, 1935-03-31
BY e. q. MILES


matter Of paramount Importance Il
the producers Of vegetables and cit,
rus fruit in the Rio Grande VALLEY
and the Gulf coast Of Texas Few
farmers fully understand the true
significance Of the bills which have
been presented TO the present legis.
lature in an attempt on the part O
the motor interests to raise the max.
imum load for trucks. Very Otter
farmer organizations take haSty anC
regrettable action on matters involv,
ing marketing and transportation
without consulting sales and traffic
managers and shippers who. by rea-
son OF their work and experience
are qualified to give the farmers
very good advice on matters about
which the farmer himself knows very
little. II cannot be expected that the
producer, who puts In all his time
growing his product, can be as in
timately acquainted with sales. mar
keting and transportation problems
as the men who r engaged in this
kind Of work.
There are two kinds Of truckers
the contract" or "for hire" truck
er who receives q stiplated amount
for his service by weight Dr. distance,
or both. This type Of trucker has
been a great aid TO the distribution
Of agricultural products to small
towns which cannot handle CARROTS,
The benefits received by reason OF
the 'for hire" trucker have been
offset, however, In Texas and its
border states on his own account
and who has completely demoraliz-
ed u market for periShable prod
ucts In the southern states west OF
the Mississippi river and as far north
as Nebraska.
Unfortunately, our state laws up to
this time do not differentiate be-
tween the "peddler" and the for hire
trucker. 80 that any Of the present
bills which have been introduced in
the legislature which raise the max
imum tonnage for all trucks neces-
Sarily apply TO the "peddler' truck
err, so that he may carry his wares
farther and enlarge the territory In
which the maket for our vegetables
and citrus may be demoralized. The
present load Is 1000 pounds, and If
this Is raised, the peddler will come
to the Valley, buy O load OF oranges
ana grapefruit, cabbage or carrots,
or other perishables and peddle them
as far as he can 90 at q profit and
perhaps farther.
For the benefit Of those who are
not actually engaged IN the sell
ing Of our products and not informed
on these matters, IL might be well 10
further explain Just how our mar
kets are demoralized by the ped
der trucker. Wherever the peodler
trucker goes. It Is impossible TO sell
in carload lots. The advantage In
selling in carload lots IN towns OF
sufficient size lies in the fact that
the jobbers in such towns all buy
at approximately the same price,
which is set in the Valley by our CO.
operatives and other shippers. The
freight Is the same for each carload
going TO different jobbers In the same
town. II there are two or three JOB
bers In a carlot town. they add on
their margin and quote about the
same price TO the retailers for the
same grade OF goods. II the town
cannot be reached by peddler truck
ers. the merchants handling Valley
products in the smaller towns order
from the jobbers In the carlot cen
ter. q few boxes at a time, and these
are hauled by for hire" truckers
out TO the smaller towns from the
carlot center at @ specified rate.
along with flour. sugar and other
merchandise needed by the mer-
chant in the smaller centers. These
small competitive merchants In the
different towns. therefore. have to
pay the same price for their grape
fruit, oranges and vegetables which
they buy from the jobbers in the car
lot towns and. konwing this. they
have confidence IN their ability 10
sell our products 70 the public at
the same price as their competitor
in the next block.
In other words. there is an estab-
lished market price in these small
towns.
This IL not the case In the ter
ritory in which the "peddler" truck
er penetrates. For the sake OF ar
gument. let US assume that ' at q
given time several truckers buy
grapefruit at the same price in the
Valley, and that on their routes
they 20 70 some town the size of
Waco. On arrival there they 90 from
one retailer TO another, asking
varying prices. destroying the re-
tailer's confidence in the market Of
the produce they carry. A retail
buyer In one block Is afraid to buy
from one trucker at his price. for
he knows that within the next hour
or two the same trucker. or another
one. viii be at his competitors
door In the same block quoting diff
ferent OF lower prices. Therefore,
the retailer loses confidence I'm his
10 buy Is chearly rs his
competitor and TO sell the truckers