The shipping floor is divided into sections, one for each railroad, and one for each express company. The low partitions that separate the sections are painted in the colors representing the railroads, and over each is a sign bearing the name of the road, also printed in the corresponding color. All packages are taken directly from the packing room to the sections of the shipping floor representing the roads over which they are to be shipped. [Illustration: Fig. 10. Routing Package Labels] In all blanks used in shipping, the same color scheme is carried out. This includes shipping orders, packing orders, invoices, shipping receipts, and labels. All orders are properly routed before they are distributed to the billing machine operators for entry. Each operator enters orders for certain railroads--from one to three, depending on the distribution of the trade--and is supplied with blanks of proper color for those roads only. Every order is then entered on blanks of the color representing the railroad over which the shipment is routed. In Fig. 10 is shown a label which represents this color scheme. Across the end of the label is a solid block of color, with the name of the road in an open letter. All printing on the label is also of the same color. If the order is properly routed and entered, there is very little chance for shipments to go astray. On every blank and on the package itself, the color of the road is a prominent feature, and since all blanks are written at the same time, they must correspond. Should a package be placed in the wrong section, it is practically certain that the error will be discovered when the goods are loaded on the dray. EXPORT SHIPPING Export shipping is a subject about which the average American house knows but little, and herein appears to lie the cause of the loss of much foreign trade. This is especially true of trade with other than English-speaking countries. But the real fault lies farther back than in the shipping department. The trouble starts in the sales department. Export business is undertaken without special preparation, and an attempt is made to apply the methods used in handling domestic trade. Special instructions in regard to packing, for instance, are ignored because the American thinks he knows more than his customer in a foreign land. Before export business is even attempted, the sales department should become thoroughly familiar with conditions in the country with which it wishes to do business. Some man in the department should study the customs regulations, the descriptions necessary, the kind of packing needed, and the size of package best adapted to the country. Above all, he must study the desires of the trade, and conform to them, if he expects to make and hold customers.