Re: (erielack) re:A&P facility . . .

["Tom Beckett" <tabeckett_@_stny.rr.com>]

That A&P facility is huge-something like 1.4 million square feet under one
roof. I wouldn't be surprised that they got traffic in by rail, but
distributed from there by truck. Notice its proximity to NY 17. This is not
an accident.

Forgive me for getting off topic for a moment, but I have some experience
with this. When I drove for JB Hunt, one of the things we did for Wal Mart
was  haul "Center Point" loads. Center Point is Wal Mart's cross dock
facility at its distribution centers. They would do exactly what Schuyler
suggests. They would get trailers of various products-paper towels,
detergent, tools, Rubbermaid, etc-anything they sell-but wouldn't need a
whole trailer of Rubbermaid products at, say, Grove City, Ohio; in order to
get the truckload rate, they would have the full trailer delivered there,
and break it down at the Center Point, with parts of that load going to DC's
in Cullman , AL; Brookhaven, Miss; Ottawa, Kans-wherever they needed
Rubbermaid stuff. Each of those trailers would be filled out to those
destinations-essentially Wal Mart is doing their own LTL freight. In fact,
the billing that goes with the trailer is noted "Fleet LTL". We would then
take the trailer to the destination Center Point, where it would drop as
soon as we could get it there. We were encouraged to move these loads as
fast as safely possible. Most went by truck, but quite a few over longer
distances went by rail; it depended on the lane. It's conceivable that A&P
could do this at Horseheads; how much of that traffic went on the EL is
questionable. Once A&P receives it, it's in their best interest to get it
into a store and sold. Warehousing costs money; turnover is profit.
Therefore, it's likely the outbound traffic went almost exclusively by
truck, as the higher trucking cost would be more than offset by the
reduction in the inventory carrying cost. Aditionally, some of that product
is perishable, and you'd want it in stores ASAP, which lends itself to the
faster transit times of trucks.

N.B: I've only seen one Wal Mart DC with rail access, in Searcy, Ark. That
one is off US 67(it's an expressway there) about 50 miles northeast of
Little Rock. Virtually all of them are within rock throwing distance of a
limited access highway, and at most, a couple of miles away, usually at some
out in the sticks location, where real estate is cheap. This is no accident
either.

Just my 2 cents(or a quarter's) worth.

TAB
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Thurner" <chris.thurner_@_adelphia.com>
To: "Schuyler G Larrabee" <sgl2_@_ix.netcom.com>; "Janet & Randy Brown"
<jananran_@_mymailstation.com>; <erielack@lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 7:47 PM
Subject: RE: (erielack) re:A&P facility . . .


> Schuyler and All:
>
> I had thoughts along the same line, given the monstrosity of the plant,
that
> it was likely that some outbound RR traffic may originate there.  Granted
> most was probably by truck.
>
> But, like yourself, I'm not sure.
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From: Schuyler G Larrabee [mailto:sgl2_@_ix.netcom.com]
> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 10:19 PM
> To: Janet & Randy Brown; erielack_@_lists.railfan.net
> Subject: Re: (erielack) re:A&P facility . . .
>
> Ah, well, I hesitate to differ, but I wonder if some of the outbound cars
> might not be loaded with a diverse load of foodstuffs, headed to some
other
> A&P distribution point.  I mean, sure, an entire carload of onions from
> Gilroy if you want, but an outbound could have onions, peanut butter, jam,
> mustard, coffee (8:00 O'Clock, of course), rasins, pasta, whatever, to
stock
> a store or group of stores in some local area.
>
> Or do you, Randy, >know< differently, that it wasn't done that way?
>
> I remember when A&P built that facility, in the late 60's or 70's?  What I
> understood was that it was a concept ahead of its time, and that it was
too
> big.  A&P tried to serve too large an area from it, and it didn't work out
> the way it was conceptualized.  But I do NOT know that for sure.
>
> SGL
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Janet & Randy Brown <jananran_@_mymailstation.com>
> To: <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>
> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 6:01 PM
> Subject: (erielack) re:A&P facility . . .
>
>
> > . . .or any other food distributor.  They seldom made food -- or any
other
> product.  They bought them and resold them.  Inbounds would be anything
you
> could buy at the store; outbounds would be empties, or empties with
> returning pallets.  Many cars would be "assigned" by the origin or
> destination railroad and would run captive: loaded one way, empty the
other
> by reverse route.
> >
> > Your waybills should reflect your affection for reality.  Real: onions
> from Gilroy, CA, via WP-DRGW-MP-GM&O-Erie.  Whimsical: onions from Gilroy,
> CA, via WP-GN-CP-SOO-Erie or WP-ATSF-SD&AE- NdeM-T&P-MP-GM&O-Erie . . . or
> whatever you think will give your crews a chuckle.  After all, they still
> have to drill out the car.
> >
> > Anything you can or could buy came from some origin to a warehouse for
> final distribution by :=( truck.  Have some fun!
> >
> > Randy Brown ELHS#16
> >
>

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