Haut-le-pied

The haut-le-pied is an expression used in rail-bound Transport and road to indicate any noncommercial displacement of a vehicle on the network, because of constraints of exploitation.

In the rail-bound Transport, it acts for the rolling stock of a Locomotive circulating without tractor drawing coaches and for the personnel, of a course on train with or without travellers, where the agent moves as a simple passenger, without carrying out mission of control. In the case of multiple oars (for example a double oar of TGV), one distinguishes the haut-le-pied oar, closed with the travellers and twinned with an oar open to the passengers, oar W entirely closed with the travellers.

In the Road transport travellers, haut-le-pied is the displacement of a vehicle (Autobus or Autocar) not transporting any passenger.

By extension, the haut-le-pied term indicates any vehicle which is not affected with a particular spot and which is available to replace any other broken down material or of unavailability, often, it is about an old material, deadened but in a state of use.

A haut-le-pied course is thus against-productive since it does not bring any commercial receipt, while generating operating costs (fuel consumption, remuneration of the agents…). The graphicage mainly aims at minimizing the haut-le-pied distances (with vacuum) compared to the commercial distances (on line).

Origin

This expression would come at the origin from transport to horse. The assumptions are the following ones:

the horse-drawn carriages subsided under the weight when it were charged. On the other hand, when they were empty, the travellers were to raise the high foot to go up on board.
When the animal did not carry load or did not draw from attachment, it was relieved and raised high the foot.

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