The Washington times., 1930-10-20
PLAN POOLING
RAIL FREIGHT
BUSINESS
Economy Move Planned Due
to Inroads Made by Busses
and Current Depression

The heavy inroads in railroad
revenues made by the automobile
buses, coupled with the falling
off Of income because Of the
current depression in reviving
talk in financial and railroad Cir
cles Of the pooling Of the freight
cars as an economy move.
The plan would involve the
combining Of all the freight
equipment, ownership Of which
would be held by holding COM
pany and the method Of opera
ton would be similar to that Of
the Pullman Company.
The sponsors of the plan argue
that the excellent results obtained
through the Pullman Company In
passenger transportation would be
duplicated in the handling Of
freight.
Under the present system Of
operation methods are more or
less haphazard, they say. For
eign cars-that is cars Of one
road on the rails Of another-are
hurried off without regard as to
whether they are moving In the
direction Of a load or not. This
is done to avoid the payment Of
the 81 day for each day the
cars remain on their rails. Under
the pooling system of operation
this charge would be eliminated.
Would Aid Efficiency
The waste and inefficiency In
the buying and repairing Of
equipment would also be elimin-
ated in that buying would not
have to depend on the financial
condition of any one road nor
would repairs to the existing roll
ing stocks be based on the same
thing.
BY pooling the freight equip
ment, they contend it would be
an easy matter to have experts
at the head Of each special car
department-tank, box, coal, etc.
and they would not only be
experts In handling their special
cars but would have the oppor-
tunity Of keeping posted on con-
ditions in the various industries
they served. $3.50.
Bookkeeping Saving.
Another argument in favor Is
that a great saving would be ef-
fected eliminating the bookkeep-
ing system which is now neces-
sary as each railroad has to
know where its cars are and &C"
counts must be kept and charges
made to different companies
while cars are on their roads.
After speaking to several rail-
road men, the chief argument
they presented against the ar
rangement I found is that it is
not practical. The plan, while
feasible enough on paper, would
not work so well in actual opera
ton.
All plans for consolidation,
they opined, look good theoretic-
ally, but in practice do not work
out.
One Of the first considerations
is that Of foreign cars. About
IS per cent Of revenue the freight
movement is eastward and there
fore three out Of every five cars
coming east must necessarily re-
turn empty. This is not because
Of inefficiency but due to the
fact that certain types Of equip
ment, such as tank cars, refriger-
ators and such specialized cars
can obtain no pay load in the
east, since the east provides no
product for them to carry on the
return trip.
The per diem charge on foreign
cars would not be eliminated,
for it actually costs a railroad
or any other organization money
when its stock is off its own
rails. '',.'-
Where Opposition Comes
Perhaps the greatest opposition
to the pooling arrangement Is
the railroads reluctancy to share
its profits with a competitor.
Under the plan, they say, the
individual road would not get the
full benefit of the freight it
haulS. The smaller roads would
derive profits for which they
have not shared in the work.
AS for the standardizing Of
cars there is little standardizing
to be done, they say. ALI freight
cars Of the same type have prac-
tically the same capacity and
are made the same way, and
parts are readily interchange
| ohle in the majority of caSeS-