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‪The series of bills of lading received by merchants in eastern France in the eighteenth century provide a useful source for studying changes in haberdashery and grocery transport prices in areas that benefited from the major road-building projects of the French monarchy from the 1730s onwards. Between the 1720s and the 1780s, real goods transport prices probably fell by 30% in these regions. However, price reductions must have varied across different routes and locations, with merchants in the large trading cities probably accruing greater benefits. In any case, it allowed merchants to increase their profit margins (or at least to compensate for the rise in other operating costs), and even prompted the reorganization of certain supply chains.‪