RAILROAD AND TRUCK RATES AND MOVEMENTS OF FRESH FRUITS 
AND VEGETABLES FROM FLORIDA 
by Ezekiel Limmer 
Transportation and Facilities Branch 
Marketing Research Division 
Agricultural Marketing Service 
INTRODUCTION 
The sharp reduction in the share of the traffic hauled by the railroads 
has been one of the principal changes in the marketing of fresh fruits and 
vegetables in the past 30 years, Numerous studies have shown that much of the 
tonnage has been diverted to motortrucks, ay Almost from the beginning of 
this development, the question has been raised as to why the diversion from 
railroads to trucks has occurred, Many reasons have been advanced, generally 
based on the, opinions of shippers and receivers of freight. 2/ Although 
_ faster and more flexible service by trucks is sometimes indicated as the chief 
reason, lower transportation costs for highway transportation are always re- 
sported as an important influence. 
This report contains a comparison of truck and rail rates in 1952 for 
8 important fruits and vegetables shipped from Florida to 18 leading markets. Sy) 
ab Recent studies by the U. 5S. Department of Agriculture include: Trucks Haul 
Increased Share of Fruit and Vegetable Traffic, by Church, Donald ~,, and 
Snitzler, James R., April 1953, and Tran ans portation of Selected Agricultural Com- 
modities to Leading Markets by Rail and Motortruck, 1939-50, by Limmer, Ezekiel, 
June 1951. 
2/ See for example, the following publications of the U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture: Transportation of Apples in the Appalachian n Belt, 1952-53, by Snitzler, 
James R,, August 1955 Transportation and Handling of Grain by Motortruck in the 
Southwest, by Hudson, William J,, and Henschen, Earl K., May 1952; Commercial 
Trucking of Fruits and Vegetables in Nine Atlantic Coast States, bv ~Forelbere, 
Nephtune, and Mumford, Herbert W., Jr., September 1937; and Use of Motortrucks 
in Marketing Fruits and Vegetables, by Rasmussen, Marius, September 1937. 
3/ The commodities are beans (snap), cabbage, celery, corn (green), grapefruit, 
oranges, potatoes, and tomatoes. These were the principal fresh fruits and vege- 
tables shipped from Florida for which truck rates were available. These commodi- 
ties include all fresh fruits and vegetables with shipments of at least 7,000 car- 
lot equivalents from Florida in 1952, with one exception. The exception was 
‘watermelons, for which truck rates could not be obtained, As a group, these com- 
modities accounted for over three-fourths of the total shipments of ele fruits 
and vegetables from Florida in 1952. 
The markets analyzed are the following: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, 
Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, 
Oakland, Philadelphia, Portland, Oreg., St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, and 
Washington, D, ©, These were all the markets for which statistics of both rail 
and truck unloads were available for the foregoing commodities in 1952. Ship- 
ments of these commodities to these markets as a group accounted for ) percent 
of the total shipments of such commodities from Florida in that year, The data 
on Oakland unloads were combined with those for San Francisco, as rail and truck 
rates to the two markets are identical. 
The foregoing statistics as to volume of shipments are based upon data ob- 
tained by the Market News Brench, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS. 
