QUOTE: Originally posted by dldance One problem with eastbound RailRoaders out of CA is back hauls - that never has been balanced for refrigerated transport. A trucker buddy of mine was hauling strawberries eastbound and then back hauling sheet steel in a reefer. He still had a 200 mile dead head on each end. dd
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp UP is trying to recapture produce. They have the Express Lane train in connection with CSXT. One originates in Fresno, CA. and adds blocks from the central coast and other Central Valley yards at Roseville. It runs to North Platte, NE. Others originate at Hinkle, OR and Pocatello, ID and run to North Platte, NE. From there a train runs to Selkirk Yard, NY and Waycross, GA. See the November 2001 issue of Trains. The article mentioned that lettuce is not being shipped because transit times are too long.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp UP is trying to recapture produce. They have the Express Lane train in connection with CSXT. One originates in Fresno, CA. and adds blocks from the central coast and other Central Valley yards at Roseville. It runs to North Platte, NE. Others originate at Hinkle, OR and Pocatello, ID and run to North Platte, NE. From there a train runs to Selkirk Yard, NY and Waycross, GA. See the November 2001 issue of Trains. The article mentioned that lettuce is not being shipped because transit times are too long. Would this be roadrailers, Tofc or Cofc, or Reefers (SPFE, UPFE, ARMN-UP reefers)?
QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan Who own the ex GARX reefers?
Yes we are on time but this is yesterdays train
QUOTE: Originally posted by nslakediv steel in refers, I used to haul refers to Baltimore markets and reload in Baltimore with rolls of wire that needed to be kept @ 70 degrees constant to prevent rusting back to Detroit. Didnt UP try roadrailer (ICE) with CSX and lasted like 2 weeks. I thought they had backhaul out of NYC area of cosmetics to return to west coast. Still see the ICE roadrailers come thru once in a while on TOFC( I'm on the B&O thru Ohio)
QUOTE: Originally posted by tabiery I have never seen a roadrailer reefer. Do they exist? Are they planning to build some? tom
QUOTE: That's correct -- UP has a TOFC/COFC facility on French Camp Road in Lathrop. They do have a terminal in Fresno, too, a "paper ramp" limited to COFC that self-drays to and from Lathrop. Lathrop might be a few more miles than Oakland, but it has a lot less intervening traffic and the ramp there is a lot less congested than Oakland, which is really a ramp for steamship containers. Highway 152 over the pass is partially four-lane. Small ramps don't make economic sense; not because the ramp costs are so high but because the rail costs to serve the ramps are out of line -- not enough volume for dedicated trains. The important part of that quote is the fact that the volume is minor, not the location. The shippers are using the truckers for base load and the railroad for any overage, such as when market prices are especially attractive and they want to bump up their shipment rate temporarily, or when field production rates are especially high and if they don't move it, it rots in the field. That situation makes it very difficult for the railroad to have the volume and predictibility it needs to generate the economy of scale it needs to make the business profitable. Ironically, reefer truckers have trouble making money as well; the production fluctuates so much that they can't get enough consistency, either. Many of the recent bankruptcies in trucking have been some of the larger specialized reefer carriers such as Artic Express and *** Simon Trucking.
QUOTE: Originally posted by rob_l To put things in perspective: From Oct, 1973 into the early 1980s, the RRs offered 6th morning delivery into Hunt's Point market in the Bronx and other important East Coast destinations. This service was available from all UP perishable loading points in WA, OR, ID and from all SP perishable loading points in California from Edison and King City north to Redding. And the traffic was handled under a guarantee of delivery on-time or your money back (albeit the guaranteed time was a day slower than the schedule). Throughout the 1960s and up to 1973, it was 7th morning delivery with a guarantee of no more than a day longer than that. In the peak letttuce season (mid May until the end of June), two long trainloads of reefers (mostly lettuce loads), on the order of 160 - 200 carloads, would be generated out of Salinas on weeknights. The current N. Cal - East Coast Express Lane service on UP - CSX (with mostly short-line origins) offers 9th morning delivery. With no gaurantee. I don't have data, but I believe reliability of delivery time is worse than it was back in the days of the 6th morning schedule. Compared to years ago, the biggest changes are that operations of short lines and operation of the through train are not tightly coordinated to provide an overall sevice product. The through train does not depart Fresno until 7am the day after cars are loaded. Running time of the through train is significantly slower, with most of the slow-down from the Missouri River to the East Coast. Whether carload or intermodal, this speed of service is far too slow and far too unreliable to garner a substantial share of fresh fruits and lettuce traffic. It is attractive for certain bulk vegetables with a long shelf life, e.g., potatoes, onions, carrots, when loaded in huge railcars that have much higher capacity than a truck. And that's primarily what they haul nowadays. Some progress was starting to be made on melons, they got some carloads of melons last summer, the first in more than a decade. Responding to its capacity problems, UP raised the rates this year on EB perishable traffic. (I have to question the sanity of this move -- how much of the capacity problems have been on the Overland Route?) This further inhibits the perishable traffic growth. I am of the opinion that carload offers substantial economies over truck and intermodal. Trucks are hard to beat, the low cost advantage of carload is important to exploit. UP now has a good-condition refrigerator carload fleet. As has been noted, there is WB meat and poultry business (especially going ot export) to be back-hauled in cars coming west that can return with the EB fruits and vegetables. That is a business that could make good money. What they don't have is a competitive service product, enough staff in the field to make sure the service is delivered consistently, an in-the-field marketing force to grow the awareness among the shippers of the potential of rail and help them learn how to use rail, and a staff to manage distribution and efficient deployment of the car fleet (closely coupled to marketing efforts). (Remember when RRs had transportation departments?) Best regards, Rob L.
QUOTE: Originally posted by rob_l Some progress was starting to be made on melons, they got some carloads of melons last summer, the first in more than a decade.
QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp QUOTE: Originally posted by rob_l Some progress was starting to be made on melons, they got some carloads of melons last summer, the first in more than a decade. Was this Pappas & Company?
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