PERISHABLES TRANSPORTATION: A FRESH LOOK AT TRAILER ON FLATCAR AND CONTAINER ON FLATCAR

This paper summarizes research on the economic feasibility of using a dedicated intermodal (highway-rail-highway) service to move produce from the West Coast to the Midwest and the East. From government statistics and interviews with growers and food industry personnel, the study identifies a volume of traffic sufficient to conduct a pilot operation of a dedicated train from the West Coast to the Chicago area on a year-round basis. The dedicated train should originate from the San Joaquin Valley or Sacramento area during the late spring, summer, and fall and from the Yuma area during the remainder of the year, thus serving growers within 160 to 240 km (100 to 150 miles) of the origin rail terminal. Points as far east as New York and Boston could be served from the Chicago-area rail terminal. The cars and locomotives should be supplied by the railroads, but trailers and containers to perform the service should be supplied and controlled by a shippers' association formed to represent the users of the service. In most situations, the proposed service would be econimically competitive, faster, and more reliable than existing truck movement in spite of an assumed 100 percent empty return of equipment. Additional cost-reducing opportunities for the proposed service are discussed in the paper, as are areas requiring further study. /Author/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1976/591/591-003.pdf
• Summary URL:
  http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=PERISHABLES+TRANSPORTATION%3a+A+FRESH+LOOK+AT+TRAILER+ON+FLATCAR+AND+CONTAINER+ON+FLATCAR&author=R.+Leilich&publication_year=1976
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Passenger and Freight Transportation Characteristics. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Leilich, Robert H
• Publication Date: 1976

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 12-17
• Monograph Title: Freight transportation characteristics
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 591
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Container on flat car; Containerized fruit; Containers; Economics; Forecasting; Freight traffic; Freight transportation; Highway transportation; Intermodal transportation; Perishables; Piggyback transportation; Pilot studies; Railroad terminals; Railroad transportation; Refrigerated cargo; Refrigerator trucks; Traffic forecasting; Trailer on flat car; Trailers; Transportation; Unit trains; Vegetables
• Old TRIS Terms: Pilot study
• Subject Areas: Economics; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00149180
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309025605
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 13 1977 12:00AM