16 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 299 



the use of a car float across the Hudson. Here the car was delivered to the Erie. 

 But the Erie fruit terminal pier is on the New York side, so the car was floated 

 back across the Hudson by the Erie Company. These two floatage movements 

 cost more than the freight charge from Massachusetts to 60th St. yard. As a re- 

 sult the total freight bill amounted to 223 per cent of the freight rate from the point 

 of origin in Massachusetts to New York City. 



Acircumstance like the one just cited might easily destroy the shipper's margin 

 of profit. Routings may be obtained from the local agent of the railroad. Any 

 routing should be checked to see that it will give the minimum freight charge. In 

 the last section of this bulletin on potential markets, minimum cost routings may 

 be found. 



Incidental Services Offered by Rail Carriers 



Most rail carriers offer shippers a choice of several routes over which a car may 

 move under the through rate. The combinations are fixed and are published in 

 the Routing Guides of the various roads. For delivery at some markets, selection 

 from as many as fifty different routes may be made. Representative standard 

 all-rail routings are listed with the descriptions of market facilities. 



A differential all-rail routing may be used on traffic moving to a few cities. The 

 shipments move in part over a Canadian road. The time in transit via this type 

 of routing is supposedly twenty-four hours longer. To compensate for this 

 slower service the rate applicable is lower than over a .standard all-rail routing. 

 On apple shipments the rate is commonly 2 cents per hundredweight less. 



Occasionally a grower might find it advantageous in a market where two or more 

 produce terminals operate to switch a car from one to the other. The railroad per- 

 forms this service under the provisions of tariffs regulating the handling of produce 

 in the particular city. The charge varies with each market. Usually one free 

 movement to a private siding is permitted. Other movements involve at least a 

 reconsigning charge of $6.30 per car. In the discussion of the markets used as 

 illustrations, the actual switching charge applicable is noted. 



If it is desirable to change the delivering carrier after the car is rolling, the car 

 may be diverted. The order requesting diversion should be filed with the local 

 agent before the car passes the diversion point. The charge for this service is 

 $2.70 per car. Before requesting diversion, the grower should find out through the 

 local agent where the car is and whether or not it can be diverted under the through 

 rate plus the diversion charge. 



The supplementary services of diverting, reconsigning and switching are made 

 available so that growers may market their shipments more advantageously. 

 For growers in Massachusetts the need of these special services is not as great as it 

 is for growers farther from the markets. Their utilization by local producers is 

 apt to be for the purpose of meeting an unusual situation. The railroads are ready 

 to meet the request. The change in orders requires varying degrees of additional 

 work from the railroad. The locating of cars, the changing of billing Instructions, 

 etc., are services for which the shipper (grower) should expect to pay. 



Relative A dvanlages A mong Prodticing A reas 



The freight charge is the largest of the costs Incident to the actual handling of 

 apples and reflects most markedly the favorable position which growers in one 

 region have over those in another. Refrigeration charges are an appreciable item 



