SHIPPING
The means of facile transportation and the machinery of trade are the
need and the development of a complex civilization. The importance of
these useful adjuncts of everyday life is indicated by the fact that
about one-fourth of all the people engaged in gainful occupations in
civilized communities are employed in them. Nevertheless the expense
of transportation and trade constitutes a tax upon the consumer which
it is the aim of modern methods to reduce to the lowest limits. Recent
investigations indicate that for every thirteen dollars the consumer
expends for farm products the producers receive six dollars. In some
directions most remarkable results have been accomplished. A recent
quotation on wheat per bushel was as follows: Chicago, $0.93; Antwerp,
$1.04; London, $1.06; Hamburg, $1.07. Eleven to 14 cents per bushel
represents the cost of haul and commissions between Chicago and the
European cities named. Methods of handling have been so perfected that
from the time the western farmer places the bundle of wheat at the
mouth of the threshing machine the grain literally flows through the
channels of trade until it reaches the flour sack. On an average the
English miller pays about 20 cents a bushel more for wheat than the
American farmer receives for it.
The cost of distributing many other farm products is greater, although
the range of distribution is much less. The cost of haulage and
selling potatoes is from 25 to 50% of the retail price, while with hay
it is still higher. The cost of distributing all forms of truck and
market garden produce is high and often wasteful. Many attempts have
been made to eliminate a part of this cost as well as to better the
conditions of the supplies when they reach the consumer. While many
individuals have been quite successful in dealing directly with the
consumer, little has thus far been accomplished that affects general
trade conditions. Great improvements have been made in methods of
transportation and methods of preservation. Cold storage and canned
goods have been the direction in which progress has been notable.
WASTEFUL METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION
Owing to customs and traditions there is frequently a great waste of
effort in some of the methods of trade. The meat trade of France is an
excellent illustration. Certain sections of France make a specialty of
rearing cattle. At a suitable age these animals are purchased by other
farmers who fatten them. Many of the small towns maintain market
places at which fairs are held to facilitate these negotiations.
Frequently there is a shipment from one region to another, which is
conducted by a middleman. When fattened the steers are collected by a
stock buyer, who may ship them to La Villette, the live stock market
of Paris. Here they are placed on sale through commission men. There
are the usual charges for yardage and food. After being sold the
animals are driven to the slaughterhouses. The carcasses are then
taken by wagon to the great market of Paris located near the center of
the city. Here the retail vender of meats comes, makes his purchase,
reloads the meat, which may have been unloaded less than an hour
before, carries it to his shop, where the consumer seeks it. The
number of people concerned and the amount of hand labor have been
excessive.
Nor is the American system without its faults. The Iowa or Illinois
farmer fattens cattle that may have been reared in Montana or Texas.
After the stock buyer, the commission man and the stock yard company
have each taken his toll, the packer ships the carcasses back to the
very region where the animals were fattened, when the stockman may
purchase it of the local vender of meats. The facilities and
perfection with which these many transactions are accomplished is one
of the wonderful sights of our country. Nevertheless the producer of
meat products may well consider whether some more economical system of
distribution may not be devised.
SHIPMENTS: SOURCES OF INFORMATION
All railroad rates are now carefully supervised by the federal
government and are open to the inspection of the public. Such
information as is ordinarily needed may be obtained from the local
station agent, who is always glad to be of service to patrons of his
road. If information of a special character is required, it may be
obtained by addressing the division freight agent of the railroad in
the region under consideration. The name of this officer is to be
found in the circulars and upon the posters of the railroad.
In addition to the freight facilities offered by any individual
railroad, there are what are known as fast freight lines. These
agencies enable through and prompt shipment from inland points in our
own country to inland points in another. An individual railroad may
operate in connection with several such agencies. A certain railroad,
for example, is combined with nine fast freight lines. Freight agents
of local roads in the principal towns usually represent the fast
freight lines and are prepared to transact business.
In seaport cities there are firms styling themselves foreign freight
contractors, outward freight agents, steamship agents, or ship
brokers. These firms are prepared to quote prices on shipments to any
part of the world on either regular or tramp ships. They will give
freely to intending shippers full information concerning methods and
conditions of shipment. There is nothing mysterious about the business
of shipping farm products. The necessary details may be acquired by
inquiry in the channels indicated and by a little study of the data,
which will be cheerfully furnished.
RAILROAD RATES
A great many factors are involved in determining the rate which is
charged for transporting different products. In a certain sense it is
doubtless true that the rate charged is based upon what the traffic
will bear. The purpose here, however, is to state some of the customs
which exist rather than to discuss the philosophy or justice of them.
The rate may vary with the value of the product, without any regard to
the cost of the haul. Suppose the cost of shipping a ten-gallon can of
fresh milk between two points to be 32 cents, the cost of shipping a
similar can of cream may be 50 cents. The cost of shipping a carload
of hay is less than a carload of wheat.
In some instances, zones or belts have been recognized, the rate from
all towns within each zone being the same for a given product. Certain
railroads centering in New York recognize four zones for the shipment
of milk and cream, as follows:
Zone A--First 40 miles.
Zone B--Between 40 and 100 miles.
Zone C--Between 100 and 190 miles.
Zone D--Beyond 190 miles.
It will be noticed that the size of these zones varies and may be the
subject of adjustment between railroads and shippers.
While less understood by the public, railroads recognize zones or,
more properly, groups of towns in making rates to them instead of from
them, as in the instance above mentioned. It is possible to change the
rate on a product to a given town by classifying it in another group.
The rate on bran and other stock foods from central western points to
certain towns in New York state has been the same as that charged to
Boston, Mass., while other towns in New York not far removed have
taken a lower rate.
Differential rates are recognized to be legitimate. Railroads are
allowed to charge a less rate for wheat intended for export than that
intended for local consumption. There has sometimes been a wide
difference between the freight rate on wheat between Kansas City and
Galveston, Texas, depending upon whether the wheat was to be exported
or intended for domestic use.
In certain sections and for certain products the railroad rate varies
with the season, because of difference in competition. The railroad
rate between Chicago and New York on grain is higher while the
navigation of the Great Lakes is suspended. As an illustration of the
cheapness of transportation by water, it is stated that sometimes it
is cheaper to ship wheat from Chicago to Buffalo by boat than to store
it in a grain elevator for an equal period of time.
Products may sometimes be sent by baggage to greater advantage than by
express, special arrangements for which are generally required.
FACILITIES FOR FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION
American railway facilities are, perhaps, unrivaled among the nations
of the world, but the United States is still behind other nations in
the matter of means of local transportation, in which good roads is
only a part of the problem. In France, the so-called _messagers_ are a
common feature of local traffic. Thus in the Department of Touraine
there are 246 towns each having from one to four _messagers_, who with
their great two-wheel carts, each with single draft horse, make one or
two trips to Tours each week. The _messagers_ carry freight both ways
precisely in the same capacity as railroads do. While the railroads
are fairly abundant these local agencies continue to thrive because
delivery can be made directly to the consignee and delivery at the
exact time and place is more certain. The enormous loads conveyed in
these two-wheel carts by one horse is an element in this system to
which the good roads of France now contribute. In 1799, France had
constructed 25,000 miles of roadway. Since that time, over 300,000
miles of roadway have been completed and about 30,000 miles of railway
have been constructed--ten miles of roadway for each mile of steam
railway. The good roads of France are of comparatively recent origin,
contributing materially to the improvement in well-being which has
taken place during the same period.