Roadrailers On CSX Questions

Why doesn't CSX operate Roadrailer Trains anymore?

Why is NS successful in this venture but CSX isn't?

All I can say is CSX tried it a few years back for a month or two before calling it quits. I'm sure there's several factors in it, with the fact that NS already had all the traffic being one (although these were Clipper trailers, not the infamous Triple Crown ones).

A lot of those loads are Auto Parts and I believe NS serves more parts planst than CSXT.

As much as people criticize the NS for being unfriendly to railfans, they've had innovative ideas over the years that have worked well for them, and not for other rr's. This goes to prove no matter what some foamers in a dirt lot in Petersburg, Austell, or Bellevue say, the Norfolk Southern is alive, well, and full of people who know what they are doing unlike the boys down in Jacksonville.

lakeshoredave wrote:As much as people criticize the NS for being unfriendly to railfans, they've had innovative ideas over the years that have worked well for them, and not for other rr's. This goes to prove no matter what some foamers in a dirt lot in Petersburg, Austell, or Bellevue say, the Norfolk Southern is alive, well, and full of people who know what they are doing unlike the boys down in Jacksonville.

That's pretty accurate, I'd say. Apart from NS's horrible history of labor relations, the company seems to be run reasonably well by people who have some understanding of railroading. Their track is MUCH better. Their locomotives mostly are in better repair. If we can believe Rush Loving's work, there are creative, sentient people running the business side of things.

And labor relations seems better since Tony Ingraham has been "outsourced" to CSX. Their loss...is our loss.

RoadRailers was a joint Conrail/NS project. CSX showed no interest in the technology or the type of business it would draw. It's not surprising that the Chessie boys would do a token experiment, and slough it off.

Grain, coal, and garbage - that's the freight CSX wants.

Garbage is handled way too much by CSX.

Signed,
Union Pacific Handling APL Containers

[quote="lakeshoredave"]Garbage is handled way too much by CSX.

That's a phrase that rings all too true and can have so many meanings!

CSX has had two experiences with roadrailer equipment (If you want to count the equipment invented & used by C&O, then they have had 3). The first was in the mid 1980's on the Detroit-Atlanta lane. If I recall correctly, this train was primairly autoparts driven (GM). It ended by 1988. The next was a few years ago with the produce trailers, which lasted a short time before they were placed on flatcars on existing trains.

To me the key factor that has helped NS with their Triple Crown service is that they relied heavily on expertise from North American Van Lines which they purchased about the same time they were starting up Triple Crown. It's probably not a coincidence that the Triple Crown Hub is in Fort Wayne - as NAVL was based in Fort Wayne as well. By using 'truck people' to run the subsidary, they managed to get a different outlook on the business than 'railroad people' would have provided.

As for CSX, the first 'experement' ended when GM decided to shift their business to different modes (at least some went to NS due to their having multiple lanes). The business on the second try was retained - just not on a stand alone train. On a larger picture, CSX is not the only road to have tried roadrailers - and walked away from it. UP, CP, IC & BN have all at one time tried to use roadrailers in a traffic lane without success. Even Conrail had did not have success on their own route - until they partnered with NS.

The NS found a specific 'niche market' that they could serve with the roadrailer product (short/medium haul) without having to spend $ to upgrade smaller, less frequently used intermodal terminals at outlying points. Did CSX have a similar situation at the time? maybe not? CSX also may have looked at the roadrailer product as canabalizing existing 'conventional' intermodal business. Another thing to consider was CSX was also putting a lot of focus on their 'iron highway' concept. Ultimately, that did not pan out either (too much emphasis placed on an untried platform design, bad test route etc.).

To summarize, it would be interesting to know how profit margins for triple crown compare to 'conventional' TOFC service. Does Triple Crown make money on it's own accord?

CSX is very paranoid about Roadrailers. If you look in the equipment handling book there are many restrictions regarding them. Also, CSX has never been great developing or keeping new business. Amtrak was hauling Mail out of Albany for a while with Roadrailers. I'm sure there's a market for them - it just needs to be developed. But unfortunately for CSX they have enough trouble running what they have.