Railroad says, "bigger is better"

ll, HEN talking transportation, UU bigger is better for the lumber industry, advise Union Pacific Railroad marketing and sales people. They're urging their forest products customers to load "bigger" (heavier) to enjoy reduced shipping costs-and that's "better."

Not only do heavier-loaded cars command lower rates in the openend incentive rate structures, they have the effect of making more cars available to shippers, say the railroaders. Better car utilization, of course, also pays off for the carrier because fewer cars are needed to supply the demand.

That doesn't mean that Union Pacific is economizing on its lumber car roster. The road's shopping list includes 100 new 61-foot bulkhead flatcars to be delivered during the first quarter ofnext year.

To promote bigger loads, UP has a lumber loading information program planned to show shippers how to take advantage of car space.

"Presently most lumber shippers are designing their loads to accommodate motor carrier transportation. The effect on rail cars is to create unused loading space," syas Art Wittmann, assistant market manager-lumber at UP.

"Given a shipper's present loading practices and the type of equipment used, capacity utilization is running anywhere from 66-8006 on rail cars and from 90-960/o on truck trailers. lt's the goal of this new program to make shippers aware of this unused capacity, outlining what it would mean in terms of dollars and cents savings in reduced rail transportation costs."

Figuring all the possible loading combinations is complicated. Marketing people use a mini-computer to help plan various load configurations. The computer considers the type of dimension stock, weight, length, width, height, moisture content, loading rules and other factors. Once all the data pertaining to a particular shipper's needs is collected, it is fed into the computer for analysis. The result is a printout showing what changes can be made to increase the load size and the savings as a result of those changes.

Wittmann cites a hypothetical case in which a 600-car shipper loading to only 760h of car capacity can, by modifying loading practices, boost that to 9001, and save more than $56,000 a year on his freight bill. The savings, of course, would vary with the species, weight, applicable rate level, car used and other variables.

UP's sales and marketing staffs are working in other ways to improve lumber hauling capability and draw more of this traffic to their 9,700-mile road.

For instance, they are looking at alternative securement methods to alleviate downtime on cars that is caused when loads shift. New solutions to this old problem, which is becoming more costly to all, may come from a system that maintains constant pressure on loaded lumber bundles, even ifthe green bundles shrink during transit. With the load held securely it can't shift and damage the car, taking it out of service for repair.

Shippers are told also that they can help keep center-beam lumber cars moving with proper use of tiedown cables. Loose, dragging cables can damage both cars and track.

The 100 new bulkhead flatcars will join a diversified fleet, considered to be the newest in the country. Don Shum, general traffic manager-east, calls it a competitive fleet.

"Besides the easy loading. high capacity center-beam cars, we can provide 57' bulkhead flatcars, conventional flatcars and 52'. 6" boxcars especially designed for the forest products industry," says Shum.

He points out also that UP is a designated carrier for empty Southern Pacific cars. Over UP's fast route these cars are moved quickly to Pacific Northwest and (Please turn to page 65)

Story at a Glance

Computer use aids in more efficient loading, for better rates. more and better cars speed shipments, cut damage... new yards assemble lumber trains more efficiently.