DEMITEEAGE INPOEMATIOlSr FOR FAKMEES. 11 



adoption of umforni techmcal terms. In some instances correspond- 

 ence with a commission has developed the fact that the secretary at 

 least did not have an adequate understanding of the subject of demur- 

 rage or of how the commission interpreted certain rules. Too many 

 of them have promulgated regidations which, if not making directly 

 for car inefficiency, at least do nothing to promote car efficiency. All 

 of them serve as an index to the abuses from which shippers have suf- 

 fered at the hands of carriers, as is evidenced from the incorporation 

 in them of many provisions having little or nothing to do with 

 demurrage. 



Among such provisions are "reciprocal demurrage," storage regu- 

 lations for less than caiload shipments, limiting time of shipments in 

 transit, methods of ordering cars, penalties for failure to receive cars 

 promptly from a connecting line, giving preference in movement to 

 shipments of live stock and perishable, making pennissible a charge 

 for the empty haul of a car ordered and not used, prescribing method 

 of notice of arrival for shipper's order shipments, requiring carriers 

 to notify consignor of refusal of shipment by consignee and making 

 consignor liable for storage and demurrage charges after such refusal, 

 providing that cars will not be placed or forwarded for shippers in 

 arrears in payment of demurrage, requiring carriers to furnish grain 

 doors, and other similar provisions. 



The success of intrastate codes in promoting car efficiency will 

 depend a great deal on the personnel of the individual State commis- 

 sion and on whether or not it can initiate complaints or can act only 

 on complaints filed with it. The force of commendable provisions 

 m State codes differing from the interstate code are entirely lost in 

 dealing with cars containing, or ordered for, interstate shipments. 

 Consequently the success of such provisions in increasing car efficiency 

 will depend directly upon what proportion of the business in the State 

 is purely intrastate. This will vary from a very high percentage in 

 large States like CaUfomia and Texas to a very low figure in small 

 States like Delaware and Rhode Island. The proportions will depend 

 to some extent upon the size of the State and its population, but to 

 a greater extent upon what proportion of the State's products are 

 marketed and consumed within the State. 



'ITiore are no statistics availa])lc showing for the different States 

 what proportion of the total tonnage handled by the roads of each 

 State is purely intrastate business. Nor are there any figures avail- 

 able showing by States, what percentage of the total tonnage, either 

 intranstate or interstate, consists of agricultm-al products. It may be 

 of iut/^rest, hf>wever, to note that for th(^ fiscal year ending June 80, 

 1012, ugrifiiilturul products anKJunted to 5.05 per cent of the total 

 tonnage handled by the roads in the East, 8.20 per cent of the total 



