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[quote user="nbrodar"][quote user="futuremodal"] Have you asked yourself why everything seems to move in sets of 6 and 12?  Is that a rock solid axiom, not subject to the winds of change?  What if sets of 5 and 10 come into favor?  And why would anyone only load one UPS trailer on a 5-pack?  Since intermodal equipment is mixed and matched, you can still use a 5-pack in conjunction with a singular car to hold the 6 set of trailers.  [/quote] Traffic does indeed change.   I remember when we loaded almost exclusively 5 packs and 89' flats. We also used to actually switch out the cars to get them in proper order.  Currently, traffic runs in sets of 6 and 12.   Why? I don't know.  Will it change again, undoubtedly.   When I started, we loaded both trailers and containers.  Now my terminal loads containers only.  (A big mistake in my opinion) And because we double stack, I only handle well cars. Due to our traffic patterns and the flexiblity of loading 3 packs, that's what my people prefer.    We load out for 6 destinations.  The big advantage of  3 packs is that they don't need to be shifted around to get the proper number of platforms in the proper order.   The UPS traffic is through traffic.  I'm just responsible for inspecting the trailer's as they pass. Nick [/quote] The well car with the trailer hitches built in is probably the most versatile of the intermodal cars.  I guess some railroads are operating under the "better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it" axiom.  What you lose in added tare weight for hauling a single trailer in a well car you make up for in ultimate flexibility.  You can haul two UPS trailers in a single said well car, but aren't those well cars strictly stand alone or 3 pack drawbar connected, not in articulated 3 packs?  I suppose the extra fuel use may not be as big a factor as one would suppose, but again that might change if fuel prices continue to increase.
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