Don't Waste Transportation
Home-front travel-restraint poster from a railroad trade body: a block of statistics on Pullman cars and coaches assigned to troop service sits over red-and-white stripes, with an illustration of soldiers talking and reading in a crowded rail car. The figures are chosen to show scarcity, and the closing request is to plan ahead, avoid week ends and holidays, and travel light.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Association of American Railroads
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Association of American Railroads. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-701 (NAID 514182).
Text on the object
Don't Waste TRANSPORTATION Of the 6,800 Pullman sleeping cars and 17,500 passenger coaches on the railroads today, a large part are assigned to troop service-and the armed forces have first call on all the rest. Essential travel on war business-men on furlough-tire shortage and gasoline rationing-all add to the demand for space on the trains. That demand must be met with the cars we have-other war needs make it impossible to get any more. So please help the other fellow who must travel-and help yourself-and help us to get the best use out of what we have. Don't Waste Transportation Plan ahead-avoid week ends and holidays-travel light. Association of AMERICAN RAILROADS
