REDUCING COSTS OF LESS-THAN-TRAILER-LOAD PURCHASES BY GROCERY DISTRIBUTION FIRMS

A continuing research program in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find more efficient and economical systems for moving agricultural products from producer to consumer is reported. The program measured the cost of less-than- trailer (LTL) receiving, and developed and evaluated procedures for reducing both the number and cost of LTL receipts. Savings estimates in receiving costs, because of a reduced number of LTL shipments and increased frequency of utilized LTL shipments, were developed for a varying number of receivings per week. The potential savings when inventory turnover is increased by more frequent deliveries to be achieved by more combination and shared loads was also determined. The most obvious way of lowering the cost of LTL receiving appears to be to change LTL to full-trailer- load (FTL) shipments. The extent of labor savings depends on whether the driver's time during unloading is included in worker-hours per load. The advantages of shared and combined loads are noted.

• Corporate Authors:

  Department of Agriculture

  Economic Research Service
  Washington, DC  United States  20250
• Publication Date: 1980-8

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 25 p.
• Serial:
  • Marketing Research Report
  • Issue Number: 1113
  • Publisher: Department of Agriculture

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Agriculture; Costs; Freight traffic; Perishables; Physical distribution; Reduction (Chemistry); Retail trade; Savings; Shipments; Trucks
• Old TRIS Terms: Receiving; Reduction
• Subject Areas: Finance; Freight Transportation; Highways; Motor Carriers; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00325033
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 15 1981 12:00AM