At the date of one report in October, 1909, a surplus of cars in one territory was practically offset by a shortage in another territory.
Freight Car Performance.
According to Statistical Bulletin No. 58 of the Committee on Relations between Railroads of the American Railway Association, the average performance of the freight cars of American and Canadian railways during the year ending June 30, 1909, including and excluding surplus cars, was as follows:
| Average Miles per Day | Average Ton Miles per Car per Day | ||||
| Month | Including Surplus Cars | Excluding Surplus Cars | Including Surplus Cars | Excluding Surplus Cars | |
| July, | 1908 | 20.0 | 24.8 | 275 | 342 |
| August, | " | 20.8 | 25.1 | 292 | 354 |
| September, | " | 22.0 | 25.2 | 320 | 367 |
| October, | " | 23.8 | 25.9 | 346 | 376 |
| November, | " | 23.5 | 25.8 | 341 | 375 |
| December, | " | 22.3 | 25.2 | 332 | 376 |
| January, | 1909 | 20.9 | 25.3 | 293 | 354 |
| February, | " | 21.7 | 25.9 | 306 | 365 |
| March, | " | 22.7 | 27.2 | 330 | 393 |
| April, | " | 22.4 | 26.8 | 310 | 371 |
| May, | " | 22.5 | 26.8 | 304 | 362 |
| June, | " | 22.4 | 26.5 | 314 | 371 |
These figures of the average miles per day of freight cars are the delight of demagogues and other detractors of American railways who ignore, or have never been able to comprehend, that the average performance of a car per day depends from six to nine times more on the time allowed for shippers to load and unload cars than on its speed in transit. This speed runs all the way from ten to forty miles and over an hour. But if freight trains averaged 40 miles an hour it would make little impression on the per day average of cars so long as 48 hours has to be allowed as a minimum at either end for loading and unloading and almost as much more for placing notices and disposing of cars, to say nothing of time consumed in making up trains.
The salient and significant feature of this table is the proof it affords that each car of those in commission averages the movement of one ton 367 miles per day. This means an average load of 14 tons per car. It would take at least three English or European freight cars to average such a load.
Safety Appliances.
Of all the locomotives and cars in railway service in 1908, aggregating 2,302,055, less than 4% were not fitted with train brakes, and less than three quarters of 1% were unprovided with automatic couplers.
Block Signals.