question please, why does bnsf have their own company container cars and up,ns,cn,cp,csx does not?
is not it better in long run to own your own cars than leasing,renting them.
also any aluminum well cars or too weak to to cary trailers containers. big diesel fuel savings.
impossible to use aluminum containers even if just for domestic use.? too weak
thanks for your help
CP also owns a large fleet of doublestack wells, they just keep them shuttling back and forth on their own rails in Canada. Whether to own or rent depends on TTX supply versus your needs BNSF bought most of their cars at a time when everbody else was still running more trailers, The share of TTX cars is determined by how much you own of TTX plus what any other owners are willing to let you have of their share (what they don’t need right now). TTX is owned by the Big 4 US railroads plus CP has a small share through the Soo Line. So if BNSF is using say 1/3 of the Fleet and UP, NS, and CSX call TTX and say that they need their full share BNSF will have to give up enough cars to get down to its allowance.
It all comes down to money, cash and taxes. You have to pay for the cars when they are delivered, carry the value on your books and take depreciation off your taxes. If you can’t use the depreciation against taxes it hurts your profits.
If you have ever looked down from a bridge into an empty well you would see nothing but a big hole.
Regular Doublestack wells have no floor just small pads for the containers to rest on. Multipurpose wells have a platform for trailer wheels, they pay a weight price for their versatility.
I think domestic containers are mostly aluminum. I THINK that corrosion is why the maritime containers are mostly steel.
UP has a decent-sized fleet of stack cars in SP reporting marks, but are probably spared the peaks and valleys by concentrating on the use of DTTX stack cars. Intermodal is not as big (relatively speaking) to UP as it is to BNSF.
FEC (Florida East Coast Railway) is a class II Inratstate railroad that has a fleet of 53’ single well cars in yellow, brown and i think some green paint schemes. They can be double stacked and also have a fifth wheel at either end for single 53’ trailers or I believe 2 pups (maybe not)? They also have 3 car articulated spine cars and single unit dual 45’s flats for both trailers and single stack containers. I see them regularly here in Kansas City so they are not restricted to home rails. Each railroads neds and situation is different. What works for one may not work for all
Weaker than most bridges and tunnel portals when they are stacked two or too high!
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