942	8-1943
Crane Parts - Army Engineers		$193,000	12-1942	5-1943
Cranes - Army Engineers	1088-ENG-2243	$819,000	2-1943	12-1943
Crane Parts - Army Engineers		$67,000	3-1943	9-1943
Cranes - Army Engineers	1088-ENG-2016	$930,000	4-1943	11-1943
Cranes ME - Army Engineers	1088-ENG-2678	$1,417,000	5-1943	6-1944
Crane Parts - Army Engineers		$103,000	6-1943	7-1943
Cranes - Army Engineers	5016-ENG-51	$2,641,000	12-1943	6-1943
Crane Parts - Army Engineers		$96,000	1-1944	3-1944
Cranes - Army Engineers	5016-ENG-187	$3,615,000	5-1944	12-1945
Crane Parts - Army Engineers		$204,000	6-1945	3-1946
Truck Cranes - Army Engineers	5016-ENG-351	$2,766,000	8-1945	6-1946
Total		$25,475,000

*This only has the contract numbers required to complete Table 2A.

Image added 11-1-2023.
Table 2A below only shows 642 of the 1,338 cranes used on the Brockway and Four Wheel Drive 6-ton 6x6 chassis. The serial number information comes from the cover of TM5-1174 shown above. The information for contract 3016-ENG-187 is not visible in the lower right-hand corner of the manual cover. This manual most likely predates contract 5016-ENG-351 that was added late in World War Two.

Table 2A - "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company's Crane Serial Number and Unit Cost Serial number information from TM5-1174. Table added 11-1-2023.
Product - Customer	Contract Number*	Contract Amount	Serial Numbers	Number Built	Unit Cost
Cranes - Army Engineers	1122-ENG-1292	$5,287,000	1683 Thru 1754	72	$73,430*
Cranes - Army Engineers	1088-ENG-2016	$930,000	1755 Thru 1859	105	$8,857
Cranes - Army Engineers	1088-ENG-2243	$819,000	1860 Thru 1955	96	$8,531
Cranes - Army Engineers	5016-ENG-51	$2,641,000	2140 Thru 2508	369	$7,157
Cranes - Army Engineers	5016-ENG-187	$3,615,000	2509 Thru ?	?
Total				642

* The $73,430 value is a power of ten higher than the other three unit costs. There must have been something else included in this contract besides the cranes. The other unit costs are in line with what would be expected for a crane only cost. These cranes were apparently being purchased to be mounted on the Brockway and Four Wheel Drive 6-ton 6x6 chassis shown in Table 3.

Table 3 - 6-ton 6x6 Chassis w/w for "Quick-Way" Crane World War Two Trucks Accepted by Detroit Ordnance, US Army The information below comes from "Summary Report of Acceptances, Tank-Automotive Material, 1940-1945." Published by Army Services Forces, Office, Chief of Ordnance-Detroit, Production Division, Requirements and Progress Branch January 21, 1946.
Manufacturer	Model	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	Total
Brockway Motor Company	C-666				237	609	466	1,312
Four Wheel Drive Auto Company	C-666						26	26
Total					237	609	492	1,338

Table 4 shows that Coleman Motors was contracted to manufacture truck parts, crane parts, and semi-trailers for the war effort. It did not build any trucks directly for the military during World War Two, which indicates that "Quick-Way" directly purchased the trucks. Coleman Motors did produce 720 2-wheel, stake and platform semi-trailers against the contract that was awarded in October 1943.

Table 4 - Coleman Motors' Major World War Two Contracts - Littleton, CO The information below comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945." This was published by the Civilian Production Administration, Industrial Statistics Division.
Product - Customer	Contract Amount	Contract Awarded	Completion Date
Truck Parts - Army Engineers	$170,000	10--1942	12-1943
Crane Parts - Army Engineers	$96,000	5-1943	7-1943
Truck Parts - Army Engineers	$429,000	5-1943	11-1943
Crane Parts - Army Engineers	$119,000	7-1943	11-1943
Semitrailers - Army Ordnance	$1,811,000	10-1943	2-1945
Truck Axle Parts - Army Engineers	$284,000	3-1944	9-1944
Remfg Cargo Trucks - Army Ordnance	$250,000	1-1945	8-1945
Total	$3,159,000

The "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel in Action During World War Two: The first three photos show the crane on a Brockway truck and the last two photos of it on a Coleman truck.

Image added 11-1-2023.

The following photos are a walk-around of the "Quick-Way" crane mounted on Brockway chassis awaiting restoration at the World War II American Experience Museum in Gettysburg, PA. This world-class World War Two museum opened in June 2022. In September 2022, I spent an entire day visiting the museum and its collection of American military vehicles.

This is the brand new World War II American Experience Museum in Gettysburg, PA. I took this photo early in the morning before even the employees and volunteers arrived for work. The artifacts and vehicles on display are in the long section with five windows. Author's photo.

Here is a sample of the many exhibits and vehicles on display in the museum. Museum volunteers are working to add more displays as time permits, as the museum is a work in progress. I have visited many museums, but this is only one of two I have visited that is dedicated strictly to World War Two era displays. For those interested in the era and military vehicles, this is a must-see museum to visit. Author's photo.

The photos below will focus on the Model E crane, which was "Quick-Way's" major contribution to helping win World War Two. Over the past ten years, I have visited many military and historical museums with World War Two vehicles on display. The example at the World War II American Experience Museum is the only example of a "Quick-Way" crane I have seen. In fact, I was only vaguely aware of it. This is just one of several very rare World War Two vehicles at the World War II American Experience Museum.

Also included is information from Technical Manual TM 5-1174 as it applies to the photos. This manual was issued for both the Coleman and Brockway chassis. There are photos of both types in the manual. Image added 11-1-2023.

This "Quick-Way" crane mounted on a Brockway chassis is awaiting restoration at the World War II American Experience Museum in Gettysburg, PA. Author's photo.

This data plate from the crane on the above pictured vehicle indicates it is a Model E, serial number 2526, dated December 1944. Author's photo.

Author's photo.

This image from Technical Manual TM 5-1174 shows the tires at the museum are not of the original type on the vehicle.

This image shows the "Quick-Way" Model E mounted to a Coleman Motors chassis. Attached is a Timpte QW-T8 trailer. According to TM-9-2800, Standard Military Motor Vehicles, dated September 1943, the Coleman version of the "Quick-Way" crane was classified as "Standard-Limited." Image from Technical Manual TM 5-1174.

Image from Technical Manual TM 5-1174.

The standard crane length for the Model E was 25 feet. Two five-foot sections could be added for a 35-foot total length. The one at the museum has the two five-foot extensions added. There are nut plates on the boom where the sections join together. Author's photo.

According to TM-9-2800, Standard Military Motor Vehicles, dated September 1943, this version of the "Quick-Way" crane was classified as "Standard."

Author's photo.

Two of the nut plates can be seen in this photo. Author's photo.

This image from Technical Manual TM 5-1174 shows the operator the limits of operation for the crane.

This Brockway chassis is equipped with a Heil 12,000 pound front winch. Author's photo.

Author's photo.

This view is looking inside the door on the left side of the crane's cab. On the left is part of the crane's hoisting unit. On the right is part of the radiator for the International Harvester U-9 50 HP, four cylinder engine. Author's photo.

Author's photo.

Oh Wow! There are a lot of levers and pedals at the crane operator's position. I wonder what they all do? Author's photo.

Image from Technical Manual TM 5-1174.

This view shows the operator's seat and another view of the hoisting unit. Author's photo.

Image from Technical Manual TM 5-1174.

Author's photo.

Image from Technical Manual TM 5-1174.

The 'Quick-Way" Factory:

This post-World War Two image shows the front of the "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company factory. Image courtesy of the Corbitt Preservation Association.

More "Quick-Way" Truck Shovels and Cranes:

It turns out that this "Quick-Way" Model E on a Brockway chassis is located 16 miles from the World War II American Experience Museum in Gettysburg, PA. I was unaware it was there during my September trip. There are several collections of World War Two vehicles in the Gettysburg, PA area. John Gott photo via Jeff Lakaszcyck added 10-24-2022.

John Gott photo via Jeff Lakaszcyck added 10-24-2022.

In this 1942 Memorial Day parade in Washington, DC, an Autocar U-8144T is on the far side of a "Quick-Way" crane mounted on a Coleman 5-ton 4x4 truck. The tractor on the near side is a Mack NJU. Photo via Jeff Lakaszcyck added 10-24-2022.

This cropped image of the previous photo gives a closer view of not only the "Quick-Way" crane and Coleman truck, but the different crane attachments on the Timpte QW-T8 trailer. Photo via Jeff Lakaszcyck added 10-24-2022.

This World War Two era Coleman 4x4 is leading a series of trucks in a 1950 parade. Photo via Jeff Lakaszcyck added 10-24-2022.

This Coleman chassis appears to be of World War era vintage because it has the winch on the front of the vehicle. Photo via Jeff Lakaszcyck added 10-24-2022.

This vehicle does not have the same standard 35-foot, three piece boom that was built for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War Two. Instead, it has a shovel attached. "Quick-Way" most likely provided kits after the war to convert military surplus vehicles to this configuration. Photo via Jeff Lakaszcyck added 10-24-2022.

1946 'Quick-Way" Bulletin Number E-8 for the Model E Truck Shovel: The company continued after World War Two to produce the Model E for the civilian construction market. The following eight page advertising pamphlet extols the virtues of the Model E as both a truck shovel and truck crane. This pamphlet has been provided by truck historian Jeff Lakaszcyck. These images were added 10-24-2022.