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Throughout the principal fresh fruit and vege- including backhauls, to determine the combina- table (FFV) growing areas in southeastern and tions of these prices and usage levels necessary southwestern states, trucking is the dominant to make TOFC competitive with trucking for mode for transporting fresh produce to the transporting fresh fruits and vegetables from the northeast and upper Midwest. The dramatic shift Southwest and the Southeast. to trucks in the last 30 years has virtually dis- Two major simplifications are made in the placed the railroads from FFV transportation. In analysis. First, the costs associated with trans- 1950, 63 percent of all interstate FFV surface portation service quality (speed, reliability, etc.) traffic was by truck. By 1980, the trucking indus- are not estimated and are given only cursory try's share had increased to 90 percent (USDA, treatment. Johnson, Kolsen, and others have 1950, 1980), and in some regions, such as Texas correctly pointed out that rational modal choice and Florida, trucking accounts for more than 98 decisions involve consideration of the full or ef- percent of the FFV traffic (Table 1). However, fective costs of transportation alternatives, energy savings, or efficiency and fuel cost con- which includes both direct and service quality cerns, as well as a growing apprehension among costs. There are three reasons for the tangential producers and shippers that there are dangers as- treatment of service costs. First, service quality sociated with almost total dependence on one costs are likely to be highly commodity specific. mode of agricultural transportation, emphasize For example, shippers of perishable and fragile the need for analyses of alternative perishable commodities would be expected to be more sen- produce delivery systems. sitive to differences in transit times and handling The feasibility of employing intermodal trans- practices than would shippers of longer-lived and portation of FFV, specifically trailer-on-flatcars more durable produce (Miklius et al.). Second, (TOFC) or piggyback shipments, to alleviate the recent technical, managerial, and regulatory de- transportation concerns of southern producers velopments lead to the expectation that service and shippers is examined. TOFC costs and truck- quality differences between trucking and TOFC ing costs are generated over a spectrum of fuel will narrow. Among these developments are new prices and TOFC equipment utilization levels, intermodal vehicle and handling techniques, par- TABLE 1. Domestic Fruit and Vegetable Shipments by Mode and Percentage of FFV Volume, 19801

journal of agricultural and applied economics

Impacts of Fuel Costs, Distance-To-Market, and Equipment Utilization on Relative Costs of Trailer-On-Flatcar and Truck Transportation for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in the South