SUGGEST ED LAYOUTS FOR WAREHOUSES FOR SERVICE 

 WHOLESALERS OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 



By Robert K. Bogardus, industrial engineer, 



Transportation and Facilities Branch, 



Marketing Research Division 



As used in this report, the term "service wholesaler" means a wholesale 

 distributor who obtains orders for fruits and vegetables through salesmen or 

 by telephone and who makes deliveries to his customers. Many of these whole- 

 salers are interested in adopting improved methods of handling fruits and 

 vegetables but are finding that these methods cannot be efficiently used in 

 thair old facilities, some of which are antiquated. As a consequence, a 

 number of wholesalers are planning either to construct new facilities or to 

 remodel existing buildings. 



The Agricultural Marketing Service has initiated engineering research to 

 develop detailed plans and specifications for warehouses for different scales 

 of operation in different recjions. The studies will provide service whole- 

 salers with guides and standards for the layout and structural design of 

 warehouses. Initial work covers the design of a warehouse for a dealer 

 handling 1,000 carlots per year in the latitude of Cincinnati, Ohio. The 

 design for this warehouse will be modified to adapt it to weather conditions-- 

 including wind, snow loads, temperatures and humidities — in the New Orleans, 

 La. , and Minneapolis-St . Paul, Minn., areas. 



The purpose of this preliminary report is to present the suggested 

 layouts for service wholesale warehouses that have been completed as a first 

 step in the engineering research. Each of the layouts provides for an effi- 

 cient warehousing operation. A comprehensive report will be prepared on 

 completion of the research. Complete details on the warehouse layout develop- 

 ment, structural design, building materials, specifications, costs of 

 construction, and modifications for locations other than Cincinnati will be 

 included in the later report. 



As a first step in designing the l,UOO-car warehouse, 2 layouts were 

 prepared . 1^/ 



!_/ These layouts were developed by the McPherson Company, Architects 

 and Engineers, Greenville, S. C, under a research contract with the U. S, 

 Department of Agriculture. This contract also covers the design work. 



