Q2 Z2,(Q2) Z2(Q2) - Institute for Water Resources - U.S. Army

CHAPTER III
A STATISTICAL PRODUCTION FUNCTION
FOR INLAND WATERWAY TOWBOATS
A firm producing transportation on inland waterways must make
optimizing decisions similar to those made by any transportation firm.
Freight is offered at various points along the waterway for transpor-
tation to other points. The firm must determine what equipment Is to
be used in a movement and the way in which the service is to be per-
formed. In particular, the firm must allocate barges to haul the
freight, it must decide how deeply to load the barges, how many barges
to include in a tow, what size towboat to use in pushing the tow and
when to schedule the movement. -
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Two types of exogenous factors influence the firm's decisions.
One type is under no one's control (for example, weather conditions).
The second type is under the control of the U. S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers (such as, waterway characteristics, including depth and width,
distance between locks and amount of traffic on the waterway). In
order to make waterway transportation efficient, the Corps of Engineers
must adjust public investment in waterways in accordance with the de-
mand for waterway transportation, the equipment and operating decisions
of carriers and dxogenous factors. ,
The resistance of a flotilla of barges increases as the draft and
breadth of the flotilla increase and decreases as the depth and width of
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