The distances over which the fruit was hauled are unknown, but

 citrus dealers and processors are believed to have had longer hauls than

 packinghouses hauling box-fruit. While costs do not vary directly with

 distance hauled, they do increase with longer hauls. On the other hand,

 hauling box fruit is higher than bulk hauling for the same distance.

 Hauling costs per box do not appear to be related to total volume

 hauled. Hauling costs perhaps are affected more by the volume per truck

 owned, and by average distance of haul as well as by the proportion of box

 fruit and tangerines hauled.

 Most operators have stated that hauling costs are about equal for

oranges and grapefruit, but higher for tangerines because of the lighter

loading required.

 Picking and Hauling Costs Combined.--The last three columns in

Table 1 show the average costs for the complete operation of moving of

fruit from the tree to the plant which included picking and hauling combined.

This is obtained by adding together the costs allocated to the separate

services. Oranges cost 52.51 cents per box, grapefruit 41.26 cents, and

tangerines $1.09 for picking and hauling to the plant.

 Many citrus firms, both dealers and packers, contract with other

operators to pick or haul, or both. Contract picking and hauling :car

separated from the expense of the firm's own crews. Rates or amounts paid

contractors are not shown in Table 1 because of the difficulty of deter-

mining the exact service performed and the kind of fruit.


 Variation in Cost Among Firms

 Total cost varied rather widely among firms for providing the same

service. These variations in total costs for picking and hauling in 1962-63