Both types of traffic are profitable, and both have their unique costs. Most stack traffic is load/unload at the port and load/unload at destination. No or very little of anything (handling) enroute. The ports are government owned and operated, and rates on stack and TOFC traffic have increased enough in the past few years to make this traffic well worth handling. If it wasn't do you think for a moment that BNSF (as one example) would be spending so much capital on double and triple tracking and terminals?? Wall St. and the bankers would cut off their funding sources in a hurry if there was little or no profit to be had from this traffic.

Carload is not cheap to handle. Locals or switch engines and crews to spot the empties, pick up the loads, various other trains to handle it, humping, rehumping, blocking, etc. The the loads must be spotted at destination by more locals or switchers. Shippers and receivers beat up the cars with forklifts and homemade switchers. It ain't cheap, but it does make money.

The most profitable traffic is chemicals. Whether in tank cars or bulktainers.

The foamer world seems to be afew years behind the curve in whats going on today. All this crap about how great it was back in the day........Sure, all we need to do is go back to steam engines, hauling 60 car trains with 5 man crews and cabooses, train order stations and operators every 10 or 12 miles, hand-thrown switches, coal chutes and water tanks.

Puhllleeaasseee!!!

I submit there is a world of difference in todays 20,000 ton coal/grain trains pulled by 3 AC units and yesterdays 6,000 ton steam-hauled trains with 2 engines and a total of 7 crew members. Yes, we've lost some efficiency in certain areas with getting rid of cabooses and trying to do local work with one man on the ground, but going back to the good old days would bring bankruptcy so fast our heads and cameras would explode.