The Determinants of Motor Carrier Freight Rates
 for Florida Perishables


 by


 Richard Beilock




 Trucking is the primary mode for shipping Florida perisha-
bles. During the shipping season, over a thousand trucks a day
may leave Florida, each with a unique destination and carrying
one or more of a variety of perishable agricultural products.
Carriers, receivers, shippers and truck brokers are involved in
the markets for transportation services. All parties interact
in a setting free from government regulation of rates, entry,
or service quality.

 Little is known regarding the factors which influence rate
differentials between loads, both within the same time period
and across time. Such information is of importance on several
levels. First, a better understanding of the ratemaking pro-
cess would help shippers and carriers to adjust their opera-
tions to enhance their revenues. Second, it would be of value
to economists and policymakers in assessing the probable im-
pacts of policies relating to the marketing and distribution of
perishables. Finally, information about this transportation
market may provide insights into other transportation markets.
In particular, the workings of an unregulated, competitively
structured transportation market, such as that for Florida
perishables, may indicate how other still regulated or recently
deregulated transportation markets will evolve in the absence
of government intervention.

 This study investigates the effects of carrier status,
 method of load arrangement, and load and shipment characteris-
 tics on freight rates. The specific objectives are to deter-
 mine: