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Constructive placement

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Posted by Euclid on Friday, April 22, 2022 8:53 AM

BaltACD

 

 
Euclid
So why did the car get constructively placed at Superior, WI?  How might this have been caused by the receiver in SD?  Could there be other causes for constructive placement unrelated to the receiver?  From the information given to Murphy, how is he supposed to know what action to take to get the car out of jail?

 

I don't know the particulars for the industries that are involved in the situation that is being presented to us.

Hypothetically - Industry A has a process that takes loaded rail cars of X commodity and turns it into Y commoditiy.  Their facility CAN handle upto 25 cars per day and for whatever reasons they have to stop their process.  Railroad now has 100 cars for A at the serving yard for A, there are another 300 cars consigned to A in the carriers 'pipeline'.  The serving yard for A cannot handle any more cars for A until A's processes get back on line and they restart doing their process, cars in the pipeline, when they can operationally go no further, will be Constructively Placed.  None of the cars can be Actually Placed at A until A gets their manufacturing process moving again.  Once A gets back in full production and they can accept cars and work down the backlog things can eventually get back to normal.

Constructively Placed cars are not in jail.  Their release and further movement to the customers actual property is dependent upon the customer's ability to handle, process and release the cars.

 

Okay, I see.  I had missed the point that the car had left the lumber yard in SD, and was placed on constructive placement while enroute to its destination.

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, April 22, 2022 7:51 AM

Euclid
So why did the car get constructively placed at Superior, WI?  How might this have been caused by the receiver in SD?  Could there be other causes for constructive placement unrelated to the receiver?  From the information given to Murphy, how is he supposed to know what action to take to get the car out of jail?

I don't know the particulars for the industries that are involved in the situation that is being presented to us.

Hypothetically - Industry A has a process that takes loaded rail cars of X commodity and turns it into Y commoditiy.  Their facility CAN handle upto 25 cars per day and for whatever reasons they have to stop their process.  Railroad now has 100 cars for A at the serving yard for A, there are another 300 cars consigned to A in the carriers 'pipeline'.  The serving yard for A cannot handle any more cars for A until A's processes get back on line and they restart doing their process, cars in the pipeline, when they can operationally go no further, will be Constructively Placed.  None of the cars can be Actually Placed at A until A gets their manufacturing process moving again.  Once A gets back in full production and they can accept cars and work down the backlog things can eventually get back to normal.

Constructively Placed cars are not in jail.  Their release and further movement to the customers actual property is dependent upon the customer's ability to handle, process and release the cars.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, April 22, 2022 7:30 AM

Ulrich
 
BaltACD 
Ulrich
You know the nomenclature is poor when no one understands it. Well, maybe the account exec does.. but all bets are off. 

The only ones that don't understand are those that don't have a material interest in the business processes involved in railroading. 

Railroads operate by monetizing every possible action and inaction of their customers as well as the other carriers that they are involved with.  Demurrage, Car Hire, Horsepower Hours, Car Repair billing and probably half a dozen other things have price tags - there are no free lunches when dealing with railroads. 

Well, that should include the customer. Customer shouldn't be left to wonder what the terminolgy means. 

Those customer personnel involved in paying the freight and demurrage bills know the in's and out's of the rules.  Those customer personnel NOT involved in the money aspects may not know.  It is the responsibility of those handling the money for the customer to educate the other personnel within the customers organization everything they need to know about the rules for the benefit of the customers organization.

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Posted by Euclid on Friday, April 22, 2022 6:47 AM
So why did the car get constructively placed at Superior, WI?  How might this have been caused by the receiver in SD?  Could there be other causes for constructive placement unrelated to the receiver?  From the information given to Murphy, how is he supposed to know what action to take to get the car out of jail?
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Posted by Ulrich on Friday, April 22, 2022 6:43 AM

BaltACD

 

 
Ulrich
You know the nomenclature is poor when no one understands it. Well, maybe the account exec does.. but all bets are off.

 

The only ones that don't understand are those that don't have a material interest in the business processes involved in railroading. 

Railroads operate by monetizing every possible action and inaction of their customers as well as the other carriers that they are involved with.  Demurrage, Car Hire, Horsepower Hours, Car Repair billing and probably half a dozen other things have price tags - there are no free lunches when dealing with railroads.

 

Well, that should include the customer. Customer shouldn't be left to wonder what the terminology means. 

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Posted by mudchicken on Thursday, April 21, 2022 10:10 PM

... and the end user gets put on notice that the blunder in his back yard (usually caused by him) is gonna cost him...Queue up the puppy dog tears and indignation when the demurrage bill hits...

If it continues the AAR embargo comes next.

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, April 21, 2022 10:01 PM

Ulrich
You know the nomenclature is poor when no one understands it. Well, maybe the account exec does.. but all bets are off.

The only ones that don't understand are those that don't have a material interest in the business processes involved in railroading. 

Railroads operate by monetizing every possible action and inaction of their customers as well as the other carriers that they are involved with.  Demurrage, Car Hire, Horsepower Hours, Car Repair billing and probably half a dozen other things have price tags - there are no free lunches when dealing with railroads.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, April 21, 2022 9:35 PM

Well, I was partially right.  That's why we're here.  Someone usually has the answer!

LarryWhistling
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Posted by SD60MAC9500 on Thursday, April 21, 2022 6:53 PM
 

Murphy Siding


A couple odd things: The route plan shows the next event to be a hand-off to another railroad, perhaps CP or CN? The equipment details info shows the car is privately owned, but can run on BNSF tracks only(?) What’s next for this car?
 

Possibly interchanged at Noyes, MN to CP. BNSF and CP swap traffic at this point.

 
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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, April 21, 2022 6:28 PM

rdamon
BaltACD 
Ulrich
I see.. so it means "delivery delayed until customer can accept"..  

Yes. 

But the meter is running.

Yes!

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Posted by rdamon on Thursday, April 21, 2022 3:51 PM

BaltACD

 

 
Ulrich
I see.. so it means "delivery delayed until customer can accept".. 

 

Yes.

 

But the meter is running.

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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, April 21, 2022 3:29 PM

Ulrich
I see.. so it means "delivery delayed until customer can accept".. 

Yes.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Ulrich on Thursday, April 21, 2022 3:18 PM

I see.. so it means "delivery delayed until customer can accept".. 

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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, April 21, 2022 3:10 PM

Ulrich
You know the nomenclature is poor when no one understands it. Well, maybe the account exec does.. but all bets are off.

Constructive Placement is when the destination customer cannot accept delivery of the car at their facility for whatever the reason.  When a car is Constructively Placed the Demurrage clock for the car starts running.  The Demurrage Clock will continue to run as the car is actually placed and will end when the car is released from the facility.

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Posted by rdamon on Thursday, April 21, 2022 3:09 PM

Quick search found:

https://www.bnsf.com/bnsf-resources/news-media/customer-notifications/pdf/Demurrage%20QRG%20-%202021-04.pdf

Constructive Placement: When a car cannot be actually placed or delivered because of any condition attributable to the consignee, consignor, loader or unloader, the car will be held by BNSF short of actual placement and notice will be sent or given that the car is held awaiting disposition instructions.

Such cars which have been placed by BNSF on private or other than team tracks, including lead tracks serving the loader or unloader, will be considered constructively placed without notice.

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Posted by Ulrich on Thursday, April 21, 2022 2:55 PM

You know the nomenclature is poor when no one understands it. Well, maybe the account exec does.. but all bets are off.

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, April 21, 2022 2:50 PM

I'm just guessing here, but what the heck...

Constructive placement sounds like they've got it staged for the next move.  

It might mean it missed the move it was supposed to make...

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...

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Posted by Ulrich on Thursday, April 21, 2022 2:35 PM

Murphy Siding
Because I'm curious/nosy, I looked at the trip plan of a car that left our lumber yard. This car moseyed up to Superior WI and is now just parked. The BNSF web portal says it was placed for “Constructive placement’. Checking the definition on ye olde internets, it sounds like that means they couldn’t get to the destination, so they just parked it close and called it good?

A couple odd things: The route plan shows the next event to be a hand-off to another railroad, perhaps CP or CN? The equipment details info shows the car is privately owned, but can run on BNSF tracks only(?) What’s next for this car?
 

 

A question for your sales rep.. put him/her to work!

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Constructive placement
Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, April 21, 2022 2:03 PM
Because I'm curious/nosy, I looked at the trip plan of a car that left our lumber yard. This car moseyed up to Superior WI and is now just parked. The BNSF web portal says it was placed for “Constructive placement’. Checking the definition on ye olde internets, it sounds like that means they couldn’t get to the destination, so they just parked it close and called it good?

A couple odd things: The route plan shows the next event to be a hand-off to another railroad, perhaps CP or CN? The equipment details info shows the car is privately owned, but can run on BNSF tracks only(?) What’s next for this car?

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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