TRANSPORTATION 



More than 90 percent of the shrimp marketed in fresh or frozen 

 forr. is transported from primary markets to consuming centers in trucks. 

 The popularity of truck transport is perhaps best explained by a compar- 

 ison of rates charged in June 1955 by a group of trucking firms operating 

 from the Louisiana-Texas Area to various cities outside these States with 

 comparable railroad rates. Table VII - 1? illustrates this comparison. 



In addition to rate advantages, truck transportation has other 

 virtues, e.g., provisions for "commodity rates" with lovrer minimum loading 

 weight; ability to change routes rapidly in line with changes in the 

 market situation; more attractive drop-off privileges which allov; shippers 

 to deliver part loads at points other than the final consignee's warehouse; 

 and the ability to accept shipments at practically any consignor's plat- 

 form and to deliver them directly to the consignee's platform. 



The relatively low rate for railroad freight shipments from 

 Brownsville, Texas, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York, New York 

 merits special attention. The rate was established in a bid to attract 

 the patronage of the shrimp trade. After being in effect for some time, 

 however, this rate has failed to divert a significant proportion of the 

 shipments over this route to the railroads. Therefore, the railroads 

 have been considering cancellation of the rate. 



Data on rates charged for transporting shrimp between various 

 locations have been compiled by the Freight Rate Service Branch of the 

 Agricultural Marketing Sen^ice of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. The rate schedules — prepared separately for different modes 

 of transportation — are reproduced below. Table VII - 18 shows railroad 

 freight, railway express, common motor carrier, and air freight rates. 



The railway express rates shown in table VII - l8 are higher 

 than the railroad freight and common motor carrier rates. This asm be 

 explained by the additional services performed by Railway Express Agency 

 Inc. Schedules are faster and door to door service is included in the 

 rate. Relatively little shrimp is shipped in this manner, primarily be- 

 cause of the high cost of the service. 



In a similar manner, the air freight rates shown in table 

 VII - 18 are relatively high. Air transport, therefore, is rarely used 

 in the shipment of shrimp products. 



The common motor carrier rates in table VII - l8 are for a 

 selected group of carriers which belong to a motor carrier conference. 

 Non-conference motor carriers are not bound by these rates. Under cer- 

 tain circumstances, depending on the nature of the commodity transported, 

 even conference carriers do not have to adhere to the conference rates. 

 This is true when shrin?) are trucked by the conference carriers. The 

 trucks then fall into the "exempt" category. 



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