To proviflo a point of reference for evaluating present and prospective 

 systems of live poultry assembly in New England, the number of firms 

 of several sizes needed to assemble output and the systemic costs for 

 selected density levels are indicated in Table 8. 



Table 8. Number of Firms of Selected Sizes Required to Assemble 19.'57 



Volume of Live Poultry in New England and Resulting Systemic 



Costs at Various Volumes per Mile of Truck Travel 



The present live poultry assembly system in New England is char- 

 acterized by the existence of excess capacity. Tf all the trucks owned by 

 assembly firms operating in the region in 1957 had been used at 100 

 percent of capacity, volume handled through the system could have 

 been more than tripled. Processing plants alone could have handled 

 the entire volume. Or. the truck resources of any two of the three next 

 largest groups — contract haulers, contractors, and live-poultry buyers 

 — would have sufficed (Table 9). 



Table 9. Characteristics and Capacity of the System of Live Poultry Assembly 



in New England, 19.^7 



1 Based upon the number and capacity of trucks if each used to haul two full loads 

 per day for 247 operating days. 



32 



