Prices on goods are sometimes quoted F. O. B. factory or supply house. By F. O. B. or f. o. b. is meant free on board or freight on board. That is, the seller of the goods will deliver them at the receiving station of the transportation company for the price agreed upon and free of all charges for boxing, carting or other like expenses. When the goods are not quoted F. O. B. however, boxing, crating and carting charges must be expected.

But with the goods delivered free on board, the estimator still has his freight bill to reckon, for he cannot fill out that item of expense without first ascertaining what the freight bill will amount to. No costs for shipping freight can be given here for the reason that the charges differ according to whether the haul is long or short, by water or rail, and what is equally important, according to the classification of the goods. In the carrying of freight the bulki-ness of the goods has to be taken into consideration for the bulkier goods are, according to weight, the less can be carried in a car. For example, an ordinary freight car is limited in capacity to about 20 tons weight. If the goods to be shipped are pig lead, cast iron pipe, pig iron, lead pipe, wrought pipe or other like heavy but condensed materials, a freight car can carry its maximum load. If, however, it is oakum that is to be shipped, or crated bathtubs, the car would be filled before it contained a quarter of the weight it was capable of carrying. It stands to reason, therefore, that bath tubs or oakum could not be carried for as low a rate as could pig iron. Again, the risk run by the transportation company has to be considered in classifying goods, for, as they as common carriers are insurers of the goods they transport and there is greater risk in carrying bath tubs than pig iron, they must, naturally charge more for that class of goods. Transportation companies have printed schedules of rates and classification of goods showing just what the rate on each kind of article will be to any point.

Knowing this, the estimator has the key to the freight item of cost. Every plumber should have a list, compiled from the railroad company's schedule, showing just what classification each item entering into his business belongs in and the rate per hundred pounds for each class, from the point where his supplies are purchased, to his home town. Such a list could be made up something like the following:

The foregoing is printed merely as a suggestion to show the estimator a simple way to calculate the cost of freights. The class, rate and items in the various columns are purely imaginary and not to be depended upon. What the contractor should do is have a list compiled and verified by the local freight agent, then he is ready for figuring freight bills. For instance, suppose he is ordering 300 feet of 6 inch extra heavy soil pipe; 400 feet of 5 inch; 500 feet of 4 inch and 800 feet of 3 inch. From the table of soil pipe he will find that 6 inch weighs 20 pounds; 5 inch 17 pounds; 4 inch 13 pounds, and 3 inch 9 1/2 pounds per lineal foot. Multiplying the various sizes by the weights, then adding the product he would find the sum of all the weights to be 26,900 pounds, and at 18 cents per hundred pounds, the rate of Class C to which soil pipe belongs, the freight would cost him forty-eight dollars and forty-two cents.

Some catalogues give the approximate weights when boxed or crated, of all the fixtures listed. It would be a great convenience if all catalogues furnished the same information. When, however, they do not, the information can be had by writing to the manufacturers; while the contractor can soon compile a lot of useful information for himself by noting the weights of different fixtures sent him, also the charges for boxing and crating, then form averages from them which he can use in calculating the weight of freight to be estimated on and the probable charge for boxing, packing and carting.

Another fact for the contractor to bear in mind is that the discount quoted by the supply house does not represent the plumbers' profit on the goods. Indeed, it is much smaller, as the following will show: If 40 per cent. discount is given on a bill of goods, the plumber would get 40 cents off each dollar's purchase and pay 60 cents net. But if he sells that purchase again at the list price, he makes a profit of 60 X 1.68 = 1.00, or 68 per cent. on the transaction, because in this case the 40 cents taken off a dollar base is added to a 60 cent base.