Summary
TOFC is not dead.
Analysis
I agree with Toby's column and will comment on Intermodal. CSX and NS advertising on TV shows trains loaded with their own containers which is not the real world. Trucking companies are not going to roll-over and put their loads in railroad boxes and let their trailers sit idle. If the railroads want more trucking company customers, then they need to carry trucking company trailers until someone develops a program that eliminates the need for the trucker to buy chassis to support their container investment. Intrermodal means transporting trailers as well as containers and a TOFC train uses less power than a heavier COFC train. And yes, it generates lower revenue but revenue is not a constant for any train other than planned unit-train operations. If public money is going to be spent on creating railroad intermodal capacity, you can bet that the ATA is going to demand more diversity in railroad intermodal that includes the trailers of their customers. No transportation mode is utopia and the railroads need to serve all customers who can offer freight and even their own cars to move the freight.
