U.S. Mail via Trailer/Container today.

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

It doesn’t seem to be that many years ago when I could see a piggyback hotshot carrying railroad stencilled highway trailers that had U.S. Postal Service adhesive stickers applied to some of those trailers.

The sticker would show where and when the trailer was loaded and to what postal facility the load was consigned. Trains like the long gone Chicago - Los Angeles Super C (ATSF) were just about all U.S. Mail. The Overland Route hosted the Overland Mail West / Overland Mail East with additional symbols like the Super Van / LAXM hauling the southern California mail and the Overland Mail Northwest / FTX handling the Pacific Northwest business.

So what’s happening today? I see plenty of hotshots handling UPSZ trailers for United Parcel Service, so I would think that these same trains could be handling Uncle Sam’s mail; but, could the carriers be handling this traffic without the U.S.P.S. stickers attached?

2

…Your mention of the “Super C” reminds me of back in I believe it was 1969 I was doing some work on a project in Kingman, Az area and I turned one day and looked at a fast moving train heading up and into Kingman and some nearby fellows commented that is the "hot’ Super C…One of the hotest trains passing thru here…

3

Mail still moves by rail and as you suggest, mostly via intermodal. When Amtrak had its parcel service, they handled mail. USPS puts this out to bid every couple years. The requirements are tough (service, insurance, security, etc.) A lot of intermodal providers won’t touch it. Norfolk Southern has a division called Thoroughbred Direct Intermodal Service (TDIS), located near Philly, which to some extent, specializes in handling mail. They use some of their own boxes (TDIU containers) and/or free runners.

http://www.ns-direct.com/

4

Thanks for the answer, but the question still remains: does the U.S. Postal Service still apply those adhesive “U.S. MAIL” stickers to the outside of each trailer and container showing where and when the unit was loaded and the consigned facility to which the unit is billed?

5

Yes, quite a bit of mail goes via intermodal. I was at a spectacular derailment a few years ago and noticed all the U.S. Mail boxes laying about the site with Discover bills in them, sorted by zip code. They’d gotten wet and crushed, but there they were…by the thousands. The trailer was a standard TIPZ Pines 48’ van; other “plain jane” trailers were ripped open as well. There were letters and boxes scattered about.

I wouldn’t imagine it’s prudent for the USPS to place logos on intermodal trailers nowadays. Conrail Mercury used to place the old U.S. Mail decals on the sides of dedicated CRMZ trailers, but that was over ten years ago.

Ian