June, 1938] The Transportation of New Hampshire Milk 17 



differing characteristics of the two sets of routes may be found in the 

 different reactions of independent truckers and distributors to the op- 

 portunities offered for employment of energy and resources in the 

 trucking of milk. 



In the first place, the independent trucker ordinarily is either already 

 trucking milk when he purchases a new truck or purchases his truck 

 with the idea in mind of trucking milk. Hence, he tends to purchase a 

 truck of the type and capacity best suited to the route which he is al- 

 ready operating or is planning to operate. In the Connecticut valley 

 the typical truck used to haul milk was of II/2 tons capacity. Routes 

 with trucks of less than that capacity usually hauled relatively small 

 loads of milk with consequent small daily returns. 



It seems probable, therefore, that few independent truckers planning 

 to continue in the trucking business or to enter the business would pur- 

 chase trucks of less than II/2 tons capacity. And in order to use such 

 trucks to their best advantage operators would ordinarily plan on 

 handlings of at least 2,000 pounds of milk daily. 



Small distributors, on the other hand, do not ordinarily purchase 

 equipment for the purpose of collecting milk from producers. Trucks 

 are ordinarily bought with an eye to delivery needs where light trucks 

 are usually used. Since many of the distributor routes are operated 

 by dealers buying from less than 10 producers, some of whom may bring 

 their own milk to the dealer's plant, a truck of small capacity can haul 

 all the milk on one trip. Because the equipment is already available — 

 the delivery truck — and because time spent in collecting milk may be 

 more profitably used than in the distributing end, and also because of 

 such less tangible returns as daily personal contact with the producer, 

 delivery of milk at the plant when most convenient, and so forth, the 

 small distributor has tended to haul his own milk. 



Apparently, it is this ability to use time and resources more profit- 

 ably in collecting milk than in enlarging the distributive end of the busi- 

 ness, that has led to the formation and operation of many of these dis- 

 tributors' routes. Possibly in a few cases, some monopolistic element 

 by which the distributor could charge rates higher than those necessary 

 to provide the service has led to route operation by distributors in New 

 Hampshire, but instances in which this is the prime motive seem rare. 

 This matter will be discussed at some length in the sections dealing 

 with trucking charges. 



Trucking Charges Under Conditions of Perfect Competition 



If equipment and man power were employed to their best possible 

 advantage, and if producers in the milkshed had their milk hauled at 

 charges set on a freely competitive basis, such an analysis of those 

 charges as that contained in the following sections of this studj^ would 

 be unnecessary. But it is evident that such a situation does not exist 

 in New Hampshire. Diagrams of truck routes in Lancaster and 

 Nashua show considerable duplication of distance traveled. The use 

 of trucks of 11/2 tons capacity for hauling as little as 600 pounds of 

 milk in the flush season indicates equipment not employed to its best 

 advantage. With such duplication of mileage and equipment, reor- 



