I was wondering who are BNSF’s biggest customers in the TOFC business? Also, which BNSF yards handle the most TOFC traffic and which yard is considered the “hub”?
Piggybacks as opposed to containers? Well, I don’t know for sure but I would put in the top ten Schneider, Hunt, UPS, the railway itself or its logistics arm (for frozen food), and possibly FedEx (though they won’t admit it.) I’m sure there are many others. - a. s.
Yes, not COFC’s.
H’mm UPS & the TOFC terminals in LA & Willow Grove most probably
(1) Corwith
(2) Hobart
(3) Willow Springs
Actually Corwith is COFC only these days.
Hobart/LA, Willow Springs, San Bernardino, Alliance TX, Stockton, KC, Denver, Portland - you’d find lots of TOFC at any of them.
Schneider is pretty big, though w/ more COFC now. UPS, Yellow/Roadway, US Express and reefer guys like Marten, Stevens, and a few others.
willow springs in chi lifts 700,000 plus trailers a year (though maybe lower this year). Thats nearly 2000 trailers a day average! I think WSP might load more trailers than Hobart actually, not sure though. Some of those trailers go east on CSX and NS but the rest are on the transcon. roughly 11-12 pig trains each way later in the weak, though I’ve seen as many as 15 EB in 24 hours. Search trains.com for Willow Springs and check out the writing by Van Hattem. It’s very interesting.
Been seeing more and more blue Werner trailers, theyre a favorite. See a lot of England, JKC, Alliance, ABF, Clipper, Ice Cold Express, Deboer, plus a cool yellow trailer that I can’t remember the name, and of course the ones already mentioned. In my humble opinion I’d say top 5 trailers (not container on chassis) include UPS, roadway, alliance, yellow and maybe stevens, maybe schnieder but theyre dropping fast. Lots of reefers, surprisingly.
Hope this helps,