PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF INDUSTRIAL TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

byRichard C. Colton '25. Funk & WagnallsCompany, New York. 384 pages, $6.00.

This book, written by the General Traffic Manager of the R.C.A. Victor Division of Radio Corporation of America, is a statement of the fundamentals of industrial traffic management as seen from the viewpoint of a man with more than 20 years of operating experience in this important field. While the major emphasis of the book is on railroad and truck freight shipments, full consideration is given to export and import shipping practices and to the problem of equipping and organizing a traffic department. One chapter is devoted to railroad passenger service, and the use of automobiles in transacting company business is considered.

Since the book is intended to focus the attention of the reader on the importance of the traffic function in efficient industrial operations, it presents discussions of typical problems involving relationships between shippers and carriers, and makes practical suggestions for developing good shipping practices, and for getting better results from traffic expenditures.

The Handbook contains much information on the technical aspects of the traffic function which should be of value to the practitioner in gaining a better picture of the over-all importance of his job, and yet the author does not depart seriously from his objective of presenting "the subject of freight transportation in a direct, easily understood manner from a practical everyday viewpoint." The author makes it clear that no attempt is made to provide current specific rate or service data.

The young man aiming for industrial traffic management as a career or the operating executive who wishes to become more familiar with the factors responsible for his transportation costs will find the Handbook a distinct contribution to the literature in this important field of management.