Having worked for 2 RRs over a 11 year period as an opr/clerk before going braking I should know this but I’m drawing a blank. Does per diem accrue to cars under load or is it just on empties?
IIRC, per diem applies to loaded cars as well as empties. I remember reading that crews would sometimes race to get interchange cars delievered to a connecting railroad before midnight so as to shift liability for the per diem on foreign cars to the connecting line.
50 or so years ago, the consignee had two days to unload the car before per-diem set in. I wasn’t privy to what the railroad had to pay for the use of the car.
Art