THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
305 
The Pennsylvania Railroad System Adapts A New System 
of Handling Freight in Less than Carload Lots 
P LANS wliicli are now being worked out in final de- 
lail, and w ill shortly be pul into aelual operation, 
will elleet a eoini)lelc change in the methods of 
receiving, loading and lorwarding less than carload 
freight, of all descriptions, upon all portions of the Penn¬ 
sylvania Railroad Lines East of Pittsburgh. 
The new arrangements will constitute probably the 
most far-reaching im[)rovement that has ever been at¬ 
tempted, on a large scale, in freight transportation prae- 
tiees. The present custom of receiving less than carload 
freight indiscriminately, at all stations, at any time of 
the day, for all destinations, which has been followed 
since the early days of railroading, w ill he abolished. In 
its place there will he substituted a carefully devised plan 
whereby the acceptance and loading of freight, in less 
than carload lots, will he conducted according to a 
regularly established system, and such freight w ill he 
automatically concentrated into full loads at the })oint 
of shipment. 
The two most important features of the ikwv plan for 
handling less than carload freight are: 
1. The inauguration of shii)ping days—or suhslan- 
tially “sailing dales”—on which cars will depart from 
various points of origin to specified destinations; freight 
w ill he accepted on the proper shipping days, only, and 
the cars w ill “sail” as specified. 
2. The designation of i)articular stations at which 
freight wdll he exclusively received for specilied des¬ 
tinations; freight for such points wdll he accei)ted at the 
stations named only. 
The new plan represents the results of prolonged in¬ 
vestigation, conducted by tlu' Trans])orlation and Trallic 
Oflicers of the Pennsylvania Railroad, foi- the puri)ose of 
determining the best })ractical means of obtaining in¬ 
creased efliciency and desj)alch in the handling ol less 
than carload freight. 
The primary purposes for the adoption of the new' 
method are four-fold: 
First. Elimination of the delay incident to the re¬ 
handling of freight, under the present methods of con¬ 
solidating small shipments into full carloads at transfer 
stations; this will give the shipper (luicker service than 
is j)ossihle under the old method. 
Second. Conservation of car supply l)y effecting bel¬ 
ter average loading than is possible under the transfer 
system; this will increase the cars available for commer¬ 
cial freight, as well as Government supplies. 
Third. Reduction in the numher of car and traiii 
movements required to transport a given volume ol 
freight; this will increase the capacity of the whole Rail¬ 
road plant, and w ill release trackage and locomotives for 
the movement of troops. Government supi)lies and com¬ 
mercial freight. 
Fourth. Improvement in the regularity ol the freight 
S(M'vice by syst('matizing and simplifying ojx'ration; this 
will result Irom lh(‘ (dimination of a large; [)roporlion of 
the coiiiplicated re-handling of freight, which is now 
unavoidahle, w ith the attendant liability to damage'. 
It is the belief e)f the' Management e)f the' |{ailre)ael llnit 
the pi'e)posed change w ill incre'ase the eflicie'iicy, preenijel- 
ness anel re'gularity e)f the* freight service, anel therefore 
will ceemmend itself tee shippers as facilitating the ceen- 
eliicl of their business. 
Under the present method eef hanelling h'ss than car- 
le)ad freight, a shipper having a small ceensignment te) 
lranspe)rt from City “A” tee City “R” can take his goods 
to any freight station in City “A,” at any time during the 
ordinary working hours. In the course of the day, oi- 
perhaps the next two or three days, the freight w ill l)e 
loaded into a car and run out to a transfer station, w Inch 
may he a ftwv miles or more than 100 miles distant. Thert' 
it will he unloaded and trucked into another car. in 
which numerous small shipments, from majiy ollu'r 
I)oints, for City “R,” are being consolidatc'd in tlu' elfoi l to 
make uj) a full car. 
Under the proposed j)lan, there w ill lx* certain days on 
w hich less than carload freight for (hty “R” w ill he ac- 
cepted at one or more specilied stations in City “A,” and 
such freight w ill he accepted oidy on tin* days, and at llx' 
particular station, or stations, nanu'd. On IIk* days 
specified, a car for (hty “R” will h*av(' tin* originating 
station or stations. The service* w ill lx* daily, Ila'-w (*(‘kly, 
S(‘mi-w(*ekly or weekly according to tlx* av(*rage volimu* 
of the li-aflic, and fre'ight foi- City “R” w ill he* lake'ii eenly 
in such cars. Uneler this me'lheeel lhe*re* w ill he* ne> snhst*- 
qiient transferring oi“ re-handling eef the* fre'ight, anel the* 
car will mewe straight Ihremgh le) (hly "H,” wilheeui 
breaking hulk. 
In huge cities, w here a numher e)f freight stations are 
maintained, traffic to the various principal eleslinations 
will he apportioned between the stations. For example, 
where conditions permit, very large shipping centers w ill 
he subdivided into zones, each embracing sev(*ral frciglit 
stations. From each zone service w ill he given on s|)eci- 
fied days to a numher of destinations. In such casi's, 
cars for various j)oints w ill he alternated h(*tw een the sta¬ 
tions ill a given zone. If, for instance, a certain zone, 
containing several freight stations, is to have three cars a, 
week to a certain destination, the car may leave Station 
“A” on Monday, Station “R” on Wednesday and Station 
“C” on Saturday. This w ill eipialize drayage distance be¬ 
tween shippers in various portions of the zone. 
To eliminate the congestion of trucks and teams occur¬ 
ring at nearly all large freight stations in the afternoon, 
the “sailing liours” of cars for certain destinations will 
ho made earlier than the general closing time of the sta¬ 
tion. To illustrate—at a station from which several reg¬ 
ular cars are operated daily, to sundry destinations, the 
