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Abstract
Models are developed to examine the determinants of weekly truck rates for produce
shipped to the Northeast from California and Florida. ln the empirical work, a large
proportion of the variation in rates is explained and the estimated parameters are
generally consistent with a priori expectations. The total quantity of produce shipped
from each state, the proportion of this total which is compatible with the commodity in
question, and the F.O .B. price if the commodity were found to be the most important
determinants of truck rate levels. Fuel costs have a surprisingly weak influence, at least
in the short run, and for Florida origin commodities the truck rate-fuel cost relationship
appears to have weakened over the 1979-1983 sample period.