Economic Performance of Motor Carriers Operating Under the Agricultural Exemption in Interstate Trucking

Excerpts from the report: This study is limited to economic considerations of efficiency in use of resources. It does not take into account political, ethical, or other noneconomic factors which may outweigh economic considerations in policy decisions. The plan of the report is as follows: The first part is a discussion of quality of service and rates in the exempt sector. The second part deals with the performance of the sector. It examines the decisionmaking, cost-rate, rate-distance relationships, and the evidence for "excessive competition." The third part discusses the effects of agricultural exemption on other motor carriers and other modes of transportation and whether these effects appear to have resulted in higher social costs or lower social benefits than would have been achieved without the exemption.