Tank-Truck Assembly of Milk 

 for New Hampshire 



By James R. Bowring* 



INCREASED USE of tank trucks and farm tanks in the assembly of milk is 

 affording economies and conveniences to producers and dealers in several 

 of the United States milksheds. This cannot be accepted as a blanket approval, 

 however. An appraisal of the conditions specific to each market or milkshed 

 is an essential procedure before investment in or change to tank assembly 

 can be advocated as universally beneficial. Moreover, the conditions under 

 which this system is beneficial should be determined. 



Any techniques which reduce costs or increase efficiency in the pro- 

 duction and processing of milk are welcome to an industry which is facing 

 growing competition for its products. Tank-truck assembly can therefore best 

 be evaluated where it permits cost reductions to the industry as a whole and 

 where it improves the competitive position of this industry in a particular 

 area. 



There are four distinct functional operations in the sale of milk. They 

 are: production, assembly, processing, and distribution. As so defined, pro- 

 duction is limited to the farm operations of milking and animal husbandry. 

 Assembly is the collection from farms and delivery to the processor or dealer. 

 Processing refers to those plant operations necessary for the bottling of whole 

 milk and the preparation of milk products. Distribution is the final step of 

 getting milk and milk products into the hands of the consumers. 



A reduction in costs in any one of these operations may be retained by 

 that sector to improve its cost position, or it may be passed forward to con- 

 sumers either as lower prices or as improved quality, or passed backward to 

 producers as higher prices. It is necessary therefore to decide what economies, 

 if any, are possible from the adoption of tank handling, and to estimate how 

 the distribution of benefits and costs between producers and dealers Avould 

 influence the dairy industry in New Hampshire. 

 Review of Literature 



Studies by Clarke** and by Baum and Paulsf claim cost savings from 

 tank trucks in assembly as volume increases under the conditions peculiar 

 to California and Western Washington. 



Twiningi describes the bulk handling of milk in the Washington, D. C, 

 milkshed. This provides information on a current operation where the ma- 

 jority of herds are 75 cows and over, and describes the generally favorable 

 impressions of 57 producers cooperating in the study. 



*Associate Agricultural Economist, New Hampshire Agricultural Exoeriment Station 



**Clarke, D. A., Jr. A Comparative Analysis of the Costs of Operating Milk Col- 

 lection Routes by Can and Tank in California, Giannini Foundation of Agricultural 

 Economics, Berkeley, Calif., Mimeo. Report 91, October, 1947. 



fBaum, E. L., and Pauls, D. F. A Comparative Analysis of Costs of Farm Collection 

 of Milk by Can and Tank in Western Washington. Washington Agr. Exp. Station, Pull- 

 man Tech. Bull. No. 10, 1953. 



^Twining, C. R. Bulk Handling of Milk in the Washington^ D. C, Milkshed. M. S. 

 Thesis, University of Maryland, 1953. 



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