Railbox
Encyclopedia
Boxcar
A boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads...
shortage in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the 1970s. Under the routing rules in effect at the time, cars owned by operating companies were supposed to be routed back to their owning road as soon as possible or the host road would have to pay demurrage
Demurrage
The term demurrage originated in vessel chartering and refers to the period when the charterer remains in possession of the vessel after the period normally allowed to load and unload cargo . By extension demurrage refers to the charges that the charterer pays to the shipowner for its extra use of...
charges. This was believed to cause a shortage of available cars as empty cars would be routed back instead of being loaded with a load that took them farther afield.
The main idea behind RailBox, as evidenced by their slogan "Next Load, Any Road!" was that since they were owned by many of the railroads as a cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
, their boxcars were not subject to load/empty rules and could be used for loads going anywhere in Canada, Mexico and the US where an AAR Plate-C loading gauge is permitted.
RailBox cars are all boxcars and are painted yellow with black doors. Unlike most TTX
TTX Company
TTX Company is a private company that owns a large fleet of freight cars and provides them to stockholding railroads. It also provides freightcar management services...
rolling stock which is usually nondescript with no logo, Railbox cars had a bold graphic side logo, which was a stylised X made of red and blue intertwined arrows to symbolise free flow.
As of 2005, some RailBox cars are still in service but with the decline in general boxcar loadings as a proportion of overall traffic, the reduction of demurrage rates with the decline of the pricing and regulatory influence of the Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
(ICC), and the increase in shortlines putting boxcars into the pool, the need for general boxcars has lessened. RailBox (and the similar Railgon Company
Railgon Company
The Railgon Company owned railroad gondola cars available for use by multiple railroads by placing the cars in a cooperative pool.Due to routing arrangements and track usage agreements, gondola cars and other rolling stock are often used to transport goods on more than one railroad before reaching...
) are currently subsidiaries of TTX Company
TTX Company
TTX Company is a private company that owns a large fleet of freight cars and provides them to stockholding railroads. It also provides freightcar management services...
.