Since clerical work depends chiefly on the number of separate orders, the manager would be able to reduce his clerical work on this particular class of orders somewhere near 45 per cent if he would refuse to handle orders of less than ten packages, and, by such a decision, he would lose only 9 per cent of his revenue. For most businesses, it would pay handsomely to neglect entirely 9 per cent of the revenue if 45 per cent of the clerical work could be avoided. In freight handling, the work is of course mostly under the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission, so that even if the manager should wish to refuse orders of small size, he would not be permitted to do so.

Though the small orders must be handled to give service to the public, a chart such as Fig. 157 is nevertheless of very great assistance in pointing out the actual conditions existing. When it is seen what a large amount of clerical work is involved in handling orders which produce only a small portion of the revenue, thought could be given to the methods of handling small orders so that the small orders may not cause any more expense than absolutelj^ necessary. Usually it is possible to handle small orders in a different manner from the large orders, and, if the true situation is thoroughly understood, small orders may possibly be handled by methods which will result in much less loss than would be incurred if small orders are handled by the same methods used for large orders.