Safe as a Bank

Though pilfering, damage to consignments and losses in transit are matters which fortunately give cur management less and less concern, they constitute very real and most difficult problems for the goods operating and commercial officers of the big railway systems of other countries. In the United States particularly, these problems are the subject of constant study, and much has been done in recent years to effect a diminution in claims due to these causes. Compared with 1920 for instance (we take the figures from “Railroad Data,” which is issued periodically on behalf of the United States railways), claims in 1925 had been reduced by 88 per cent., while theft losses show a reduction of 34.5 per cent., against 1924. After reference to the fact that in 1925 thirteen million less-than-car-load cars were handled, each containing an average of 180 packages of freights, “Railway Data” observes: “The question may well be asked whether goods are not safer from thieving while in the custody of the railroad than anywhere else in the world outside a bank vault.” This improved safety in the transport of goods is attributed to various causes among which are the activities of the Protection Section of the United States Railway Association; elimination of delays; increased police efficiency; better packing; flood lighting of yards; thorough analysis of reports of cases of pilfering; greater co-operation between the claim prevention and police departments; and propaganda to induce co-operation on the part of the railway staff and of firms consigning goods.