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UPS does help raise the bar for intermodal service expectations for the RR's. They pay a pretty good rate, but get the best service. At the top, you mentioned that you don't see rail-trailers around anymore. That's been a very deliberate move on the part of UP & BNSF as they have shifted to their partnership in the EMP and NACS container programs respectively. They believe that there is more money to be made in a lower service container train with 200 containers in a mile-long train vs. 100 trailers in the same length train. To keep up, they would have had to invest in 53' rail trailers and they decided to invest in containers instead. (Albeit, CSXI still owns around 58,000 rail trailers (or so their website indicates.)) In terms of TOFC, the RR's have said that they look to private owners to bring the equipment (i.e. Schneider National in the full-load truckload market), UPS for package, and the other biggies, that nobody mentioned above, the LTL guys like Yellow and Roadway who bring a lot of TOFC freight to the railhead. Look for TTX to bring the first new TOFC cars on line next year that they have bought in a while. All of the recent investment has been in 48' and more recently 53' well car capacity. Watch for new 53' TOFC cars. They (and their RR owners) have seen TOFC reach the bottom end of the valley and expect it to grow. I think that there's a dichotomy at the RR's. Ask an operating guy or a terminal operator what they like and you might find that they'll tell you that trailers ain't all bad. The trains run lighter so they accellerate faster and get over the line quicker. In the ramps, you ground them and they go... no chassis to store, balance, maintain, etc. On the other hand, if you ask the beancounters, ... bring on the containers! Is there a right answer? Yes. The right answer is which ever of them fits the shippers needs. That's who really pays the bills and that is who will really decide if intermodal grows. Once size does not fit all. For some commodities (ie. light product like tissue, TP, toweling, etc.) the shipper wants maximum cube space (ie. a 53' platewall trailer). They will not deal with the intrusions caused by the bracing in a container. For other customers, they can only fill a 40' container (and in many cases, can't fill near that much) without hitting maximum weight restrictions. In some lanes the RR charges more to move a container, in others is cheaper. It all comes down to having the right mix in the right place at the right time with the right price to meet what the shipper needs & wants. (Remember polynomial algebra in high school? Its kinda like that.)
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