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At Utica, N. ¥., principal transfer point for less-ihan-carload
freight on the New York Central System, this fleet of \
kinds of mechanized equipment improves service and increases
efficiency. Other large stations also have mechanized equipment
trucks and tractor-drawn trailers. By providing
speedier and more flexible movement of freight,
they lessen the cost of handling and at the same
time improve the quality of service to shippers.
Other equipment introduced in increasing num¬
bers in Central freight stations includes fork lift
trucks, crane trucks, and overhead chain hoists for
handling freight items of all shapes, sizes, and
weights with a minimum of burdensome man-work
and a maximum of safety. Not only has the installa¬
tion of this equipment enabled the Central to offer
a better, more competitive service to less-than-car-
load shippers; it also has increased the productivity
of station personnel and has permitted the handling
of peak traffic without expensive enlargement or
reconstruction of existing station properties which
otherwise would have been inadequate.
Training lowers claim volume
In conjunction with its program for greater efficien-
cv and better service in freight station operations,
the Central is conducting a broad program aimed at
reducing freight loss and damage. A traveling in¬
struction car, equipped with the most modern visual
aids and staffed by qualified instructors, was placed
in service during the year to show employes added
ways to prevent loss and damage and impress upon
them the importance of doing so. Over 5,000 em¬
ployes at 40 different stations had attended 289 in¬
structive sessions in the car by the end of the year,
and even more will be reached in 1949.
As a result of this activity, coupled with training
through station service committees at all larger sta¬
tions, a sizable decrease has been achieved in the
\'olume of new claims presented, with the number
of claims per month at the end of 1948 less than
two-thirds of the highest monthly figure for 1947.
IWerchandise service well received
The Central's Pacemaker freight service continued
to prove itself during 1948. Solid trains of specially
equipped Pacemaker cars, drawn by Diesel-electric
power, operate nightly in each direction between
New York and Buffalo. Direct-service cars for a pro¬
gressively increasing number of points beyond —
including Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo, Columbus,
Cincinnati, Indianapolis and others — are handled in
fast, connecting "symbol" freight trains.
Since its introduction in 1946, the Pacemaker
freight service has met with an encouraging degree
of approval from shippers and has demonstrated
that a high-grade merchandise service — with an-
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