BNSF Adds Third Rail Line through Cajon Pass

Any of you guys and gals that scoff at the Railroads hauling truck freight need to do the math. 150 trains a day double stacked with 250 containers each is 37,500 loads per day. And this is just the BNSF on one route. UP, Norfolk southern, CSX, Canadian Pacific, others are not kidding around about taking as much of the OTR business as they possibly can.

 

Warren Buffet has invested a lot of money in the railroads.

 

The railroads tells us how many Big trucks are taken off the road
when containers are shipped by rail.
Hmmmmmmm

And where do those containers go?
To the rail yards, where they're off loaded.
Where do they go from there?
On a chassis --- to be pulled by what?

Who said a Big truck?

So, will SOMEbody, please, tell me how many Big trucks have the
railroads REALLY taken off the roads?
MAYbe they've taken Big trucks off the OPEN roads, but NOT the
local roads around here.

BTW, those BNSF tracks that go over the Cajon Pass go though the
town in which I live. I can hear the train horns as they go through.
And, in fact, I've heard TWO trains goin' through in the time it's taken
me to type this post.

At night, there's about one train every 15 minutes, on average.
And at most crossings, vehicle traffic has to wait for them to pass.
Day and/or night.
We have only a few overpasses here in town, which causes vehicle traffic to snarl,
and increases vehicle traffic on those streets with overpasses.
So, tell me about the reduced Big truck numbers.

Now, consider the HUGE number of containers coming into the Ports of
Long Beach and Los Angeles --- which will be transferred to a chassis
and pulled to their destination by Big trucks.

All I've noticed is a BIG increase of Big trucks on the highways, and
that number will only INcrease, no matter HOW it arrives --- it'll STILL
wind up on a Big truck.

Smoke & Mirrors folks.

 

I agree Shockster. It will affect the OTR traffic. But it will greatly increase local and regional trucking{once econ picks up}. They are always hiring at Alliance Yard in FTW. Only problem is some of the contractors are really pushing to get illegals CDLs so they can pocket the difference. Kind of like FedEX contractors-some are great and some suck.

 

Could be an interesting issue in development.

But the setup time and tear down time on the freight shipped by train creates a major lag time on the shipment.

There are no reefers on trains to my knowledge.


The shipment of items that are not time sensitive could have an impact on the trucking industry.

Buffett usually makes wise decisions. Only time will tell.

 

Of course, there are reefers on trains. I was delivering those loads while leased to R-W Service System in the late 1970s. The deal was: if the consignee did not like the condition of the fresh produce, the driver made a phone call and was given another destination for the load. In my experience, the first consignee changed his mind before I finished dialing the number.

 

Well, I learned something. I have only noticed containers and vans.

 

I thought the same until about 6 months ago. A UP main line runs through Weatherford, TX and I get stuck there quite a bit as they run about 25-30 trains a day . I looked up and counted 14 Minute Maid reefer train cars all with lights on showing reefer in operation. They were headed East so I guess they came from W TX, AZ, or CA. Don't think they grow a lot of citrus in CO. Saw a new type of car the other day. It had a flatbed trailer set into a special car. Loaded with machinery. Couldn't tell if it had the holes to lift it off like a regular container. but it was definately different than a normal trailer on flatcar setup.

 

Just wait for the next derailment going down the Cajon.