California State Rail Plan 2007-08 to 2017-18

Chapter XVI – Major Freight Issuesinternational containers, 23 percent in domestic containers, and 26 percent in trucktrailers. Truck trailers and containers are handled on railcars in a variety of ways:• Container-on-Flatcar (COFC) Containers are placed directly on standardflatcars. A 90-foot flatcar will accommodate up to four TEUs.• Trailer-on-Flatcar (TOFC) Over-the-road trailers or containers mounted ontruck chassis are placed directly on flatcars. Standard flatcarsaccommodate one or two units; specialized spine cars take up to five.• Double-Stack Containers are placed two-high, one on top of the other, in aspecial low-profile “well car.” Well cars may accommodate as few as twocontainers, or as many as 10 containers depending on their length (e.g.,45-foot, 48-foot, or 53-foot containers can be stacked on top of two 40-footor two 20-foot containers). By stacking the containers, railroads can double(or more than double) the number of containers carried on a train,improving productivity and effective capacity, and reducing unit costs.Automobiles are generally carried in specialized railcars that accommodate eithertwo or three levels of vehicles. The vehicles are driven onto and off of therailcars. Both the “bi-level” and “tri-level” auto carriers have high verticalprofiles and require overhead clearances similar to double-stack container traffic.In one typical movement, autos are loaded at the production plant, taken to anunloading ramp where they are driven off and parked, and then are reloaded ontoauto-rack trailers for final highway delivery by truck to dealerships. Anothertypical movement is movement between marine terminals and inlandconsolidation/distribution facilities or “mixing centers.”Intermodal service accommodates higher-value, lower-weight commodities thanunit train or carload services. The service offers faster speeds, higher trainfrequency, better schedule reliability, and more visibility en route – albeit at ahigher price – and is competitive with door-to-door trucking over longer distances(generally starting at 400 to 500 miles, depending on the equipment and corridor).The most efficient and cost-effective intermodal service is the unit train, which isthe preferred method for serving high-volume corridors. Intermodal railcars canalso be handled in combination with carload traffic, as part of mixed merchandisetrains. Although this can be costly, especially on routes that provide overheadclearance for single-stack intermodal cars only, it allows intermodal service toreach lower-volume customers.More than any other rail service, intermodal depends on partnerships withtrucking companies, seaports, and others in the transportation logistics chain.Each container or trailer or set of automobiles is an individual shipment, and thereare a vast number of origins and destinations to be served. In response, bothrailroads and truckers have recognized that the best approach to this market is tolet each mode do what it does best. Railroads handle the long-haul movement of223