Eastern Railroad Discussion > Did my UPS package come by train?

I’m tracking a small ‘UPS Ground’ package from Mount Olive, NJ, to Dallas, TX. UPS shows a departure scan at Secaucus, NJ at 8:29am (EDT) Wednesday, and an arrival scan at Mesquite, TX at 9:31am (CDT) Thursday. Is this schedule possible via TOFC: a 26-hour trip, which involved at least two carriers, all the way from the west side of the Tri-State Area, to the east side of the Metroplex?

PennStation Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I’m tracking a small ‘UPS Ground’ package
> from Mount Olive, NJ, to Dallas, TX. UPS shows a
> departure scan at Secaucus, NJ at 8:29am (EDT)
> Wednesday, and an arrival scan at Mesquite, TX at
> 9:31am (CDT) Thursday. Is this schedule possible
> via TOFC: a 26-hour trip, which involved at least
> two carriers, all the way from the west side of
> the Tri-State Area, to the east side of the
> Metroplex?


I highly doubt your package could have made that trip by train. I suspect there was unused belly space on one of UPS's airplanes and it flew from New Jersey to Texas.

CSX intermodal trains are scheduled between North Jersey and St Louis to take 31 or so hours while their NJ - Chicago pig trains take 21 +/- hours (Info source: The Bull Sheet).

NS intermodal schedules are much more leisurely taking >48 hours to transit St Louis to NJ (from NS web site).
So I agree a plane was involved in your case.

I seriously doubt a ground package went by air. UPS uses sleeper team drivers where the truck never stops between point a and point b. Most likely the case here.

rfprr

Just checked via Mapquest and it's 1550 miles, and estimated travel time is 24 hours and change. It's possible. Do they do "hot" driver changes at a waypoint facility as insurance against the drivers running out of time?

This package more than likely moved by air. Couple of things to consider. It was a small package that moved from one major market area to another that UPS services with nightly air service. You would be surprised by the amount of UPS, Fed Ex and DHL ground freight that actually moves via aircraft. Small packages help fill the aircraft to capacity along with the express freight. Look at the transit times (UPS shows a departure scan at Secaucus, NJ at 8:29am (EDT) Wednesday, and an arrival scan at Mesquite, TX at 9:31am (CDT) Thursday). The thing we're not factoring in is the time spent at sort facilities. Especially the dept. time at Mesquite, that's a morning air sort time. There's no way that package could be trucked that distance and move thru a sort that quickly. Plus we're just looking at departure scan times. The average package is scanned 21 times or more from the time it's dropped off to the time it's delivered. But you never see all of those times, because there's no point in you knowing it. Those are internal check points for the shipper to track their own efficiency and to be able to back track if something is lost.

UPS is not a shipper, they are a carrier. The news media makes this error all the time and everyone starts refering to carriers as shippers.

gmojim

mhiser Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This package more than likely moved by air. Couple
> of things to consider. It was a small package that
> moved from one major market area to another that
> UPS services with nightly air service. You would
> be surprised by the amount of UPS, Fed Ex and DHL
> ground freight that actually moves via aircraft.
> Small packages help fill the aircraft to capacity
> along with the express freight. Look at the
> transit times (UPS shows a departure scan at
> Secaucus, NJ at 8:29am (EDT) Wednesday, and an
> arrival scan at Mesquite, TX at 9:31am (CDT)
> Thursday). The thing we're not factoring in is the
> time spent at sort facilities. Especially the
> dept. time at Mesquite, that's a morning air sort
> time. There's no way that package could be trucked
> that distance and move thru a sort that quickly.
> Plus we're just looking at departure scan times.
> The average package is scanned 21 times or more
> from the time it's dropped off to the time it's
> delivered. But you never see all of those times,
> because there's no point in you knowing it. Those
> are internal check points for the shipper to track
> their own efficiency and to be able to back track
> if something is lost.

OK, think what you want but I almost guarantee you it went by truck. But what do I know, I only work for UPS.

rfprr

Secaucus to Mesquite is a good hike. Mapquest estimates the distance at 1,531 miles (I-81 to Knoxville, west on I-40, to Pine Bluff, then south).

In 24 hours, on a truck, that works out to 63.9 miles per hour for the entire trip from scan to scan. That's pretty aggressive, but within UPS's expertise.

Thanks, guys, for the interesting replies.

I really like the airplane theory, except for the fact that most (if not all) UPS Air shipments I've tracked show 'DFW A/P' and then 'Dallas,' not 'Mesquite.' Since Mesquite is a Union Pacific/UPS intermodal facility, I'm not sure why a package that arrived by air would first be taken there. It would have to travel from the airport, past the Dallas Hub (if that's what it's called), to get to Mesquite, and then go back to the Hub.

The sleeper-cab nonstop seems plausible; a time of 26:02 might not be that unusual. I AM assuming that some of the 'scans' are not of the package itself, but rather of the trailer that contains the package.

To bring this thread back to the railroads: if my package went by truck (or even plane), just what is in all those UPS trailers on flatcars that we see? I didn't ask for any expedited service. I was told that shipping would take 5-8 business days (it took only 3). Was it just a case of getting lucky - my package should have gone by train, but there was unused space in the truck (or plane)?

PennStation Wrote: "I am assuming that some of the 'scans' are not of the package itself, but rather of the trailer that contains the package."

Quite plausible, I believe many UPS trailers bear transponders virtually indentical to the AEI tags on rail equipment.

Personally though, I'm concurring with those who opined that your package filled out unused space on a Boeing.

Meanwhile my new vacuum cleaner (a rather large box) that I ordered last Thursday at about 2:00 central time from a place in Memphis did not arrive at my home in Oak Ridge (a distance of 380 miles) until this morning. Package size can dictate speed of service.

Later...
Jollymon

They give us model train guys preference! <G>