Indexes of Transportation Rates 

 For Fishery Products 



The cost of transporting fish from 

 landing place to consumer's table is 

 of concern to many segments of the 

 fishery industries, and especially to 

 producers of fresh and frozen fish 

 and shellfish. Generally speaking, 

 what the commercial fisherman can 

 get for his catch is what is left after 

 marketing costs are deducted from 

 the retail price, or what the con- 

 sumer is willing to pay. Trans- 

 portation charges are a sizable item 

 in the marketing costs for most 

 fishery products; they are the larg- 

 est marketing-cost item for many 

 kinds of fresh and frozen fish. In 

 1948, the fishery industry's trans- 

 portation bill was about $75,000,000 

 (an estimation that excludes the 

 cost of trucks and other delivery 

 methods operated by the industry 

 itself). This transportation bill was 

 7% percent of the total estimated 

 retail expenditure for fishery prod- 

 ucts. In the present competitive 

 food market, fish and shellfish pro- 

 ducers and distributors keep a close 

 watch on transportation charges, 

 well aware that they can mean the 

 difference between profit and loss. 



Fishery products are transported 

 principally by rail freight, rail 

 express (Railway Express Agency), 

 and motor carriers. Air transporta- 

 tion and water transportation are 

 relatively small factors except for 

 the coastal-vessel movement of 



Alaskan production, which is redis- 

 tributed primarily from Seattle, 

 Wash. 



In the period after World War II, 

 rising operating expenses caused rail- 

 roads, the Railway Express Agency, 

 and motor carriers to seek increases 

 in rates and charges, and several 

 increases were authorized by the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission 

 for the railroads and the Railway 

 Express Agency. Motor carriers 

 also obtained some increases. Rate 

 increases have dried up to some 

 extent the distribution of certain 

 fishery items, notably small ship- 

 ments and gift packages. Further 

 increases might put some fish pro- 

 ducers and distributors out of 

 business, particularly distributors 

 of low-priced or rough species. 



Rates have increased considerably 

 in this postwar period for all types 

 of transportation, but the propor- 

 tion of increase has varied for 

 the different types. (See table 7.) 

 The transportation-rate indexes pre- 

 sented here show the changes, from 

 month to month, over the period 

 covered, in the fishery-products 

 rates of the three principal types 

 of carriers, rail freight, rail express, 

 and motor carriers. 



This report supplies information 

 on the trends of rates charged by 

 the various carriers for the trans- 

 portation of fishery products. It 



