ESTABLISHING WORKING PROCEDURES FOR THE SELECTION OF RAILROAD FREIGHT CAR TRUCKS

Technical and economic research for evaluating railroad freight car truck operations was sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration. The Truck Design Optimization Project (TDOP) was formed and undertaken by the Southern Pacific Transportation Company of San Francisco, Calif., to carry out the first phase of the program, which was coordinated with representatives in the railroad industry. The technical effort consisted of extensive field testing of conventional freight car trucks under various loadings, car types, track conditions, speeds, and a wide range of modifications. The economic effort consisted of developing and testing the methodology for determining the economic behavior of similar trucks under similar conditions. The steps taken in the development consisted of selecting the investment alternatives, establishing the investment evaluation procedures, identifying the cost data, developing the data collection procedures, and establishing the data analysis procedures (Truck Investment Evaluation Model) for optimizing economic selections among existing trucks and proposed truck improvements.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contributed by the Rail Transportation Division of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers for presentation at the Winter Annual Meeting, New York, N.Y., December 5, 1976.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Mechanical Engineers

  Two Park Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5990
• Authors:
  • April, D
  • Byrne, R
• Publication Date: 1976-12-5

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 8 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Analysis; Cash flow; Cost effectiveness; Costs; Economic analysis; Maintenance management; Mathematical models; Operating costs; Research projects; Return on investment; Trucks; Vehicle design
• Uncontrolled Terms: Cost analysis; Maintenance costs
• Subject Areas: Design; Economics; Finance; Motor Carriers; Railroads; Research;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00145145
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Report/Paper Numbers: 76-WA/RT-8 Conf Paper
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 1 1977 12:00AM