FREIGHT CAR CLEARINGHOUSE EXPERIMENTS: AN INTERIM EVALUATION

The utilization of freight cars has long been recognized as a major problem facing the railroad industry. One aspect of car utilization is the cross-haul of empties between railroads when Car Service Rules and Directives forces more empty movement than is necessary. This cross-haul could be reduced through cooperation between railroads and the practicality has been validated through experiments. The Clearinghouse Experiment of Southern, Missouri Pacific and Milwaukee is an example of such cooperative action. ICC granted exemption from Car Service Rules and AAR Car Service Division from relocation directives. The experiment is still in effect but this report provides a quantitative measurement of the impact of the procedures during the first two months of operation. It was shown that car supply can be protected by balancing car flows, that dramatic improvement in utilization can be achieved by a reduction in empty cross haul, that additional incentives are needed for loading foreign cars and that conflict between improved utilization and the need to increase off-line car hire has not been resolved.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Requests should be made to G.M. Leilich, Director, Freight Car Utilization-Demonstration Program, AAR. Research sponsored by FRA/DOT. See also RRIS 24A 152669 7702.
• Corporate Authors:

  Association of American Railroads

  Freight Car Utilization Program, 1920 L Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20036
• Authors:
  • DINGLE, A D
• Publication Date: 1975-8-1

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Tables;
• Pagination: 62 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Car service rules; Contract rates; Empty railcars; Industry structure; Railcar distribution; Railcar operations; Railcar utilization; Regulations; Utilization
• Identifier Terms: Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad; Missouri Pacific Railroad; Southern Railway; U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission
• Old TRIS Terms: Car cycles; Empty car distribution; Government regulations; Operating strategies; Per diem rates
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Law; Railroads; Research;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00139446
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Association of American Railroads
• Report/Paper Numbers: Intrm Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: DOT-FR-65146
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 26 1977 12:00AM