How are Cars and Trucks Shipped Across the Country? A Look at How Auto Racks are Loaded
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out this video!
**Time Stamps Below**
Today, we're taking a look at how vehicles at the Ford Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky are loaded onto auto racks to be transported across the country.
Did you know how this was done?
Let me know what you think and if you've seen vehicles loaded or unloaded from auto racks?
Also, I'd like to give a big thank you to Jim Woods for Supporting the Channel.
I really do appreciate it, Jim!
***Real-Time Footage Begins***: 11:58
First Trucks Being Loaded: 01:07
Close-up of Trucks Being Loaded: 01:59
Loading Ramp Being Lowered: 02:54
Loading Ramp Being Moved to a New Car: 04:34
Looking Through the Auto Racks: 05:13
Auto Racks Being Connected: 06:23
Rear of the Yard Exit: 07:22
Three Locomotives (Including Switcher #1234): 08:44
Worker Clears Safety Equipment: 09:28
Connecting More Cars: 10:29
A BIG Thank You to Jim Woods for Supporting the Channel: 11:48
**Real-Time Footage**
Look at the Facility: 16:53
First Trucks Being Loaded: 17:59
Drivers Being Dropped Off to Pick Up More Trucks: 19:35
Close-up of Trucks Being Loaded: 23:38
It’s So Windy: 33:45
Loading Ramp Being Lowered: 51:18
Loading Ramp Being Moved to a New Car: 01:06:29
Looking Through the Auto Racks: 01:11:12
Shot of Downtown Louisville: 01:13:53
Auto Racks Being Connected: 01:22:30
Locomotives Idling: 01:28:52
Rear of the Yard Exit: 01:31:40
Three Locomotives (Including Switcher #1234): 01:43:25
Locomotive #6151: 01:45:00
Closing Auto Rack Doors: 01:51:39
Worker Clears Safety Equipment: 01:52:36
Connecting More Cars: 01:59:04
Fascinating!! The is the first video I've ever seen showing the entire loading process. Thank you for this great content!!
Thank you very much.
I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Love the videos of train cars loading /unloading their various cargos.
I'm glad you're enjoying the videos.
I find these processes fascinating.
Wow! Phenomenal! Those machines are feats of engineering excellence!
The quality of that video is remarkable. Great views and calming to watch. No annoying music, thank you!
Thank you very much.
I do appreciate it.
Awesome! Really gives perspective into this process...thanks for the upload!🚂😎👍
Thank you.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I work at the Honda Auto Assembly Plant in Lincoln, Alabama. Each car leaving the plant has an individual card that is scanned in to the plants inventory computer. The car is tracked by vehicle identification number, and the ultimate destination. Cars are loaded into auto racks by "corridors ", All cars departing the plant are sent to a rail yard in Talladega, Alabama, and have been sold. 17 trucks carry 9 cars each on 2 shifts, 6 days a week with a minimum of three truck loads per shift. 30:45
Thanks for the great information.
I figured there has to be a system keeping track of which vehicle is loaded where.
Thank you for that information interesting stuff
Great video. I love seeing how everything works.
Thank you.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Your videos are the best. Keep them coming. Request for a container yard - arrival and splitting, unload, reload, combining and departure - would be fascinating.
I hauled cans as we call them out of csx and ns in Cleveland Ohio for a years, those things are heavy and wear out your truck
I hope to make it to North Baltimore this summer.
That's home to a CSX intermodal facility.
I'll try and detail a train coming through, being sorted and a new one departing.
@@nkyrailfan Awesome choice - I went there in 2022, found a country lane on the north side for discrete flying….the yard is surreal, like a secret base in the middle of the cornfields…
I've been there once before to make a quick stop and see all the fuss.
You're right though, it is like the company is trying to hide it with that large berm in front.
I think I parked in a bank lot across the street and flew the drone a bit.
Phenomenal! Those machines are feats of engineering excellence.
Really cool. I have wanted to see this for a long time.
Thanks, Margie.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
your channel is the best trainset I've ever played with
Very cool cool 😎 system.Interesting to watch.Like rail yards fascinating to watch both thanks for filming 🎥
Never seen anything like this so this is new to me
This is so cool to see, thanks for sharing!
I remember when the GM Moraine Bus and Truck plant was operational in Dayton and they had all those autoracks at the yard there. Plus all the Conrail trains coming from Buckeye Yard with the big box cars of auto parts. There were several spurs throughout the city shipping/receiving parts and materials to the other GM plants in the city.
I worked in Dayton for a few years about 10 years ago.
I know some of the spurs you're talking about.
I'm sure more have been ripped up.
Such a waste of a great manufacturing center.
I was surprised the Chinese glass manufacturer Fuyao didn't try and use the existing RR infrastructure.
This is impressive!!! I've been doing this for 3 years for South Carolina Ports Authority, I load and unload BMW'S.. You really have to be on your game with dually trucks. Wow 👌🏾
Howdy! This is so cool! They put something similar on a CSX line just outside Fostoria, Ohio. It is a mixing/loading yard, though I don't know the specifics of the operation.
So I guess the skinniest people load the vehicles onto the cars? Doesn't look like a whole lotta room for the drivers to get in and out in there lol! Another great video. Well done and thanks for sharing 🤠
I'll have to check out that facility the next time I head to Fostoria.
Yeah, I would say you can't have too many extra desserts and keep your job doing this.
Several folks have said it's very tight in the auto racks with these trucks.
You're the first! You get the award! Thank you!
Thank you I watch these trains pass by my location in NY and had no idea how it was done thank you for taking the time and sharing! 👍👍
Thank you.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Great perspective and another entertaining and educational video Christian. Great drone work and editing as always. You can see the other end of this process on a much smaller scale at the receiving yard north of Cincinnati in the Tri-County area on Crescentville
I'm glad you liked it, Terry.
Thank you for reminding me about the receiving yard.
I hope to make it up there this summer.
I worked at an unloading facility in Walkertown NC for a brief period and the same way they are loaded is exactly how they are unloaded. It's some backbreaking work removing the wheel chocks that prevent the vehicles from moving during transport however once that is done it's smooth sailing. My favorite part was closing the doors and unlocking the brakes of the auto racks for the night crew to reassemble the cars for transport to be reloaded. I hopped into a mustang to drive off unfortunately it was missed during removal of the chocks and it damaged the power steering assembly i was able to drive it off and park it in another location. Someone had to answer for that mishap and that same day someone scratched a dually during offloading as well. Those older auto racks are tight as hell not a job for someone tall and big body you will have a hard time doing this type of work needless to say they have a high turnover rate of workers. The work is constant seven days a week, the hours are unpredictable especially when you have to for the train or wait for the railroad to get a crew there to spot the cars. If you're not an outside person then this work is NOT for you especially when it rains those steel floors are slippery hell the entire car is made of steel so any accident can be serious or deadly. Safety is a must and repeated daily, the job can be fun I enjoyed driving the new cars and that new car smell is what I loved the most 😊
Thanks for the great information and story about the mustang.
That had to be a heck of a way to find out the chocks were still in place.
@nkyrailfan It was a chain instead of a chock. At the time Ford used chains to secure their cars I don't know about now but yeah it was startling.
I’ve used the Amtrak auto train that runs daily between Lorton VA and Sanford FL a few times. Taking an SUV and a sports car. As they load, they get in and out of the vehicles from the left hand window which is kept down and all the people loading are either thin and short and trim - no heavy dudes or gals. 😊. 17 hours later, you’ll have your car offloaded in either city. Fun trip. Not cheap but well worth it if you don’t want to drive 95 from the northeast to FLA.
Awesome video. I love your videos. So insightful and well produced. Great job!
Thank you very much!
I really do appreciate it.
Thats intresting. Thx for sharing
ive been here and pasted it numotus times, the flat cars haul truck frames and the others like you said haul the trucks good video,I used to haul auto and truck parts for dana
Did this type of work In 1977 for fords import facilities in Tampa Florida. The courier pickup trucks were shipped from Japan as just a cab and chassis. Any options such as radio, AC, tires or wheel upgrades, the pickup box, step bumper, etc were installed in Tampa. Trucks were shipped by rail and by truck.Finished units were placed in a yard based closely on their shipping position, but seldom in exact loading order. The railroad would place the racks in the yard. We would then have to get the railcar reporting marks and arrange the loading based on a print out of which trucks go on each car. We worked in the days of open racks before the modern enclosed ones shown. The loading ramp was similar to what’s shown, but what is not seen is the flip down bridge ramps between the rail cars.We would go to the storage yard and get the trucks based on VIN numbers on a larger windshield sticker. Since the vehicles were seldom in exact order some jockey work needed to be done to line up before driving to the racks. Since the racks were loaded in sets of 5 as you show we would have to split the line up for each rack to load all the tops and the all the bottom’s being carefull to split the line up correctly because each car had a different destination and had to have all the correct VIN arrangements on board. If a vehicle did not run we still had to load it. For this we had an 4WD f 250 outfited to use as a tow or push truck to make sure it got in board in its proper position. What is also not shown is having to chain them all down using a chain and ratchet assembly built into the railcar deck.
Thanks for the great info.
That had to be a pretty sophisticated operation in 1977.
I didn't know they would just ship as a cab and chassis.
Good ol' L409, I used to work it. It is a good job as long as the ramp is ready to pull when we get on duty.
how often were they not ready?
@@25mfd at least 2 times a week
@@Messicrafter
ha... not surprised though... that is a very big ramp... i was a switchman for the CNW... we had a ramp that served a GM plant in janesville Wisconsin... we had a similar job that pulled the loads out... but if they weren't ready for pulling the yardmaster had us fumbling around in the yard until they were ready
Videos like this are important as they show that loading car carriers is not black magic and the continued 2 station only Auto train can be expanded with relative ease if Amtrak ever had the will to do so.
Very cool indeed. There are Not many videos like this. There's some but only 1 minute long. There are tons of video of
loading and unloading coal trains and ships and barges but very few Tankers and Coil cars. FYI the drivers of the vehicles
Must Be Skinny guys because they Cannot open the doors but must exit FROM THE WINDOWS!
I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed the video.
It was a lot of fun to see everything that goes into loading vehicles.
And I bet you not only have to be skinny, but a fast runner to keep up with the pace.
great video ❤❤😍😍👌👌
Awsome video! I was in the car business for ten years with Saturn and was always curiouis as to how this was auto rack distribution was done on a huge scale. Thank you for the detailed description.
Thank you very much.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I don't know about today but back when I was working in automotive, UPS Logistics managed the shipments of vehicles produced at Kentucky Truck and Louisville Assembly. The assembly line was grouped by color and final dealer destination.
I use to be a worker at a port and we would put the plastic coverings on vehicles, we shipped a lot to Australia and uk
I'm surprised they don't put some type of cover on it, but maybe they're so efficient, there's not an opportunity for someone to spray paint the cars while loaded.
Hello I work for the same company at another facility. Each vin is assigned a barcode and number and the system keeps track of where they end up. Just takes a bit of man hours to get them all scanned to know where they end up and their position on the autorack. Lots of nuances to it, but it all gets picked up in a year.
Your connections between cars are known as bridge plates.
Thanks for the detailed information.
I really do appreciate it.
I figured there must be some system in place to keep things organized and somewhat easy.
Thanks for the overview. That facility is amazing. It’s like a mile long on the interstate side.
That was a great video.
Very Interesting! Thank You!
Another outstanding video!
I live on a CP main line in the Chicagoland area near WIS and see Autoracks every day. Thanks for the explanation
I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
EXCELLENT VIDEO,,,,, EXCELLENT SUBJECT!! 💯👍👍
Thank you! This is part of the area I’m modeling. I got to see some things I cannot see on google satellite images like the fence gates in front of the autorack yard. Any footage of the other businesses served by this small yard would be very helpful. Thanks again.
Great vid!!!!! 👍👍
Great video! Answered a lot of questions but I’d like to know how they keep track, too. 👍
Several folks have said each vehicle has a barcode in the window with all the information about it.
Where it's going, where it needs to be loaded in the train, and where it's parked in the lot beforehand.
Each parking spot is numbered. The paperwork in the truck tells you exactly what spot to park in. Usually for a certain region or even a country the truck is going to be shipped. It’s already known before it comes off the assembly line. I worked doing the same thing at a Toyota plant.
Thanks for the great info!
I do appreciate it.
hello NKY Railfan & it's is Randy and i like yours video is cool & Thanks NKY Railfan & Friends Randy
Hey Randy!
Thanks for checking out the video.
I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Thank you
I want that job loading onto the auto racks!
Check out the 11:48 mark
I’ve done it. Not an easy job. Super cramped in Tri levels. Wet in the rain. Cold in the winter. Hot in summer. And always dirty.
@user-dl9jp9ti6e I can imagine that would be a very tough job no matter what the conditions are outside.
But given that it's all steel, I'm sure it's made worse by just about every type of weather, hot or cold.
The roughest trip your vehicle will ever take is getting to the dealership. A guy I know works in a bodyshop at a CN rail site where they repair any and all damage to these vehicles from shipping. Your brand new vehicle can have $20,000 in bodywork done on it before you pick it up and they will never tell you.
Last year, I took delivery (in the midwest US) of a vehicle manufactured in Mexico. Included on that vehicle was an optional dashcam, which was operational. One of the features of the camera is that if it detects what it thinks might be a collision, it captures some video, even when it's unoccupied. That feature was triggered several times on its trip north, and the dealership didn't think to erase the videos before they delivered it. Even though a sticker on the windshield was partially obscuring the view, you could still mostly tell what was going on through the little holes in the rail car. A few bumps while it was moving at speed, but most of the events seemed to be during yard operations, or when it was unloaded. Some day, some night, and some where you could tell that rail car got whacked pretty hard.
@jongeers1954 that's crazy!
What an interesting way to see what the vehicle actually went through on its trip.
That's crazy!
But I could certainly see the need for it.
In the early 1980s, I was doing computer work at Oldsmobile in Lansing Michigan. Part of what we were doing was exactly this type of loading. It's important to remember that each car might be going to a different city, so it's essential that every vehicle is located in the string in the exact correct sequence.
At oldsmobile, there was a barcode on the windshield of every car, and a barcode reader at the point where the vehicle entered the string of cars. Is the vehicle did not match the correct sequence, a horn would go off and then someone would sort out the mistake.
Thanks for the great information.
I really do appreciate it.
I'm sure one small slip up could have quite a ripple effect in messing things up.
Awesome
Fantastic video! I've been wanting to see this procedure for quite awhile..thank you! New sub BTW!
🚂🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃💯👍🇺🇸
Thank you very much, Jim.
I'm really glad you enjoyed it.
Brutal, Thanks, nice video
Think i saw my 2023 F250 Oxford White with STX package (LOL), Sticker said it was shipped via rail from Kentucky, that is quite a process... Appreciate the video!
From factory: can be loaded on to road vehicle carrier or drive to train,ship or dealership by road. All vehicles are despatched by barcode destinations according order of specs.most pilot vehicles is fitted with the latest gadgets to instruct them where a certain vehicle is parked for collection to collect for delivery by any means of transport as mentioned above. Just a short explanation
Thanks for the great info!
I really do appreciate it.
There's another part not shown - how the cars get to the autorack yard from the manufacturer and off loaded. And this entire operation is repeated in reverse at the final destination at some far off city.
I wonder how they get in and out of the cars because does it not look like there’s much room to open the doors
Thanks for sharing. Loading cars & trucks looks pretty complicated. I don’t know how they keep track of everything.
It really is incredible they're able to do this so efficiently.
The nothing I can’t figure out is how they load and unload container ships. Some of the new ships can hold up to 23,000 containers.
I always wondered if there was any difference between how the Auto Train and freight companies do it.
From what I've seen of the auto train, this looks very similar.
Minus the valet service of course.
I wonder how the cars arrive at their destination w/o spray paint overspray all over them as it seems that auto racks are a preferred canvas among graffiti criminals.
I'd be curious to know if Ford and other companies spray them with a wax or something that can be washed off when they arrive at the dealership to avoid permanent damage from folks spraying the cars with graffiti.
The holes deflect the spray pattern.
They have a plastic wrap that goes over top. I have looked inside a few
the “artists” that use the rail cars as their canvas only tag empty cars as they’re a very caring bunch!
They do I’m a inspector for a facility
I want to know how the heck they did this before computers! Thanks for this very interesting video man
My guess is there were a lot of jobs back then that don't exist anymore.
I bet there were plenty of people who planned out the loading and organizing of the vehicles.
I can only imagine how much longer it would take to load cars back then compared to now
Are the drives who bring the trucks into the railcars on the payroll for the railroad or for Ford?
I bet they're employed by Ford.
I'm sure CSX doesn't want any liability for any damage that may occur in the loading process.
Thank you for creating this video! The autoracks have different class 1 names on them. Are the vehicles loaded onto each autorack destined for that railroad. For example, the autoracks with BNSF on them will connect to BNSF and the UP autoracks will be handed to UP?
I think it's just a matter of available cars.
I believe the railroads collectively own most of the autoracks and they are all able to use them as needed.
Impressive, would love to see how the close the doors on cars in between.
I wish I had been able to get it happening, but the wind was so strong this day, I didn't want my drone to get too far away.
My guess is they close them up as they fill a car and then move into the next one.
I'm guessing they have to close the doors from outside to get a little more leverage to move the heavy doors.
I am curious where the platforms connecting the cars get stored.
How do they get to that parking lot from the factory? I didn’t see a road connecting them.
I tried to spot the route, but couldn't find it.
There must be a road from the factory to the parking lots.
Anyone who lives in this area is fully aware of how annoying it is to have one of these trains back into the yard 3-4 morning. Great video though
Wonder if spray paint gets on the trucks from idiots painting the auto racks.
You'd have to think a little bit of it could end up on the vehicles.
They seem pretty tightly packed in there.
Maybe 1-2 feet between them and the exterior panels.
Can someone explain what "Yard Air" is and how it operates?
I believe yard air is a series of air lines that can be connected to cars to charge/fill the air in all the connected cars. This saves a lot of time because otherwise the engine compressors would have to charge the lines before the cars can move. This way they can just hook up and move right away.
Note: I am a retired firefighter, and we had a large rail road presence in town. Occasionally we would get a call from one of the towers telling us a train had lost it's air and where it was at. That way if we needed to respond to that area we would know what crossings might be blocked. I seem to recall it taking a considerable amount of time to charge the whole train.
What Cowboy Steve said is correct.
It's a way to fill the air brake reservoirs on each car in a string of cars waiting to be put together as a train.
Without it, the entire system would need to be filled from the locomotives.
That takes considerably longer.
Yard air speeds up the process tremendously.
How do the drivers get out? That looks awfully narrow.
It looks like there's about two feet on each side to walk to the end of the car.
They must be very careful squeezing out of the trucks.
Thank you very much for the Ukrainian subtitles and interesting content
No problem.
I'm glad you were able to enjoy the video.
Very nice drone work especially with a lot of power lines all over the place and trees. Which drone set up are you using?
Thank you, I appreciate it.
I use a DJI Mavic 3 Pro.
It is by far the best (and most expensive) drone I have ever used.
It has three different focal (zoom) lengths on it, so I can switch from a wide to a medium to a tight shot while it's flying.
Having experince at the final yard. Never saw the crew use any handbrakes or release any handbrakes. Never saw anyone chaining down the trucks? When unloading they start from the top deck but do not know why. Interesting to know how many trucks the parking lot holds
man, why don't the crews have a drone? or the yardmaster?? soon.........
When I worked at gm in van nuys yrs ago they would do 50 MP thru the train car's so they could load faster...it was a trip man....lol
That's crazy!!!
That had to be the fastest loading plant in the country!
@@nkyrailfan I thank it was 3 thousand a day 24 hours
What happens to all of the containers that have been on the ship for a couple of months.
That's wild. Do they load in the snow?
I would think so.
I bet the ramp has a grippy surface for the tires to get traction on during rain or snow.
another super informative video at first I didn’t like the way the video was. speed up it after watching a little of the real time footage without your narration I understand why you do it that way and it’s more interesting with your narration! thanks
I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Initially, I wanted to only do real-time footage, but it was just too slow to have narration and describe things.
Hopefully, having footage at both speeds satisfies most viewers.
definitely, I bet 90% of the population has no idea trains carry almost all of the new cars sold in the country
Hello, could you do a video describing your drone setup with audio? I just got a drone and am learning it but would like to have audio somehow if you can detail your setup.
I'll try to create one in the coming weeks.
The short answer is I use a recorder on the ground to capture the sounds.
The drone propellers are too loud to record any usable audio from on board.
❤❤❤
My job for 18 years in vaughn Ontario Canada. Any questions just ask me.
woooooow
Years ago cars and trucks on auto transport were tied down with chains Now days the autos are not tied but the wheels are chocked because frames will not take the stressed
That's interesting.
I bet the RR companies also didn't like how much time it took to tie each vehicle down with chains.
Never knew that
❤
why they bother putting end doors on these cars???
@@martinr1834 those sides are not solid they're basically slats so dust and debris as well as tagging paint spray gets in the cars and they have to put a protective plastic on the cars and trucks after loading them!! as for wind the old open autoracks and semi car haulers are/were open on the ends so?
I supposed any vehicle damage is dealt with by the plant or a contractor near to the plant.
Someone commented the dealerships take care of any damage caused during the loading.
It's done on the back end so that a vehicle isn't repaired and then happens to be damaged again.
The commenter said vehicles can get $10-20K in damage that a customer will never know about because it's taken care of before the vehicle ever hits the showroom or is delivered.
It's crazy to think that much damage could be done and repaired and you think you're getting a brand new, no dings or dents vehicle and it could have had major work done.
what were all the Orange vehicles in the side lot? A fleet sale?
I'm not sure.
That is a unique color orange, so they very well could be fleet vehicles.
Although, with the dump beds many of them have, I wonder if it's a case of they won't fit in the auto racks.
Looking at the satellite image of the area, there are trucks of all colors in that lot.
Many without a bed on them.
I see several truck equipment stores nearby, I wonder if this is where heavy duty trucks are converted to dump trucks or something like that.
So the 5 autoracks are interconnected??
They have steel plates that enable each car to connect with another to allow vehicles to drive between cars.
There are articulated cars that share one center wheel assembly in between the two.
How do they open the door insise the car?
I believe there's about a 1-1.5 feet (.5 meters) between the door and the rail car.
Ever done anything on Skillman yard?
No, I have not.
But if I'm ever in Skillman, I'll definitely check it out.
So,it’s kind of like an airport, for cars?? Theoretically ?
Yeah, you could think of it that way.
I can remember when the autos did not need any protection from vandalism
yep... a long time ago
yellow marking are called the foul point
Thank you.
I wonder how much those Ford's have rusted already!!
wonder if they leave the keys in vehicles?
I bet they do, just so they don't end up with a vehicle stuck in a car and no way to move it.
LOTS of Scrap Metal in that Yard , and ALL Junk , coming from a Chevy Man.............He He He !
I work for an auto auction. Each vehicle has a GPS tracker. Most likely that’s what they use here.
Thanks for the info, Neil.
I figured there must be something to keep track of each vehicle.
This gives me anxiety. It reminds me of army videos where they unload tanks and various equipment. They will drive the tank off the trailer and halfway on to the ramp ... And just stop... For 18 minutes or something. Or they will be moving the equipment, driving it down the road and just... Stop and sit there for 22 more minutes. It seems like this process needs much more refining because it looks like these guys have a brain reset every time they park a vehicle. Jump in the van and ask, "Oh what are we doing today guys?". Oh porting cars? Wus dat mean? I don't think Ive seen one single task happen from start to finish without an undetermined delay. Like, why are you driving past the ramp when you (should) know thats your train? Why is the crew van going right when its destinarion is left? Why does the vehicle stop on the ramp and just sit there? Some of this shit just makes no sense.
Just think, the first person that drives your $90K truck doesn't wash their hands after using the bathroom.
musk tunnel be like
The railroad crews are very.
,very underatted,you have to space each car to a very certain footage not very easy when some darw bars not make it easy ,i personnaly never liked spotting autos one of the worst r.r. jobs. e
This must be one of the more challenging RR jobs.
They must be very skilled workers.
yea spotting racks can be rough... i worked a wayfreight that spotted loaded racks... on top of spacing them out (38 to 46 inches)... we also had to separate the bi-levels from the tri-levels... and then we had to put the west and east facing racks together... it was a LOT of work
This yard will most definitely fail and AAR audit
how can you tell?