CHAIN TIE- DOWN FLATCARS LONGEVITY AT RISK

摘要

In the Spring of 1999, Mr. Jon Meyer, CSX Transportation's (CSXT) Senior Account Manager to the former Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC), undertook an independent study of the rail industry's capability to support the chain tie-down flatcar requirement of a dual Major Theater War (MTW). The MTW "demand" side of the equation, as derived from MTMC's Surface Distribution Plan (SDP), detailed the need for 27,000 chain tie-down flatcar moves (60-foot equivalents) during the first 17 weeks to support unit deployments from 15 Army Power Projection Platforms, and four United States Marine Corps bases. This requirement was exclusive of the Department of Defense's (DoD) owned chain tie-down flatcar fleet (DoDX marked cars). On the supply side of the equation, TTX Company (TTX), a car fleet operator specializing in flat cars and owned by the Class 1 railroads, owned the sixty-foot equivalent of 5,573 chain tie-down cars. A simple comparison showed that each rail-car would be required to complete nearly five round-trips in the first 17 weeks to meet the requirement.