> Maybe they could use reefers from an outside
> company like CryoTrans?


Which creates its own potential set of issues. You are still dependent upon UP to provide a decent rate and timely service. Another consideration is if you plan on shipping year round, or just seasonally - in most cases it doesn't make any sense to lease a car you can only need a few months out of the year.

Remember during the last building boom when centerbeams were in short supply for lumber loading? UP told customers to lease their own cars if they wanted a steady car supply. So many did. Then the recession/depression hit, with the whole mortgage scam was a contributing factor. UP was stuck having to store centerbeams (having to pay for outside storage in some cases), so they started surcharging anyone using non-UP supplied cars. Now the economy has improved, many of the private car leases have expired, and UP has all their cars out of storage and with congestion issues customers are again having car supply issues. In the meanwhile, the leasing companies are stuck either paying to store or scrap 20+ year old centerbeams that no one on the UP can afford to lease.

I believe most of the smaller ex PFE reefers are getting close to or hitting their 50 year AAR limit, so don't be surprised if reefers end up in short supply as the older cars are scrapped. It doesn't matter if they've actually hit the 40/50 year limit, the railroad or owner is unlikely to make any substantial investment in a car that only has a few years of life left.

Years ago, I used to hear that the rule of thumb was that common carrier rail was only economical compared to truck for hauls over 100 miles. The last figure I heard was something like 250 miles up to 500 miles for intermodal. Remember that there really aren't that many shipper and receiver pairings that wish to deal with 100 tons of any product, especially considering the railroads lack of ability to consistently deliver, tending to bunch cars up instead of a steady supply. Today's trucks have about the same capacity of yesteryear's iced reefer or rail car of the era, and today's railcars can carry 3-4 truckloads each. For most customers, especially perishables, the economics and logistics of modern rail vs truck favor truck, intermodal or ColdConnect/Railex instead of them trying to ship carloads themselves.

The biggest issue - most potential customers have no clue how to ship rail anymore, and the big railroads don't have the marketing and support system in place nor are they really interested in any customer not shipping less than a few hundred rail cars annually.

My opinion.