SHOPSMART AUTOS – CUSTOMER INFORMATION – SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 – PT.2
How Auto Transport Works
Car-carrying ocean vessels have been built to hold up to 8,000 vehicles, although most are designed to transport between 4,000 and 5,000 vehicles. These ships are used to bring foreign-built cars and trucks to the United States. For example, Toyota will import about 1.1 million vehicles to America from Japan in 2008. Toyota can charter or contract up to 30 ships to serve the American market. The automaker relies on five ports, two on the East Coast and three out West, where the vehicles are unloaded for transport to the dealer by truck or rail. Automakers estimate that 65-70 percent of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. will travel on rail before an 18-wheeler auto transport tractor-trailer makes the final delivery to the dealer. The average distance for truck transport falls within a 250-mile radius of the pickup point. Longer routes then become more cost effective by rail. Of course, rail has its own limitations in destination locations and specialized equipment required to load and unload the vehicles. We’ve learned how vehicles are carried from one destination to the next. On the following page, we’ll look at the advantages and challenges of rail transport. Although the majority of vehicles assembled in North America will travel by rail, autos collectively make up a very small percentage of overall rail-cargo transport in America. The Association of American Railroads reports motor vehicles made up just 1.6 percent of all railroad tonnage transported in 2007. Rail can move large numbers of vehicles efficiently. Specially designed rail cars called
auto racks
have two or three decks and can carry up to 20 vehicles, although the average is around 12 units. Two-deck auto racks usually carry trucks and large SUVs while three-deck auto racks carry cars. A dedicated auto-transport train with 70 auto racks can therefore carry more than 800 vehicles. The average rail journey for a new car is about 1,300 miles. Vehicles are usually loaded onto auto racks at the assembly plant. In some situations, new vehicles are trucked to a loading dock at the rail yard. Special ramps allow the cars to be driven onto a railcar’s decks. The cars are then secured with wheel chocks that are locked in place on the decks. The latest design in auto racks is the Auto-Max, which was developed by the Honda and Greenbrier companies. The multi-level Auto-Max can hold up to 22 vehicles and support both cars and trucks by maximizing the space between the railcar’s axles. Honda ordered a fleet of 400 Auto-Max railcars and says it has the highest rail-shipping rate of any automaker at 82 percent. Ever worry about a car falling off an auto-transport trailer that you’re following on the highway? You can learn how to avoid that catastrophe on the next page. Every new vehicle at some point in its delivery to the dealership is carried by truck transport. It’s not hard for automakers to roll up the mileage. Toyota alone averages 45 million total highway miles annually to deliver 2 million vehicles to nearly 1,500 Toyota and Lexus dealers across the country.
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