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Okay, let's take your Washington apples example. Let's say the truckload originates in Wenatchee. Since there is no TOFC service out of Wenatchee (but there is COFC), the truckload would have to be a containerload. Already there's a problem, because domestic trailers are preferred to domestic containers by typical truckload shippers. Or the trucker can drive to the Puget Sound to access the TOFC terminal, or drive over to Spokane. Then you hope there is not too much of a terminal delay, since apples are a time sensitive commodity. If the load originates in the Yakima Valley, the trucker can only choose the Puget Sound or Spokane options. I'm not sure BNSF even handles trailers in Spokane anymore. Ditto for UP at Hinkle. Knowing BNSF like I do, I expect they would prefer the apples be shipped by refrigerated car rather than trailer or container. The bottom line is that both BNSF and UP have made it such a hassle to do business with, most shippers simply brush off the TOFC and COFC shipping option unless the load will move by dedicated refrigerated car. <br /> <br />The real truck driver shortage is in the agricultural areas, not the urban areas. And most ag shipments out of the PNW and Northern Tier are heading west or southwest, not east. That's a shorthaul to the railroads, and they'd rather not be bothered with shorthaul economies of scale. The time factor favors the truckers on these regional corridors, so driver shortage or not, most such shipments will continue to use the highways rather than the rails.
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