Tires aren't the only thing stolen from intermodal equipment.
About a year before I retired in 2015 after 7 years at CSX Intermodal in West Springfield MA, the company FINALLY terminated the authorization for a local trucking company that was literally stealing us blind.
I think I was the first one to notice about several years earlier that the number of 'perfectly peeled' recap tires coming in the gate on a monthly basis had tripled, or maybe even quadrupled. Perfectly peeled is the recap is completely gone, but the tire is still holds a full supply of air. We've all seen the many recaps along the sides of the freeway...mostly just sections, but every now and then, a complete circle of a recap tread. I started keeping 'mental track' of what drivers and companies they worked for (about 1/2 the drivers were owner operators contracted to local firms). Initially on the extra board and later on the 2PM-10PM shift, having near zero seniority kept me outdoors, checking all incoming trailers and containers/chassis for defects. I made all the visual checks and thumped every tire and made the computer entries for a seemingly non-stop stream of incoming trucks. I'd see maybe 1 perfectly peeled tire per month, but after a couple years on the job, it jumped to 1-2 per week, I discovered it was almost 100% the drivers from one particular trucking company.
I reported it to the ramp manager and he said the company would look into it. About a month later, the excessive number of peeled tires dropped significantly. About a year later, it started up again. And again, the same trucking company was the culprit. So I reported it a second time. I had also noticed it was always an outside rear tire that was peeled, never a front nor an inside tire, which makes changing tires more burdensome and time consuming. I finally moved up in seniority to where I got the shift of my choice...midnight to 8AM, so I didn't see many incoming trucks at all except for UPS and Schneider.
Maybe 8-10 months later, the man I relieved at midnight gleefully told me that that particular trucking company was now 'permanently banned' from doing business at any CSX ramp. The CSX police and city police 'raided' that company that morning and discovered they routinely swapped their bad parts for our good parts. Anything bolted on to the chassis was fair game! Lights, brakes, wiring, air lines, glad hands, you name it. Tires, of course, were the most often swapped out items. Most, if not all trucking companies were very much aware of what defects CSX Intermodal would pay to repair (lights, worn tires, brakes, alignment, etc) and what the trucker or their company would pay for (flat tires, skid flats, cuts/holes/dents more than normal wear and tear, etc). That company took full advantage of our 'free replacement parts' we were unknowingly supplying to them.
It turned out that once the consignee emptied a container, they'd use them for several additional days at a time for their own company short-haul drayage business before returning them to our yard. Perhaps our computers flagged the unusually long-time-out-the-gate periods for that company. I was also told that several of their former drivers had voluntarily given statements to the police as well.
A day or so later, one of the CSX police officers came in shortly before I went home and I asked about what had happened. He said that this was just the tip of the iceberg. The major citiy ramps each have multiple trucking companies and owner-operators that do the same thing. I was quite surprised to hear that. But then, there are small gangs that will board any intermodal train and open doors looking for 'good stuff'. Lots of people out there looking for 'easy money', I guess.
As for tires marked 'intermodal', I think I only saw that a couple of times. However, we DID have a chassis with all 4 outside tires, rims and hubs spray painted PINK! After 6-8 months, that chassis must have been under a box that was returned to another ramp and never seen again. We always got a good laugh whenever that one showed up! It should be noted that almost all chassis, regardless of owner, have stickers on the frame on both sides indicating 'recap tires only'. It doesn't get clearer than that. However, it didn't prevent various tire recapping companies from using the cheapest, most worn out casings (original 'base' tires) one could imagine. We had more than a few that had major sidewall cracking indicating they were well past normal life expectancy. And if they had a blowout on the highway, the trucker gets to pick up the tab for a replacement...and the highway service call.
I agree with greyhounds, tire theft was very prevalent in the 70's & 80's when I hauled piggybacks from the rail lines in Chicago. Railroads used all type of branding methods, usaually a sidewall brand that was easily ground off, or sidewall paint of orange or yellow stripes. The word Intermodal in the tire tread is a new one on me.
About thirty years ago while looking at a parked piggyback trailer a sign was noticed. Which said the owner of the trailer would not pay for new tires. Only recaps or retreads would be paid for.
blue streak 1 greyhounds There was a problem with tire theft. A trailer would go out the gate with eight new tires and be returned by the trucker/drayman with a worn set. If the worn tires were still serviceable the gate inspection wouldn't catch the switch. All kinds of tire markings were tried to control this. Some were more successful than others. "...Still a problem for units going to Mexico !.." [You Betcha!]
greyhounds There was a problem with tire theft. A trailer would go out the gate with eight new tires and be returned by the trucker/drayman with a worn set. If the worn tires were still serviceable the gate inspection wouldn't catch the switch. All kinds of tire markings were tried to control this. Some were more successful than others.
There was a problem with tire theft. A trailer would go out the gate with eight new tires and be returned by the trucker/drayman with a worn set.
If the worn tires were still serviceable the gate inspection wouldn't catch the switch. All kinds of tire markings were tried to control this. Some were more successful than others.
"...Still a problem for units going to Mexico !.." [You Betcha!]
Before retiring, my employer, had developed a 'Mexican Partner Carrier'. This was to address the very problem mentioned above by other Posters.
THEFT from trailers was a real problem, South of the Border. Some of it was cargo theft, but much of it was equipment, part of the trailers. Floor Decking, Plywood side walls inside the trailers; and lighting and attendant wiring, was also problematic. Then finally, tires and running gear [rims, wheels, and brake chambers, as well].
The problem, was partly resolved by opening 'a company shop' in the Mexico City area. Equipment routed through was photographed, to catalog 'exceptions', and repaired outbound trailers were also documented. This helped cut down and recover some of the damaged equipment.
Anyone who is in or around the Border areas can vouch for the condition of Mexican Trucking equipment; vs. the equipment used to cross over into the 'States' and operate under American Regulations. Mexico is, and was a strange operating environment, for an American Trucking doing cross border busines. At one time our compaqny had something on the order of around 3,000 trailers delivering and picking up in Mexico Maquilladoras. One of the stories told at a sales meeting, by one of our managers; was the sightings of our trailers, trailers operating in Panama, South of the Canal.
Still a problem for units going to Mexico !
I know that Goodyear does have a tire that is marketed for intermodal use, and container chassis are the last holdouts for 10.00-20 bias ply, tube type tires.........
Randy Vos
"Ever have one of those days where you couldn't hit the ground with your hat??" - Waylon Jennings
"May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good" - SCTV
One problem that early TOFC (1930’s) had was with trailer tires bursting while on the train. Flatcars can get bouncy at times. That’s why the CGW and the NH used jack stands and wood beams to hold up the trailer, which they then tied down with 4 chains.
With intermodal trailers 'back in the day' having limited highway mileage, a number of shipper/consignee pairs would load the trailers well in excess of the what was allowed over the road, knowing that the trailers had little if any likelyhood of being stopped at weigh stations. Railroad rates for intermodal trailers in most, if not all, cases are on a per trailer basis without any weight component.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDDon't know if there were special intermodal tires or not.
There were (he notes they were stamped so!) and there are. As you might expect, with the rise of intermodal opportunity comes an increased marketing push to provide "intermodal tires", which the vendor usually carefully avoids describing in too much detail other than noting 'special trailer service' and that their product is ozone-proof and uniquely suited to the problems encountered in container service (presumably including preferential theft!)
I suspect Shadow's owner either has access to the 'right' tech information or is uniquely positioned to have manufacturers and jobbers take her call to find out, and give true information rather than flackery.
Trailers assigned to intermodal service were often fitted with worn tires for a couple of reasons: 1) intermodal trailers often were older trailers that nolonger saw alot of over the road miles.. so no point in equipping them with the finest new rubber.. 2) the tire thieves were less likely to steal worn tires.. Of course that was then and this is now. Now safety regulations are enforced more rigorously, and carriers can nolonger afford to run crappy old equipment even if its just five miles to the intermodal yard.
Don't know if there were special intermodal tires or not.
That being said, at the start of Intermodal in the early 50's, most all loading and unloading was done circus style. Trailers were shoved or pulled across a number of TOFC flats, these flats had raised rails along their outside and inside to keep the tread of the trailers to assist in guiding the trailers in loading and unloading the trailers from the cars. This type of operation would put extra stresses on the sidewalls of the trailer tires.
I suspect, Intermodal tires would have had strengthened side walls built to withstand the abuse.
A few days ago, I visited the museum of transportation in St Louis. There is a front runner car there with a old Mo Pac trailer on it. I happened to notic that on the trailer tires, the word INTERMODAL is 'engraved' down the middle of the tread. Was it true that trailers back then which traveled on piggy backs had to have special tires? If so, why? Something has since changed as I'm sure that is not the case today.
Mark
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