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RE: (erielack) Water bottles...

Paul, was it owned by someone else during the 1970's? Neither Drew nor PVO 
Int'l appears in my list of top 100 EL customers in 1973-1974. International 
multifoods, perhaps? (#17 in 1974). It was an important EL customer but was 
not in the top ten, which was comprised of UPS, GM, Ford and steel cos. for 
the most part.

Your point about the attrition among EL's top customers is well taken, 
however. Some people have voiced the opinion that if only EL had not been 
washed into bankruptcy by Agnes, it might have survived independently 
outside of Conrail. If it managed to get past the grinding 1974-75 
recession, it would have succumbed within 10 years after much of its traffic 
base disappeared, not to mention the effect of dereg on its hilly, 
long-way-around route structure.

Paul B

"Water bottle" is a cutesy term for wastewater haulage. The Drew
Chemical Company (later PVO International) of Boonton, NJ (and a four
block walk from where I grew up) was one of the nation's largest
processors of vegetable oils, and was EL's 8th largest customer.

Speaking of Drew and it being EL's 8th largest customer - it's another
example of why, if EL didn't go into CR, it would have had a big
struggle to survive on local business. After the Ohio steel mills dried
up, then the Solvay business withered away, you had Drew/PVO - and it
shut down in the early 80s. Today, that location is a Wal-Mart
(surprised?). Effectively, within 10-15 years, almost all of EL's top 10
non-intermodal customers disappeared. Not a good thing!

- - Paul
 


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