amount of time the feed dealer is willing to have his driver spend in "good 

 will" and "service work". These two operations can contain decided in- 

 efficiencies; solving them can only come about through cooperation and 

 mutual savings. 



While on the average, delay time on the route amounted to only 2.5 

 percent of other route time, there was wide variation due to circumstances. 

 Some factors, which were actually delaying, were measured in some instances 

 as part of other operations. Some examples of these were: 



(1) Included under "position": "car stuck in drive"; "locked door"; 

 "very poor and crooked drive"; "inquire where to unload". 



(2) Included under "unloading": "empty the bags"; "long carry"; 

 "difficult locations"; throwing or carrying to upper floors; "had to carry 

 around tools in barn floor"; "stop on main road, carry in on back"; "carry 

 75 feet to dairy". 



(3) Included under "collect and reorder": "lonesome old man, wanted 

 to visit"; "new calf born while at this farm"; "leave advertising material"; 

 "bags for return". 



Some of the situations actually recorded as "delays", and for which 

 time was segregated were as follows: "get Town Report"; "stuck in soft 

 ditch"; "find party"; "inquire where to unload"; "place for sale — customer 

 moved away"; "call on old customers"; "stop at bank"; "talk with Field 

 Representative"; "bags returned"; "assist the farmer in the field"; "wait 

 for truck to unload and clear driveway"; "shut doors on inside and wait 

 for man"; "in Post Office"; "inquire location of new customers". 



Most of the factors causing delays or slower rates of accomplishment 

 cannot be measured in averages because of their very nature. However 

 some of the unloading problems are compared in Table 16. These data, 

 while based on only a few parallel observations, are indicative of the ex- 

 cessive time required under difficult unloading conditions. 



Table 16. Relative Unloading Times Under Specified Circumstances, 



Selected Data 



Index Number of 

 Unloading Time 

 Circumstances per 100 lbs. 



1st floor unloading, average condition 100 



Carrying to 2nd floor 125 



Carrying to 3rd floor 300 



1st floor unloading, emptying bags 250 



Long carrying distance from truck to grain room 400 



The procedures for returning used grain bags differed between com- 

 panies. Some gave the producer the alternative of shipping to a bag company 

 or returning bags via the grain truck; other companies left the matter en- 

 tirely up to a bag plant. In some instances the initiative for counting, 

 bundling, and tagging bundles of bags rested with the producer; in others 

 the grain dealer performed this service. In the latter situation, route time 

 was increased once again by the willingness of the grain dealer to perform 

 additional services without charge to keep accounts. 



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