Auto racks are unique in their ownership. The cars themselves are owned (for the most part) by Trailer Train (which is owned by the carriers, jointly). The rack appratus is owned by the carrier whose identity is shown on the rack.
The AAR acts as a clearing house for all data exchanged between carriers and each carrier thereby is given data on where their assets are and what they are doing at any point in time. The Car Management Department of each carrier is actively involved with the utilization of the car resources of their carrier and are also in touch with shippers concerning their car needs. Storing cars, such as auto racks, is not a decision that is made by a single carrier, it is a collective decision between all the stakeholders in the product line whose cars are being stored.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
On my way to work I drive past a double track branch that serves a handful of industries. Recently BNSF has park some auto racks there, I presume for storage. As they have not moved in over a week. When a railroad stores freight cars, does the owner know that their car is in storage? There are some CSX cars in the mix, does CSX know that some of their cars are parked in OKC not generating revenue? How does that work?
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