38 BULLETIN 1150, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
and the danger of overemphasizing the importance of minor details 
or drawing conclusions from an extreme instance is reduced. 
Whether the expenses are reduced to one rate per 100 pounds or 
split up into several rates and applied on different bases, present prac- 
tice seems to favor having each shipment bear its own expenses. 
There is some tendency, however, particularly among the older asso- 
ciations, to favor a fixed rate of expense applying over a period of 
time. The chief argument in favor of this method is that it spreads 
the risk of variations in expenses over a larger number of cars. The 
variations in the expenses of different shipments are likely to be 
greater in the case of small associations than large ones because of 
the greater difficulty in getting enough live stock to make a full load 
without excessively delaying shipments. Differences as high as 20 
cents per 100 pounds are not uncommon. Certainly it is no fault 
of the shipper when his live stock happens to be included in a ship- 
ment which, because of short weight or for other reasons, incurs rela- 
tively high expenses. It seems entirely logical to spread this risk 
over a number of cars, just as the risk of loss due to dead or crippled 
animals is spread. | 
Another argument in favor of this method is that the shipper 
knows beforehand just what it will cost to ship. Furthermore the 
work involved in prorating is reduced to the minimum. 
If the fixed rate is to be applied fairly, however, it must take into 
consideration differences in the costs of shipping the different species 
of live stock both in straight and mixed loads, seasonal differences 
in costs, and differences in the costs of shipping to the different acces- 
sible markets. Many associations apply, even on carlot shipments 
owned by a single shipper, rates which reflect the difference in the 
amount of service required in handling them. 
FILLING OUT THE PRORATING SHEET. 
The steps followed in calculating the returns for shipment No. 
111, the prorating sheet for which appears in Figure 3 on page 7, 
are as follows: 
1. Insert shipment number, date, shipping point, car number and 
railway in the spaces provided therefor. 
2. Fill in the blanks under “expenses.” The freight and ter- 
minal expenses will be obtained from the account sales received 
from the commission company and in this case amount to $103.63. 
Assume the home expenses to be as follows: 
Manager’s commission (6 cents per 100 pounds on market weight of 
15-905). DOUNGS) ole a te eee ee $9. 54 
Insurance fund (one-half of 1 per cent of gross market value of 
SLED SG Sos 03) ae Sisal lin epic aio tl pete Sek Teal hg SSeS yo Ss 7. 78 
Local earvexpense-(S bushels: corn at 50 cents) os) ss ee ee 4.00 
Dues (State; association): 022222) 205 tt eee ye ee See . 50 
il 3) 9 a Ae eee Caen ely SCs Pees Sy See a eS 21. 82 
3. Calculate the rate of expense per 100 pounds by dividing the 
total expense, $125.45, by the market weight, 15,905 pounds (market 
weight includes dockage, if any), which gives a result of 78.87 cents 
per 100 pounds. 
To avoid the awkward fraction in figuring the expenses, a rate 
of 79 cents per 100 pounds is used in calculating each shipper’s 
expenses in this illustration. 
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