TTX Company explained

TTX Company
Former Name:TrailerTrain
Type:Private
Founders:Norfolk & Western Railway
Pennsylvania Railroad
Rail-Trailer Corp.
Location City:Charlotte, North Carolina
Location Country:United States
Area Served:North America
Key People:Thomas F. Wells, President and CEO
Industry:Freight car provider
Parent:Burlington Northern Santa Fe
Canadian National
Canadian Pacific Kansas City
CSX Corporation
Ferromex
Norfolk Southern Railway
Pan Am Railways
Union Pacific
Subsid:Railbox
Railgon

TTX Company (formerly TrailerTrain) is a provider of railcars and related freight car management services to the North American rail industry. TTX's pool of railcars—over 168,000 cars and intermodal well cars—supports shippers in several industries where flatcars, boxcars and gondolas are required.[1]

History

TTX was founded as TrailerTrain in 1955 by Norfolk & Western Railway, Pennsylvania Railroad, and Rail-Trailer Corporation.[2] Pennsylvania Railroad employees—6,000 in total—entered possible names in a drawing for the new company, and the name "Trailer Train" won.[3] TrailerTrain's original goals were to standardize TOFC railcar practices, foster the growth of transportation, provide its members with the best available equipment at the lowest cost, and keep its members abreast of new developments. In 1991, the company changed its company name from TrailerTrain to TTX.

TTX operates under pooling authority granted by the Surface Transportation Board. The flatcar pool was first approved in 1974 and then reauthorized in 1989, 1994, 2004, and most recently on October 1, 2014, for a 15-year term.[4]

In late 2023, TTX announced it was relocating its headquarters and 150 employees from Chicago to Charlotte, North Carolina in Spring 2024.[5]

Fleet

TTX's railcar fleet consists of flatcars, autoracks, boxcars and gondolas. Half of the fleet is dedicated to flatcars and intermodal wells, with a quarter dedicated to auto racks for hauling finished vehicles. The remaining quarter of the pool includes boxcars, gondolas, and specialized flatcars to carry various general merchandise commodities.[6] TTX provides standardized car types and re-purposes idle assets to serve a dynamic marketplace.

The fleet is maintained through a network of independent repair facilities, TTX-owned Field Maintenance Operations (FMOs) located at intermodal terminals throughout North America, and TTX-owned heavy repair shops located in:[7]

Ownership

TTX is privately owned by North America's railroads and is the industry's railcar cooperative. The major railroads listed below all own shares of the company, with a voting member from each railroad making up the TTX Board of Directors.[8]

Logo

Between 1991 and 2008, the company used a yellow and black logo with speed lines connecting the two T's and an X.

In March 2008, the company released a new logo, colored Tuscan red, in honor of one of the founding railroads, the Pennsylvania Railroad.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: TTX Company . TTX . December 28, 2022 .
  2. Piggyback: The Trailer Train Story . . May 25, 1964 . 44–51 .
  3. Book: Buford, Curtis D. . Trailer Train Company: A Unique Force in the Railroad Industry . registration . 1982 . Newcomen Society in North America . 13 .
  4. Web site: TTX Company STB Authority . TTX . March 30, 2016 . December 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151229031536/http://www.ttx.com/AboutTTX/stb-authority.aspx . dead .
  5. News: Muccigrosso . Catherine . Chicago company chooses South End site to relocate headquarters with 150 jobs . 3 November 2023 . . 1 November 2023.
  6. Web site: TTX Equipment . March 30, 2016 . March 15, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160315202014/http://ttx.com/AboutTTX/ttx-equipment.aspx . dead .
  7. Web site: TTX Maintenance Services. March 31, 2016. March 15, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160315203418/http://ttx.com/Services.aspx. dead.
  8. https://www.ttx.com/about/who-we-are/ Railroad Ownership