Well,You will have to prove that here along NS Sandusky line..1 in 10 trains are intermodal the rest is general freight and coal.
Either way you want to slice or dice it 22,294 box cars in a weeks time is a lot of boxcars and 7,464 intermodal cars in a week isn't all that many..
Those are numbers are from the WEEKLY Weekly Performance Reports from the big 6...I have seen NS intermodal trains that was solid empty intermodal cars-or platforms are they are some times called.I seen CSX intermodal trains that was solid empty platforms.
Larry
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In a large way box cars are becoming obsolete. I work for a company that dismantles railcars and we have seen a large increase in the number of boxcars being scrapped over the last few years. They are mostly 70 ton cars, but also quite a few 100 ton. All types of boxcars are being scrapped including insulated, hy-cube, auto parts, double door and plug door. Most are older cars, but we have cut boxcars as new as 1984. Some are in very poor condition, but a lot have just had shop work performed recently and are in very good condition. Although I don't expect boxcars to disappear any time soon, they are definitely become a smaller part of the overall car fleet. This will continue as fewer new boxcars are being built every year.
Another reason they are becoming obsolete is the huge up-front costs for a company to do business with the railroad. The manufacturing company I worked for looked into putting in a spur a couple years ago. The cost just to put in the switch off of Conrail's main was close to 200 grand. Just the switch, and the main isn't even CTC or anything. Add onto that costs for the remainder of the track and unloading facilities and the price was over a million.
Unless the volume of cargo is through the roof, it is much more cost effective to put the cargo on a truck and send it to the local intermodal yard.