Motor transport columns (Etappen-Kraftwagenkolonnen) usually were comprised of 17 standard army trucks (Armee-Lastzüge) with trailers. The trucks had a load capacity of four metric tons and the trailers two tons; this combination gave the motor transport columns a total load capacity of 102 tons—almost twice the capacity of heavy horse-drawn columns with their 62 wagons. Nine trucks could carry 54 tons and had almost the same load capacity as one heavy horse-drawn column. The motor transport columns could move at an average speed of about 30 kilometers per hour and had an average range of 100 kilometers before they needed to refill with gasoline. Some Etappen-Inspektionen mobilized light motor transport columns (leichte Etappen-Kraftwagenkolonnen). These light columns comprised 15 trucks with three metric tons load capacity and no trailers, 45 tons in total. These columns were identical to the motor transport columns of cavalry divisions.
These figures alone demonstrate how efficient such motor transport columns were compared with horse-drawn columns. They were particularly useful if an army advanced into enemy territory whose railway system had been destroyed—an eventuality that was anticipated in Belgium and northern France during the logistic planning for a campaign in the west.
In 1914, only 9,639 trucks were registered in Germany and, of these, few were standard army trucks.The government subsidized these trucks if private owners purchased the exact specifications and held them ready for mobilization. Besides these standard trucks, civilian trucks were requisitioned soon after the mobilization. To avoid severe transportation shortages within Germany, only a certain percentage of the available trucks could be taken up in this way. Based upon the number of all mobilized motor transport formations, it can be estimated that about 2,000 trucks were requisitioned upon mobilization.
In all, about 4,000 motor vehicles were mobilized together with 8,000 drivers and mechanics, who operated and maintained these vehicles. This number includes all passenger cars mobilized for higher staffs and for communications purposes. The German Volunteer Automobile Corps (Deutsches Freiwilliges Automobil-Corps) that was founded in 1904 under the lead of Prinz Heinrich v. Preußen (the brother of the Kaiser) played a vital role in supporting the mobilization of automobiles in numbers far larger than had been planned for before the war.
