24.  If  creosoted  piles,  56  feet  long,  are  to  be  shipped  from  Hampton
Roads  to  New  York  for  export  to  Haiti,  how  would  shipment  be
made  and  how  many  cars  would  be  necessary?  Would  the  cars
be  termed  a  "series"  if  the  load  rested  on  only  one  car?

Ans.  The  piles  would  be  loaded  on  two  flat  cars  as  no  car  is  56  feet
long.  If  the  load  rested  only  on  one  car  and  the  other  empty  car
was  used  to  protect  the  overhanging  part  of  the  load  it  would  not  be
termed  a  series  of  cars.  The  extra  empty  car  would  be  termed
an  "idler."

25.  Tell  what  you  have  learned  about  tolerance  and  the  percentage
allowed  therefor.
Ans.  There  is  in  connection  with  carload  weights  what  is  known  as
tolerance.  It  is  the  difference  in  weights  due  to  variation  in  scales
or  weighing  which  may  be  permitted  without  correction  of  the  billed
weights.  The  tolerance  is  one  per  cent  of  the  weight  of  the  load
with  a  minimum  of  500  pounds  on  all  carload  freight  including  coal
and  coke,  except  that  when  certain  bulk  freight  is  loaded  in  open
cars  the  minimum  tolerance  is  1,000  pounds.
