05-11-2012, 07:55 AM
As I said above, there was an interesting exception where the Erie (an eastern road that was always going to have more westbound empties than eastbound loads) sent as many empties as it could to destinations like the UP in Omaha, which was always going to have a need for empties to ship lumber, grain, etc back east. This apparently wasn't completely in accordance with car service rules as usually applied -- think for a moment about an Erie boxcar that turns up empty in Hammond, at the west end of the line. What's the Erie going to do, just hold on to it in Hammond until it gets a load to go back to Akron, or send it to the UP, where it'll earn per diem?