Trains.com

Constructive placement

5239 views
47 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Central Iowa
  • 6,898 posts
Posted by jeffhergert on Friday, April 22, 2022 3:51 PM

Murphy Siding

 

 
Convicted One

 

 
Murphy Siding
The BNSF starts our clock at midnight after the car is placed.

 

In your initial post you mention that the car currently in question was privately owned. Do the railroads charge demurrage on privately owned cars after they are placed on a customer owned siding?

 

 

 

Sure they do. I don't know that I've ever gotten a railroad owned car in. The only way I could see them not charging us demurrage on a privately owned car would be if we were the ones who owned it. Chemical companies come to mind.

 

 

What type of cars do you get? 

I guess I've always figured box cars and center beam flats.  Outside of TrailerTrain centerbeam cars, I think all of those kind I've seen were owned by a railroad.

Plenty of private owned box cars out there.

Jeff

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,274 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Friday, April 22, 2022 4:25 PM

jeffhergert
 
Murphy Siding 
Convicted One 
Murphy Siding
The BNSF starts our clock at midnight after the car is placed. 

In your initial post you mention that the car currently in question was privately owned. Do the railroads charge demurrage on privately owned cars after they are placed on a customer owned siding? 

Sure they do. I don't know that I've ever gotten a railroad owned car in. The only way I could see them not charging us demurrage on a privately owned car would be if we were the ones who owned it. Chemical companies come to mind. 

What type of cars do you get? 

I guess I've always figured box cars and center beam flats.  Outside of TrailerTrain centerbeam cars, I think all of those kind I've seen were owned by a railroad.

Plenty of private owned box cars out there.

Jeff

What I get to see operating on CSX's Old Main Line indicates that railroads are selling a significant part of their car inventory to Leasing Company's that apply their private owner initials and numbers to the cars and they seem to continue to operate much as they did when railroad owned.  I am not familar with how this is being accomplished as it regards Car Hire and Accessorial Charges. 

When private owner cars were predominately tank cars or other 'special' cars, the cars were Trip Leased by either the shipper or the consignee with payments made by the leasing party to the lessor.  The lessor would build into the lease clauses that acted similar to railroad demurrage rules, however the allowed times for loading or unloading could be vastly longer than standard railroad demurrage, the enforcement of those clauses were between the Lessor and Leasee and the railroads were not involved.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: S.E. South Dakota
  • 13,569 posts
Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, April 22, 2022 4:42 PM

jeffhergert

 

 
Murphy Siding

 

 
Convicted One

 

 
Murphy Siding
The BNSF starts our clock at midnight after the car is placed.

 

In your initial post you mention that the car currently in question was privately owned. Do the railroads charge demurrage on privately owned cars after they are placed on a customer owned siding?

 

 

 

Sure they do. I don't know that I've ever gotten a railroad owned car in. The only way I could see them not charging us demurrage on a privately owned car would be if we were the ones who owned it. Chemical companies come to mind.

 

 

 

 

What type of cars do you get? 

I guess I've always figured box cars and center beam flats.  Outside of TrailerTrain centerbeam cars, I think all of those kind I've seen were owned by a railroad.

Plenty of private owned box cars out there.

Jeff

 

Maybe I'm wrong and I'm assuming they're private. Most recent cars had reporting marks like:WRWK******  TTZX******  ATW****** IC******


Center beam flats.

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Antioch, IL
  • 4,371 posts
Posted by greyhounds on Friday, April 22, 2022 4:49 PM

Murphy Siding
Maybe I'm wrong and I'm assuming they're private. Most recent cars had reporting marks like:WRWK******  TTZX******  ATW****** IC******

Those are railroad controlled cars.  The TTZX counts as a railroad controlled car.

 

"By many measures, the U.S. freight rail system is the safest, most efficient and cost effective in the world." - Federal Railroad Administration, October, 2009. I'm just your average, everyday, uncivilized howling "anti-government" critic of mass government expenditures for "High Speed Rail" in the US. And I'm gosh darn proud of that.
  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,274 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Friday, April 22, 2022 4:50 PM

Murphy Siding
 
jeffhergert 
Murphy Siding 
Convicted One 
Murphy Siding
The BNSF starts our clock at midnight after the car is placed. 

In your initial post you mention that the car currently in question was privately owned. Do the railroads charge demurrage on privately owned cars after they are placed on a customer owned siding? 

Sure they do. I don't know that I've ever gotten a railroad owned car in. The only way I could see them not charging us demurrage on a privately owned car would be if we were the ones who owned it. Chemical companies come to mind. 

What type of cars do you get? 

I guess I've always figured box cars and center beam flats.  Outside of TrailerTrain centerbeam cars, I think all of those kind I've seen were owned by a railroad.

Plenty of private owned box cars out there.

Jeff 

Maybe I'm wrong and I'm assuming they're private. Most recent cars had reporting marks like:WRWK******  TTZX******  ATW****** IC******

Car Initials that end in X are Private owner cars.  Car Initials not ending in X are railroad owned.

Car Initials that have TT somewhere within the first 3 initials and X as the 3rd or 4th initials are owned by Trailer Train which is inturn owned by participating railroads which includes all the Class 1's and some others who use the cars for their own customers.  Your TTZX is such a car - they range from TTX to ATTX to TTAX to ZTTX to TTZX and virtually every combination in between.

Remember the initials for CSX owned cars are CSXT .

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: S.E. South Dakota
  • 13,569 posts
Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, April 22, 2022 9:41 PM

Convicted One

 

One additional thought ....isn't the practice of avoiding empty backhauls supposed to be considered "smart railroading"?  Could the constructive placement of this car be part of such a strategy?

 

Well... there is a limit to how many cowhides you can ship back to a Canadian lumber mill... Mischief

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,008 posts
Posted by tree68 on Friday, April 22, 2022 10:05 PM

Murphy Siding
Well... there is a limit to how many cowhides you can ship back to a Canadian lumber mill... 

Back when most freight moved by boxcar, they could haul most anything.  There were specialized boxcars, but you get my gist.  

There's not a lot you can haul on a centerbeam flat, other than lumber products.  And a lot of other cars are similarly specialized.  I would guess that you're not going to haul sand in a grain hopper, etc, and so on.

An attempt to haul general freight in auto racks didn't do well here on the forum.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    February 2018
  • 299 posts
Posted by adkrr64 on Saturday, April 23, 2022 5:44 AM

tree68
There's not a lot you can haul on a centerbeam flat, other than lumber products.

I have seen steel beams being hauled on centebeam flats In CSX's Dewitt yard. Defininitely an exception, but I've seen it on more than one occasion.

  • Member since
    April 2016
  • 1,447 posts
Posted by Shadow the Cats owner on Saturday, April 23, 2022 9:47 AM

Murphy you would go nuts then tracing our LOADED cars on the UP recently.  UP hauls them from Houston where they get them from the late Ed's of this forums Belt Railway of Houston to KC where they get interchanged to the BNSF and onto us.  That is what the contract they have with the shipper states that the shipper has with them.  We as the consignee are not happy with this arrangement but are stuck with it.  Now KC from Houston is roughly 12 hours by truck.  Just why do our loaded cars need to go to El Paso Tx before heading to KC is beyond me.  Recently starting about 4 months ago everything we get has been routed from Beumont Yard to El Paso then gets put back on a train back to Beumont Yard then up to KC.  It is like what the hell is going on at the UP.  When they get to KC and hand them over BNSF gets them to us within 2 days as they go to Galesburg the first day get put into the local which is the train for the Maywood Logistic Park and sent onward.  We had one last year that took 5 months to get to us off the UP right now it is taking about 2 months in transit for a load my drivers can do in 2 days.  

  • Member since
    March 2016
  • From: Burbank IL (near Clearing)
  • 13,540 posts
Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Saturday, April 23, 2022 10:09 AM

A lot of the specialized cars are stenciled "Restricted Loading, See Equipment Register".  Loaded backhauls are not possible in that case.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
  • Member since
    April 2007
  • 4,557 posts
Posted by Convicted One on Saturday, April 23, 2022 3:41 PM

BaltACD
When private owner cars were predominately tank cars or other 'special' cars, the cars were Trip Leased by either the shipper or the consignee with payments made by the leasing party to the lessor.  The lessor would build into the lease clauses that acted similar to railroad demurrage rules, however the allowed times for loading or unloading could be vastly longer than standard railroad demurrage, the enforcement of those clauses were between the Lessor and Leasee and the railroads were not involved.

 

Thanks for that Balt.

My thinking was If I'm leasing the car, what business is it of the railroad how long I take to load it?

  • Member since
    April 2007
  • 4,557 posts
Posted by Convicted One on Saturday, April 23, 2022 3:47 PM

Murphy Siding
Well... there is a limit to how many cowhides you can ship back to a Canadian lumber mill.

I was just trying to envision a constructive use to the term "constructive". But I guess as Balt has clarified, in this instance, the term is specific jargon meaning  "the meter is already running" Smile

  • Member since
    September 2010
  • 2,515 posts
Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Saturday, April 23, 2022 3:57 PM

After my father left the MoPac, he worked for a truck line and after that he work for an Industry in Cincinnati (Edwards) that shipped military items. Dunage was a big cost item and DUNAGE FREE box cars became a new product from the rail equipment suppliers. He negotiated a tariff that included those cars. They  were captive to this so the rate included return empty upon release terms. RR was happy and so was the company. He died in '94 and that Edwards company is gone.

  • Member since
    June 2019
  • 313 posts
Posted by Juniata Man on Sunday, April 24, 2022 12:38 PM

Balt was spot on above concerning private cars on private tracks. When I was still working in the chemical industry, we in effect trip leased the cars used for outbound shipments to the customer receiving them. Once spotted inside the customers site, no railroad demurrage was billed. Now, as the car owner/lessor, we did bill the customer if they held a car for more than 15 days but, that was between us and them.

Insofar as the original post, BNSF placing an interchange car on constructive placement is unusual. Normally, the car record would show it "offered" at interchange, not constructively placed. In the immediate instance, it's possible someone either accidentally entered the wrong code or, possibly, is gaming the cars held or cars on line metric by using constructive placemen.

 

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,274 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, April 24, 2022 2:18 PM

Juniata Man
Balt was spot on above concerning private cars on private tracks. When I was still working in the chemical industry, we in effect trip leased the cars used for outbound shipments to the customer receiving them. Once spotted inside the customers site, no railroad demurrage was billed. Now, as the car owner/lessor, we did bill the customer if they held a car for more than 15 days but, that was between us and them.

Insofar as the original post, BNSF placing an interchange car on constructive placement is unusual. Normally, the car record would show it "offered" at interchange, not constructively placed. In the immediate instance, it's possible someone either accidentally entered the wrong code or, possibly, is gaming the cars held or cars on line metric by using constructive placemen.

When, for whatever the reason, one carrier is not able to interchange cars to another carrier in the normal course of business the carrier in possession of the cars will initiate a Car Hire Rule 15 reclaim against the carrier that was not able to accept the cars.  The Reclaim starts from the date and time the carrier was in position to actually deliver the cars to the designated interchange track(s).  As more cars move toward the designated interchange location and are then held up so as to not totally clog up the carriers operation at the interchange location, those cars get added to the Reclaim from the date and time they were held at the outlying location.  All these procedures are specified in Car Hire Rule 15.

Needless to say Reclaim situations can create battle lines between carriers.  I was not high enough on the food chain to really KNOW how these Reclaim Wars ultimately played out - wether money actually changed hands or not.  I suspect there was a lot of 'negotiations' between the carriers to resolve these issues.

Car Hire Rules cover a multitude of issues that crop up between car owners and car users - be that Private owners and users or Railroad owners and users and combinations of both.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    September 2010
  • 2,515 posts
Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Monday, April 25, 2022 12:02 AM

Is this a game of "My LAWYER is better than YOUR LAWYER"?

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,274 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Monday, April 25, 2022 8:13 AM

Electroliner 1935
Is this a game of "My LAWYER is better than YOUR LAWYER"?

NO!  It is more of a game that My Horse Trader is better then Your Horse Trader - while some 'facts' do enter into the negotiations it tends to end up being I am screwing you at A and you are screwing me at K and the negotations end up being about the relative values of the screwings at A & K.  Personnel at 'ground level' were rarely if ever get advised of the ultimate outcome of their actions. 

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: MP CF161.6 NS's New Castle District in NE Indiana
  • 2,148 posts
Posted by rrnut282 on Monday, April 25, 2022 11:30 AM

Just guessing those Car Hire Rule 15 battles are the genesis for moving interchange locations like CN/CP in Chicago?

Mike (2-8-2)

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy