requested information into pre-defined spaces next to each question. Software help can be utilized to answer some of the questions. For example, average West Virginia prices for common trout products are summarized and can be selected from a drop-down menu, while step-by-step assistance for estimation of production and transportation costs can be accessed by clicking on the 'help with raw fish cost' and 'help with processing cost' buttons. After entering the required information, the user clicks the 'find' button located at the bottom of each window to get calculation results. The answer appears in the pre-defined cell next to that button. If a user fails to answer all the questions and provide all the information requested, default values, zeros for most questions, are used. If specified values are erroneous, the software prompts the user to re-enter the values. The user can change or clear the value by clicking on the respective input cell, or by pressing the 'reset' button, which will erase all entered information. The program computes minimal transportation charges from user-provided data on transportation costs, shipment weight and roundtrip distance to the market. One of three methods of shipment can be selected: transportation by own truck, rented truck or paid delivery service. For the own truck shipment option, direct transportation costs that depend on the transportation distance are estimated first. They include the cost of fuel, vehicle maintenance, driver's wage and depreciation. The program estimates fuel cost as the ratio of fuel price and truck efficiency. Similarly, labor costs are estimated as a ratio of user-provided driver's wage per hour and average driving speed. Next, car maintenance cost is a sum of expenditures on oil and tire changes and regular vehicle maintenance. Driving also involves vehicle depreciation, or in other words, the reduction in the truck's value due to obsolescence, wear or destruction. The default depreciation value is US$0.09/km (Victoria Transport Policy Institute 2005). Then, total direct transportation costs can be calculated as the sum of fuel, labor, maintenance and depreciation. Besides direct costs, - f1 X C.<\NAA� VALLEY INSTITUTE 3(11\ 1-.0 r I I t Ml D•A � l J,,. If r IC II O fl' HO !I 31 N : t 1, »!. E T:QIATIO. . OF i\IDL\.H;-:\1 PRICE �linimum sale price should co,·er prodactioa and rraasportarioa costs. To estim3te tniaimum price for yoar slaipme11t pluse enter ,-alaes iato the bl:ank ceUs. help wilh raw fish cost help wi1h processing cost EnJo Transportation Costs Per .\Ftk (/or d,e ..-holL sh ��� r--J >[-____ _he_tP______, Em1tr Roundtrip Distt111ce (11,ihs} Enur Sl,ipm,mt Weight (lb} Ento Drfro•s Lodgi,,g and.\/,tals During Trip (SJ � Emo Parking, Toll Expe1111it1.UYS, a11d Oth,trExpenditl.UYS (SJ � [ Find Minimum Price (dollars/lb) Reset c--BACK Fig. 5. Estimation of Minimum Price. - f1 X ';./��>\' ,..n.,,, , r . . 1' Raw Fish Cost v,, ,'J, f, · · ' �\.\., .., � . � ,, Fll"SI, the total costs incurred from stocking Iii har,·csting arc estimated Then, to calculate the costs perpound offuh, the total costs arc di11idcd by the total har\"cst (m pounds). Total costs arc spit mto two categories: direct and indirect costs DIRECT COSTS Dinct costs vary with the output, and ifoothiogis produced then direct costs arc zero. These costs include cost offingerings, feed, chemicals, electricily, maiatcoancc andlabor. Please, cotcryour,-alucs instead ofthe ddimlls. You can cotcr either the total costs for eachitem. or ask theprogram to cakulatc total costs basedon the quantity and price for each item. ·01c that the darlc-bluc-colorcd inpul boxes arc protected. and you carmot cotcr cdil their ,'lllues directly 1 F1nger1lngs (each) 2 Feed (lb or ton) 3. Chemicals (lb or ton) 4 Electnaly (kW hour) 5 Maintenance (Slyear) Fig. 6. Estimation of the Cost of Fish Production. truck ownership costs should be accounted for, which include insurance, license and registration fee and interest payments on a loan, if any. Total transportation costs are the sum of direct and ownership costs4 • To estimate transportation costs per kilogram of product delivered, the user needs to specify roundtrip distance and shipment weight. If the product is shipped using a rented truck, the user is asked to specify rent rate and the number of days the truck is rented for, as well as fuel and labor costs. For paid delivery service, the software user needs to specify only the service fee and shipment weight to estimate per the kilogram service charge. Sales returns are computed as the difference between revenues from the total shipment, and the production and transportation costs. Depending ( Continued on page 39) WORLD AQUACULTURE 37
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