Self Propelled Freight Cars

[carnej1]

Driverless vehicles are much in the news now, including trucks. Platooning a series of 18-wheelers (perhaps with a driver/attendant in the first cab) has to be railroad intermodal’s worst nightmare. LCVs multiplied. So why not explore self propelled freight cars seriously? Traditional “loose car” railroading is eroding rapidly anyway.

Consider the enormous weight-carrying advantage of rail: 5 to 1. And the large cubic capacity advantage: 2 to 1. Platoon the freight cars on an isolated right-of-way, and provide truck-like service (instant dispatch, no terminal delays, etc., etc.) with railroad productivity and safety advantages.

With PTC now inevitable, leverage all of the IT and communications investment by re-imagining the entire concept of railroading. The age of the unit train is closing (look at all of the pressures on coal, CBR, etc.), while demassification is in its infancy.

Think about the competiton’s possibilities and the shipper’s requirements 20-30 years out. Start the serious R&D at Pueblo tomorrow morning.

How many trucks are you platooning with the single driver? Is it 280 53 foot trailers or more (that’s how many containers are carried on the averege BNSF stack train)?

How much fuel are you using per ton/mile given that each vehicle has a tractor with an engine burning diesel in it?

I love how some on this forum try to portray the current system of double stack intermodal trains as somehow inefficient vs. long distance OTR trucking. It’s not and that’s why the Class 1’s continue to increase their market share.

That certainly doesn’t mean that automated trucks might not be on the horizon but the idea that merely reducing the labor costs in the trucking industries would bury the railroads is not born out by the trends in the i