Labor and Management Costs 



w 



Pickup labor, truck drivers, and crew foremen receive hourly wages 

 of $1.26. $1,58, and S2.27. Tbese wages include five percent fringe ben- 

 efits and are typical for the industry. 



Firm A presents some difficulties in deciding on labor payments. 

 For instance, at the 5,000 pound per square mile per year density level, 

 the foreman and pickup labor work 4.38 hours on assend^ly. This is less 

 than half of a full day and requires some consideration of the rest of the 

 day. It is assumed that other alternative employments are available in 

 the poultry industry for the rest of the day. For instance, after assembly 

 is completed the crew can go into the processing plant and work an addi- 

 tional four to six hours on eviscerating, packing, or maintenance. With 

 most other sizes of firms and densities the crew works more than nine 

 hours on assembly. 



The labor cost for each size of assembly firm at the 5,000 pound 

 density level is shown in Table 5. The cost for pickup labor and crew 

 foremen is the sum of the time spent by the crew traveling from plant 

 to farm, loading trucks, and returning to the plant, multiplied by the 

 appropriate wage rate. For truck drivers the cost is the amount of time 

 spent traveling to the farm, helping to load, and returning to the plant, 

 multiplied by the driver wage rate. Driver time starts when he steps 

 into the truck to begin the trip to the farm and ends when he gets back 

 to the plant and parks. If the truck takes more than one trip, the driver 

 time includes the time at the plant necessary to unload and reload the 

 truck, that is, the turn around time. The driver does not service the 

 truck. The cost to the assembly firm of servicing is included elsewhere 

 as part of repairs and maintenance. Unloading and loading crates and 

 shifting truck's position is done by the receiving crew at the plant and 

 the cost of these is covered by the processing plant. 



Table 5. Labor Use and Cost for Six Model Assembly Firms 

 at the 5,000 Pounds Per Square Mile Per Year Density Level 



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