05-12-2012, 07:33 AM
jwb Wrote: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?
They won't send it to the UP, because to get from the ERIE to the UP they would have to go over other railroads and those railroads aren't going to send an empty boxcar across their lines for free. The ERIE will move the car empty back east to be loaded on the ERIE. The exception would be if the ERIE and UP had some sort of pooling arrngement, but that would require an equipped car (cushion underframe, load restraining devices, insulation, plug doors, etc.)
Running off your own cars to be loaded on another road isn't a good idea because per diem doesn't make you that much money, especially when you consider that if you have to use a foreign boxcar to load a load on your lines, the the per diem you earn is offset by the per diem you pay. The only time per diem made significant money was in the 1970's and 1980's when the AAR ok'd incentive per diem to relieve a boxcar shortage.