Double-stack unit train container service: its commercial impact and value to the military skipper

Abstract

Double-stack container train service was successfully introduced in 1984 and has expanded rapidly since. The newly designed five-platform articulated well railroad car serves as the vehicle. Space-age computer-assisted design has helped to engineer a radical departure fi-om conventional railcar configuration and produce significant weight and rolling resistance reductions. Commensurate with introduction of this new generation of equipment, the ocean carriers and railroads have developed new cooperative train scheduling procedures and container railcar handling methods. Additionally, the higher volume of containers per stack train has forced a redesign of railyards and marine terminals. Opportunities for unique military application of stack train technology and possible container rate reductions await the military transporter. The expedient maturation of stack train technology has provided an early opportunity for a thorough review of its development, the impact upon the containerized freight industry, and the stack trains' potential value to the military.