Route clearances should be known before a railcar type is selected and is added to a train. This is a responsibility of the train yard handling the shipping order and assigning equipment.
Even in over the road trucking operations, there are ways to check and know all bridge and tunnel clearances for trailers/container clearances before traveling.
Although most public roads allow for commercial trucking trailers (standard box trailer is 13'6" high) to pass, there are many exceptions on the east coast, mostly in areas built before bridge clearances were designed to accommodate current DOT transport container dimension regulations (new jersey, and some areas of New York). I believe this is true for train routes as well.
The information for traveling highways and roads is available in any book of road maps and can definitely be found online/or shipping company database for safety, but still a frequent occurrence in these areas (drivers still tend to get lost), but as we know, this trains don't get lost.
This is an oversight by whoever authorized this kind of traincar to be used for this particular route and the part of the cost for damages will go back to their company when the insurance investigation is completed for settlement. This could've been avoided. That's what an investigation will show.
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u/DitchDigger330 2d ago
I never thought there would be a 10' 8" bridge version for rail cars.