MILK CARTAGE 5 



Location of Farms 



Since all the farms^ throughout the section received farmstead service in 1935, 

 the importance of road type is minimized so far as the milk cartage is concerned. 

 Factors in addition to road surface are probably responsible for the absence of 

 dairying in those towns in which it is relatively unimportant. 



Of the recorded farms in the section, 58 percent are located on or within a mile 

 of main-traveled highways. Many of the others are just beyond this band. A 

 sufficient number of farms lay scattered at outlying distances so that it was nec- 

 essary for truckmen to drive on all types of road to provide a complete pick-up 

 service. 



The significance of farm location in relation to cartage service cannot be over- 

 emphasized. Farmers living at a distance from improved roads might be ex- 

 pected to enjoy year-round farmstead service, rarely if ever, even though they 

 were willing to pay a substantially higher trucking charge than other producers 

 on the route. 



The carriers are also interested in another aspect of farm location. Routes 

 on which farms are spaced relatively near one another have the possibility of 

 being more profitable sources of traffic than routes on which the same sized 

 farms are spaced far apart with the intervals largely rocky, untillable terrain 

 or woodlot. 



Figure 1 shows the location of practically all farms in the section shipping to 

 dealers in the Springfield market area. Farms situated within one mile of a 

 surfaced highway were considered as being on-route; those beyond that band as 

 being off-route. The use of a two-mile band — one mile strip on either side of the 

 main highway — was determined by several considerations. Side roads tend 

 to be better surfaced and cared for, the nearer they are to the main thoroughfare. 

 Carriers might be expected to offer farmstead service to farms on the improved 

 part of the road at no great distance from the surfaced highways. The first zone 

 of a proposed rate structure has a one-mile radius and the use of a band one mile 

 on each side of the through roads was considered consistent. 



Location, determined as previously described, had no influence on cartage 

 rates. A different cartage rate was in force on each route, yet on any particular 

 route, except one, all producers paid the same rate. On the single route having 

 varying rates for different producers, a smaller proportion of producers off-route 

 paid higher rates than those on-route. 



The relationship between location and ratio of deliveries to rating requires 

 additional study. Of the 12 producers with ratings* and satisfactory records 

 to study, 8 were off-route. Sixty percent of the producers whose deliveries were 

 approximately equal to their ratings were off-route, but all of the producers whose 

 deliveries were 150 percent or more of ratings were off-route. With so small a 

 number of producers, no definite conclusions are possible. The indicated pos- 

 sibilities should be considered in terms of a larger group. 



A greater proportion of producers off-route had higher average daily deliveries 

 than did the section as a whole. The modal class in both instances was identical, 

 90-119 pounds per day, and the percentage in the modal class in both groups was 

 approximately the same, 22.9 percent for the off-route producers and 20 percent 

 for the section. The off-route producers had 16 percent of their group below the 

 modal class — a much smaller percentage than the entire section, which had 

 30 percent below the 90-119 pound class. 



Quality indications are confined almost exclusively to butterfat variations. 



'All farms en wliich data could be secured. 



'.\ specified daily quantity of milk which a dealer agrees to buy from a producer. 



