TOFC taking over?

I'd like to know how much TOFC traffic accounts for total rr traffic these days? I am assuming TOFC is what is leading to the abandonment of branch lines and factory spurs.

try this link to Railway Age, there is a table of car load and intermodal statistics.

Of note, "Trailers" account for about 30% of the Intermodal business on the US railroads, with the balance being containers.


http://www.railwayage.com/A/traffic.html

There's an article today in the Star-Ledger about the growth in rail cargo at ExpressRail in Elizabeth

http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index ... 291040.xml

carajul wrote:I'd like to know how much TOFC traffic accounts for total rr traffic these days? I am assuming TOFC is what is leading to the abandonment of branch lines and factory spurs.

Unfortunately what's led to abandonment of factory spurs and associated branchlines is that the manufacturing is no longer done here. Most of that work has been offshored to Asia and China over the last several decades, which eliminated the factories and their need for rail service. Once traffic levels fall to a certain level, it is no longer economically feasible to run and maintain those lines and they dry up. All of those trailers you see today are distributing those goods that are made elsewhere, much of it being loads that originate in the west coast ports and are rail shipped to the east. In addition, it's not just finished goods that have been affected. The US steel industry has also been decimated by (cheaper) foreign competition. I guess we should at least be happy that a good portion of this traffic still travels by rail, at least for a significant part of its' journey.

Hahaha, sort of off topic, but not really....

I just thought of this....if it ever were to happen, well thats a whole other story, but its nice to think it would

TOFC, or COFC Trains coming down the Chemical Coast, from either Eport or from Howland Hook, to Wood on the Coast Line, over to Essay, and out the Amboy Sec (to service all those warehouses out in Cranbury), to Midway, out on to Amtrak, west to Morrisville or whereever.....

Imagine 100 car freights, meandering down the Coast Line to Essay....the Dispatcher would have a heart attack!! NJT might have to rebuild that flyover/under at Wood that was for the PRR locals in the "ol days"

Hahahaha

COFC RULES! A number of nationwide truckers [UPS, J B HUNT, Schneider National] have started changing over to COFC instead of TOFC.

They standardized on 45/48/53' sliding chassis and are asembling a fleet of 45', 48' & 53' 'domestic' containers 'cause they can tide on the top level of the double stacks along with inported containers. That way a guy can bring in a 48' & then stretch out to bring a 53" back; one set of wheels handles all three boxes.

I'd suspect that UPS is the last big TOFC shipper left. The switch makes advantage of the lower number of export containers going west so the can get a good $$$ from the railroad by filling up the double stacks...$$$ makes the world go around...

Jtgshu wrote: TOFC, or COFC Trains coming down the Chemical Coast, from either Eport or from Howland Hook, to Wood on the Coast Line, over to Essay, and out the Amboy Sec (to service all those warehouses out in Cranbury), to Midway, out on to Amtrak, west to Morrisville or whereever.....

There is actually a proposal that mentions 'short haul' COFC from the port & howland hook possibly connecting to the 8A area along w/ barge operations up the hudson, all designed to improve the congestion around the port. It exists on paper and in the politician's dreams. Question is will w ever see it in reality?

wis bang wrote:

Jtgshu wrote: TOFC, or COFC Trains coming down the Chemical Coast, from either Eport or from Howland Hook, to Wood on the Coast Line, over to Essay, and out the Amboy Sec (to service all those warehouses out in Cranbury), to Midway, out on to Amtrak, west to Morrisville or whereever.....

There is actually a proposal that mentions 'short haul' COFC from the port & howland hook possibly connecting to the 8A area along w/ barge operations up the hudson, all designed to improve the congestion around the port. It exists on paper and in the politician's dreams. Question is will w ever see it in reality?

That's an interesting thought, wis bang.

The rapid rise in distribution centers around 8A and off I-78 near Alburtis shows how the rail center can become a truck center almost overnight

Actually a buddy of mine was recently out west and spend time along the BNSF mainline that goes through Arizona, New Mexico, etc. He said it was non-stop train after train after train doing 80MPH and, yes, 100% of it was TOFC and COFC. He noted quite a bit of UPS, JB Hunt, Roadway, and blank containers.

I'm wondering why FedEx doesn't switch to trains. All their ground frieght goes in those 2 and 3 connected together truck trailers.

carajul wrote:Actually a buddy of mine was recently out west and spend time along the BNSF mainline that goes through Arizona, New Mexico, etc. He said it was non-stop train after train after train doing 80MPH and, yes, 100% of it was TOFC and COFC. He noted quite a bit of UPS, JB Hunt, Roadway, and blank containers.

I'm wondering why FedEx doesn't switch to trains. All their ground frieght goes in those 2 and 3 connected together truck trailers.

In the West, almost all long haul truck traffic goes by rail. Of course, UP and BNSF are doing 80 mph across the deserts in those big rectangular states. It's a little different here in NJ, where it takes CSX and NS 8 hours to go 80 miles, and a four hour trip to Selkirk (120 miles) is a cause for celebration.

NS decided it was far faster to truck TOFC and COFC into NJ destinations than entrust it to CRSA in many cases. Says quite a lot, I'd say.

That article mentioned something like "rail lines will increase from 8 to 18" or something like that - what did they mean by that, and what are the "new lines"???

Anyone have any idea???

As for the Cranbury area, that would be great to see unit trains heading down there......from whereever - there are a bazillion trucks down that way

>>>I'm wondering why FedEx doesn't switch to trains. All their ground frieght goes in those 2 and 3 connected together truck trailers.<<<

Probably because FedEx hubs are at airports without rail access.

Ken W2KB wrote:>>>I'm wondering why FedEx doesn't switch to trains. All their ground frieght goes in those 2 and 3 connected together truck trailers.<<<

Probably because FedEx hubs are at airports without rail access.

Actually NS now runs a train of mainly FEdEx trailers.....It comes out of Chicago and heads into NJ as symbol 24W.....

Steve

Jtgshu wrote:That article mentioned something like "rail lines will increase from 8 to 18" or something like that - what did they mean by that, and what are the "new lines"???

Anyone have any idea???

I think they mean new track coming out of the port at different points and connecting with the Chemical Coast or other nearby rail lines.

njt4172 wrote:

Ken W2KB wrote:>>>I'm wondering why FedEx doesn't switch to trains. All their ground frieght goes in those 2 and 3 connected together truck trailers.<<<

Probably because FedEx hubs are at airports without rail access.

Actually NS now runs a train of mainly FEdEx trailers.....It comes out of Chicago and heads into NJ as symbol 24W.....

Steve

FedEx is actually two separate pieces. The traditional red branded service, which is mostly air, and the green branded service, whichis over the road trucking of larger items. I believe the Fedex green / ground used to be Roadway.

Are the trailers used by Fedex on these trains decorated with the green logo?