Juhn and Sons Wholesale Fruit Distributors (of Problem 12-19) are considering building a second platform or gate to speed the process of loading their fruit trucks. This, they think, will be even more efficient than simply hiring another loader to help out the first platform (as in Problem 12-20).

In Problems 12-19, Juhn and Sons Wholesale Fruit Distributors employ one worker whose job is to load fruit on outgoing company trucks. Trucks arrive at the loading gate at an average of 24 per day, or 3 per hour, according to a Poisson distribution. The worker loads them at a rate of 4 per hour, following approximately the exponential distribution in service times.

In Problems 12-20, Juhn believes that adding a second fruit loader will substantially improve the firm’s efficiency. He estimates that a two-person crew still acting like a single- server system, at the loading gate will double the loading rate from 4 trucks per hour to 8 trucks per hour.

Assume that workers at each platform will be able to load 4 trucks per hour each and that trucks will continue to arrive at the rate of 3 per hour. Find the waiting line’s new operating conditions. Is this new approach indeed speedier than the other two considered?