Are Q109/Q110 the main Chicago/NYC UPS trains for CSX? Is the NYC terminal North Bergen, NJ?
The Q110 is follows a pretty hot schedule across NW Indiana, almost always around 8am and is usually powered by 3 units. Occassionally I will hear the Q109 westbound heading into Chicago. Tonight it passed at 10am and carried the Q109-13 symbol.
Same day (within 24 hours) service from NYC to Chicago…not bad. Does anyone know the departure time for Q109?
These “van trains” seem to be the hottest on the CSX. I have old Erie Lackawanna Historical Society magazines which outline the EL history of handling UPS trailers.
Has been any other books or indepth magazine articles on UPS and the railroads written? Fascinating subject…and now FedEx is ready to join the party.
road foreman and trainmasters have told me you DO NOT want to make q110 or 109 late.110 comes through from 11am-1pm here in nw ohio.Last I knew 109 comes through about 9-11pm.
When CSX had the tragic derailment at Suman this summer, there was considerable work being done replacing crossovers. My biking route was thru the valley and it made a convenient break/water spot and I got to know some of the workers.
When they cut in the new crossovers, it was always after Q110 passed. After that, within seconds…yes seconds, workers were at work. The railroad would shut down for hours.
Interesting to watch (listen) to the Q110 pass by and how trains get out of the way.
Last night Q109 was running on approach limited signals as a WB coal train was lumbering thru. Interesting that they didnt cross it over.
The two hour time swing between Q109 and Q110 is probably a factor in why Q109’s schedule is easier. One hour is gone for Q110 as soon as the wheels turn, while the opposite is true for Q109 because of the time zone differences. Remember it is all about making the “sort” with UPS, miss the sort cutoff and you might as well be a whole day late.
Beaulieu, said: “…Remember it is all about making the “sort” with UPS, miss the sort cutoff and you might as well be a whole day late…”
He speaks the truth! You miss a SORT, either UPS or FED EX and you potentially are going to launch 'a hot-ready aircraft." And it will be at your expenses and it won’t be pretty. In six years at a JIT dispatch position on a truck line. I managed to duck that bullet, but had co-workers who in a couple of instances caused those ‘big jet engines to whine.’
I could only guess what would happen if a train load of Parcel Freight missed a sort.
if a railraod misses a deadline for getting a train from point A to point B they will pay a BIG fine from UPS. How big depends on how late the train is. The latter he train the bigger the cost. It is in the contract and is STRICTLY enforced by UPS. They are the hottest trains there are.
Interesting how everything old is new again. Back in the day, RR’s carried their own express service in head end cars on passenger trains. Now with the population increase in the US, it takes a whole freight train to haul express for someone else.
Must make retired old time RR executive wonder if they should have let the express business go.
I happened to see it this morning on my way to Chicago with probably 80-100 UPS vans, CSX containers, and TL trailers. Passed thru at 710am a bit early.
Looking at the old Bullsheet listings, Q110 shows a departure time of 0645 (EST) in Chicago, passing Willowcreek (near me) at 0900. This is pretty accurate as to when it passes by me. This morning was one of the earlier times.
My guess is that it doesnt change crews at Garrett, In., instead changing at Williard. The listed time for Williard is arrival at 1430 and departure at 1445. Cleveland shows arrival at 1700 with departure at 1730. Does Q110 add trailers at Cleveland? Why would ther be a 30 minute carding, unless it is for a 500 mile inspection? It appears the next crew change would be Buffalo at 2145, followed by Selkirk at 0400. Arrival at North Bergen is at 0830.
Interesting to look at UPS.com and compare service from lets say NW Indiana and Chicago to New York City.
The NW Indiana shows a regular 3 day service while Chicago shows “by end of day, 2nd day”. The 0645 departure, with corresponding 0830 arrival in North Bergen makes sense for three day service. But, there must be an earlier departure to protect “end of day 2nd day service” from Chicago.
Does CSX have another UPS train with earlier departure, lets say midnight? Does NS handle Chicago - NYC? How does UPS decide on which railroad to use on a lane?
The 0645 departure from Chicago allows UPS to consolidate from a number of outlying terminals that feed into the massive Willow Springs terminal. Interestingly the Quad Citys - NYC service is also “end of 3rd day”. NW Indiana to Metropolitan NJ also shows “end of 3rd day”.
So, there are definate sort times that must be adhered to by the UPS terminals and definate cut off times and delivery times for the railroads.
There is no time zone change on CSX…the entire CSX system operates on CSX Standard Time, which is Eastern time.
When local times were used, schedules were designed to account for the time change.
Sort Failures are the standard for the UPS traffic. With line blockage it is not unusual for the carrier to off load the UPS loads and truck them at carrier expense to make the UPS sort.
Q110-15 - OS Suman HB detector milepost BI225.8 at 807 CST (0907) with 7993 ft, 56 mph and 354 axles (84 cars).
It is running like a broken runner thru the usual WB intermodals, auto rack, coal trains, and ethanol K trains and overtaking an ethanol train and the Q324.
The UPS Willow Springs Terminal and sort is based on Central Time. Where does Q110 originate? I thought that BNSF loaded a Eastern Road UPS train at Willow Springs. As a shipper with UPS I have had ground packages miss scheduled delivery dates because of railroad problems. Normally not a problem as what I ship is not that time sensitive that one extra day matters.