Glossary Discription

Piggy Back Transport :

What does this term stand for?

Piggyback transport, also known as trailer-on-flatcar (TOFC), is an intermodal transportation method where highway truck trailers are loaded onto railroad flatcars for the long-haul portion of a journey, combining the flexibility and door-to-door capability of trucking with the cost efficiency and fuel economy of rail transportation for line-haul movements. This transportation mode emerged in the mid-20th century as railroads sought to compete with growing trucking dominance by offering hybrid services that leverage the strengths of both modes—trucks provide first-mile pickup from shippers and last-mile delivery to consignees, while trains handle the middle segment over hundreds or thousands of miles at lower cost per mile than highway transport. In piggyback operations, truck drivers deliver loaded trailers to rail terminals where specialized equipment lifts trailers onto flatcars, trains transport multiple trailers across long distances, and trailers are offloaded at destination rail yards where other truck tractors retrieve them for final delivery. This approach offers shippers cost savings of 20-40% compared to all-truck transportation on lanes exceeding 500-700 miles, reduces highway congestion and fuel consumption through rail efficiency, provides environmental benefits with lower emissions per ton-mile, and enables small trucking companies to access transcontinental transportation without maintaining equipment or drivers across the country. Piggyback transport is particularly effective for non-time-sensitive freight, regular shipping lanes with sufficient volume density, and shippers prioritizing cost over speed. Modern intermodal operations have largely evolved toward container-on-flatcar (COFC) using standardized shipping containers, but trailer-on-flatcar services continue serving domestic markets where trailers provide more cubic capacity than containers and eliminate the need for container drayage and transloading.