November 10, 1916 



ttVM!!>STOro;>^atii>M!aa^t;>iawwi;5rosii)^^ 



■5* 



Lumbermen and the Car Shortage 



The car shortage has become a serious matter with lumbermen and 

 they are losing business and money every day for want of cars to 

 carry their product to market. The shortage is general throughout 

 the country, and other industries are suffering; but lumbermen believe 

 that they are not getting their share of the available supply. 



In this connection it is proper to inquire into the car situation, in 

 relation to the supply in use, the new cars being put into service, 

 and the old ones going to the scrap pile. This will show to what 

 extent the railroads have prepared and are preparing for the heavy 

 business carried on throughout the country. It requires some time 

 to manufacture cars after the order is given, and for that reason it 

 is necessary to look as far ahead as possible in an effort to anticipate 

 the demands for tvansportation. There is no doubt that the rush of 

 orders for transportation has caught the railroads in a state of 

 unpreparedness. 



Railroad and Car Statistics 



Railroads have been increasing their track mUeage in recent years, 

 as the following figures taken from reports of the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission show. 



Year. Single Track Mileage. Total Mileage. 

 190S 233,467 333,645 



1909. 

 1910. 

 1911. 

 1912. 

 1913. 

 1914. 



The total number of freight cars of all descriptions on all the rail- 

 roads of the United States in each of the years given above, is shown 

 in the following table which is compiled from Interstate Commerce 

 Commission reports : 



Total Number Average Per Mile. 

 Freight Cars. Single Track. 

 2,089,302 9— 



Year. 

 1908.. 

 1909.. 

 1910., 

 1911.. 

 1912., 

 1913.. 

 1914.. 



From 1908 to 1914, both years inclusive, there was a gradual but 

 slow increase of freight cars, and also a slight and gradual increase of 

 cars per mile of single track (not counting double tracks and 

 switches). 



New Freight Cars 



Railroads must constantly purchase new freight cars to make good 

 the losses from wear and wreck. This paper is indebted to Sailway 

 Review, Chicago, for figures on which the following table is based, 

 and which shows the number of freight cars bought by the railroads 

 of the United States yearly during the past eleven years: 



No. Freight 

 Cars Bought. 

 143,281 

 239,900 

 144.843 

 83.168 

 134,578 

 131,022 



The figures for 1-915 do not include 27,270 cars sold to foreign 

 countries. 



Direct statistics showing the number of freight cars going to the 

 scrap pile from year to year do not seem to be available; but by a 

 process of deduction the approximate numbers may be shown. The 

 number in use each year is known, and also the number added during 

 the different years. Using these numbers as factors the following 

 table has been compiled, giving the number of cars scrapped. The 

 figures in this table should be considered as approximations only: 



Year. 

 1909.. 

 1910. . 

 1911.. 



No. Freight 



Cars Scrapped. 



201,151 



74,396 



82,891 



Year. 



1912., 

 1913., 

 1914.. 



No. Freight 



Cars Scrapped. 



219,862 



86,828 



31,085 



Factors by which to make the calculation for 1915 are not at hand. 

 There is great variation in the number of scrapped freight cars for 

 different years, and the reason for it is not apparent, unless in some 



years there is extra vigilante in repairing cars. It is known that in 

 1914 and 1915 many railroads paid particular attention to repairing 

 and rebuilding freight cars. That may explain the comparatively 

 small number going to the scrap heap in 1914. 



Apportioning Cars 



The foregoing figures shoiv the freight car situation in this country 

 — how many cars there are, how many old ones are dropping out, how 

 many new ones are coming in. But there is one very important matter 

 which is not shown in any of the figures quoted in these tables, and 

 that is in regard to the apportionment of cars among the various 

 industries. One of the complaints most frequently heard from lum- 

 bermen is that they are not getting their share of the cars, and that 

 preference is given to other industries. The railroads have for years 

 looked upon lumber as a sort of "fill-in" to keep them busy and to 

 produce revenue when other lines of freight hauling were slack. Thej 

 seem to reason that lumber is not perishable and can afford to wait 

 until it suits the convenience of the transportation companies to 

 move it. 



The lumbermen have grown so accustomed to that process of rea- 

 soning that they seem to have almost entirely lost sight of their own 

 rights to transportation. They have submitted to damage to their 

 own interests through loss of business, and through idleness of loading 

 crews, while in a great many instances mills have shut down on 

 account of car shortage, while other industries and other products 

 are given the preference and are being moved by the railroads. Too 

 many lumbermen have been accepting this condition as inevitable, just 

 as they accept changes in the weather. But this viewpoint is wrong, 

 and lumbermen should hold the carriers to a " strict accountability ' ' 

 for loss of business due to car shortage. There are not cars enough in 

 service, and the transportation companies should build or buy more, 

 and they ought to keep their old equipment in repair and should see 

 that every car is doing its duty. 



Instead of doing this, the railroads seem to be devoting their 

 energies toward urging shippers to load cars more promptly and to 

 fill them to their capacity. Lumbermen do not feel that they need 

 this advice or that it is timely. Ninety-nine shippers out of a hun- 

 dred load promptly and to full capacity, and any attempt to shift to 

 their shoulders blame for the car shortage should be resented. Self- 

 ishness if nothing else would cause lumber shippers to load cars 

 promptly and to full capacity. 



The Memphis Meeting 



The meeting at Memphis, Tenn., November 3 and 4, was timely, 

 and the light thrown on the question of car shortage promises to bring 

 results. Commissioner C. C. McChord, of the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission, was chairman, and those in attendance included lumber- 

 men, coal operators, carriers, attorneys, and a few shippers in other 

 lines. The witnesses were not sworn, the inquiry being informal. 



In examining the carriers it was brought to light that scarcely any 

 attention had been paid to the service rules of the American Car 

 Service Association, since the shortage really began to be felt, this 

 being in June, and having gradually grown worse. In fact, cars 

 that at present leave southern lines are subject to misuse, and are 

 not returned for months, if at all, in many cases. Some of the north- 

 ern roads at present have many cars tied up at coast terminals, and 

 have made reprisals on cars of other roads in an effort to keep their 

 roUing stock up to something like normal figures. 



In an effort to break up the present practice of using cars for 

 storage purposes for indefinite periods at coast terminals, it was 

 suggested that higher demurrage rates would have to be enforced, 

 and the Illinois Central RaOroad, represented by Vice-President W. L. 

 Park, stated that notices had been sent out to the effect that, start- 

 ing December 1 the usual forty-eight hours free demurrage would be 

 allowed, but that on the first day after that time a charge of $2 

 would be made, $3 on the second day, $4 on the third day, .$5 on the 

 fourth day and for each succeeding day. Mr. Park stated that the 

 company thought that such a demurrage charge would guarantee 



—21— 



