This story tells only half the story. No question that import container traffic is way down. But what's not mentioned is the fact that U.S. container EXPORTS through the Northwest ports have been very strong, to the point where shippers at Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle were struggling during late 2009/early 2010 to get their hands on enough containers to carry grain, lumber, hay, and other bulk U.S. products overseas. Train crews have noticed their WB stack trains running heavier than what would normally be expected for a given train length/number of boxes, and container ships have been sailing west with fewer boxes than normal because those boxes are filled with denser product than what normally comes east. I think Ed's closer to the truth about those older well cars than the reporter was.