Re: (erielack) Marion IMF

[Jedalberg_@_aol.com]

One would hope that this service will generate enough business to cause the  
operation to continue and grow. Schneider has big potential in its own right,  
and if this is not an exclusive Schneider-CSX franchise, perhaps others will  
ride it. I hope the railroad performs-----!
 
Re: intermodal in Chicago. The Chicago rubber crosstowns really serve as  the 
intermodal classification yard. Generally, there is not enough traffic  
coming in on a specific train going to a single destination, say Croxton.(double  
stack from the west coast is the exception). 
Even if the train was interchanged, say from the UP to NS, all blocked for  
destination, it would still have to be switched at the receiving (Chicago)  
terminal to the proper outbound trains, generally not an easy /fast task.  
Probably lose a day.Most intermodal trains come into Chicago in tha AM, most  
departures are in the PM, with varying cutoffs, but in a general sense, you have  
about an eight hour window to get the box across town.
 
As to the future, there has been some press about the Interstate System  
anniversary: one fact is that about 40% of the traffic is trucks. Traffic is not  
going to do anything but increase in the coming years. (I recently drove down 
to  Knoxville on a Sunday, and to pass the time, counted northbound trucks, 
every  ten miles-number averaged over 100, or about 5000 trucks, in the time I 
was  driving..All heavy trucks, big co's, small co's, roger roadhog, , all long 
haul  .A couple of years ago, number was about 3500.) This may bode well for 
rail  intermodal, if the railroads can perform. The numbers may permit more  
run-through operations, bypassing Chicago, like the Schneider operation, and  
speed up the service. 
We'll see.
 
Jim Dalberg


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