Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX adds 85 new 53 FT reefer trailers to the fleet.

Hi  everyone saw a post on  facebook   of  some new  CSX   53 FT  reefer trailers   reporting marking  CSXZ.  Post   states that   CSX has added a fleet of 85 refrigerated trailers to their intermodal  pool in the last few months.  The one photo  showed    CSXZ 938141  and a 2nd one of  CSXZ 938174.  Anyone know if they have plans to  get any more and also  why would CSX need  reefer trailers for?

Maybe Tropicana is going to retire/sell theirs?

High demand for reefer containers.

Posted from iPhone

Just 85? Must be for one dedicated customer.

Posted from Android

Proud Foamer
OAKLEY, CA

The last position of the reporting marks, "Z", proves it's a trailer, not a container, as those end in "U".

And CSX Intermodal hasn't changed their number 'rules', either.  The second digit being a '3' indicates it is a 53' unit.  All CSXU containers are 63nnnn.  Some of the older CSXUs that were changed to UMXU reporting marks still have '3' in the second position.  Back when I started at CSX Intermodal in '07, they had CSXU containers with an '8' in the second spot indicating it was a 48 footer.  But those went to scrap about 2009-2010. 

I wonder if they STILL send 48' bucket cars and hitch cars around?  They WERE when I retired in early 2015!  We got 'em empty, and sent 'em back empty.  A complete waste of resources to drag them around empty!

CSXQ090FAN Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi  everyone saw a post on  facebook   of 
> some new  CSX   53 FT  reefer trailers 
>  reporting marking  CSXZ.  Post   states
> that   CSX has added a fleet of 85 refrigerated
> trailers to their intermodal  pool in the last
> few months.  The one photo  showed    CSXZ
> 938141  and a 2nd one of  CSXZ 938174.  Anyone
> know if they have plans to  get any more and
> also  why would CSX need  reefer trailers for?

This is good to see.  85 trailers is probably a test to see how things go before any possible major commitment is made.

The market for long haul refrigerated transport is very large.  Railroads were largely driven out of the business by inane government economic regulation.

1)  Rail charges for fresh fruits, vegetables and chicken were strictly regulated.  Motor freight charges for these commodities were totally unregulated.  The truckers obviously took the business.  The rails lost all their institutional knowledge for handling this specialized business.  Now they have to claw their way back in.  85 trailers is a toe in the water to see how things go.

2) The railroads could not sign contracts with customers.  The truckers could.  This greatly increased the railroads' risks when buying expensive reefer equipment.  The truckers could mitigate their risks with contracts.  The railroads couldn't.  Again, the truckers took the business.
 
 

Most of the 48' well cars are still moving around; they can be used for moving paired 20', 40' and 45' ocean boxes; though they may be aging out of the fleet by now.

Can you post the link to the photos here?

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1