Is it common to see trailers of different trucking companies on....

the same TOFC cars?

This random mixed bag of trailers is common using the InstantLoad commands.

But is mixed OTR freight carrier names on a single car prototypical over American railroads?


There may be a single TTX Trailer Train car with both a Peterson Lines and a UPS trailer.

There may be another such car with both a JB Hunt and an Evergreen trailer.

There may be still a car with an unmarked trailer with a Swift trailer as a companion.

There be yet another car with both an SP Golden Pig livery trailer and a Schneider National-marked trailer.

Once in a while, even two trailers with same markings appear on one car.

It is very rare in Trainz to get a long string of TOFC cars with all matching trailers.

NO ... Different color/company logo trailers and containers must be on a separate car, and can NOT touch each other :hehe:

The instant load commands are, as far as I know, programmed to use whatever products are defined in Surveyor for that particular car. If you specify only one load type for each of the cars, then that is what will appear in trainz.

cascaderailroad said:

NO ... Different color/company logo trailers and containers must be on a separate car, and can NOT touch each other :hehe:

Click to expand...

Since this thread i did a little searching on YouTube so YouTube has answered my question. Yes, different-marked trailers are possible on the same flatcar but it's still more common to see like trailers together.
So, I'm satisfied with InstantLoad as it is. There is nothing otherworldly about mixed trailers on trains in America but seeing a lone wellcar in a mostly-piggyback train is a bit odd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UanJ9Apo1A

A bit of beforehand research, searching the forums and DLS, and self testing, works wonders

JonMyrlennBailey said:

Since this thread i did a little searching on YouTube so YouTube has answered my question. Yes, different-marked trailers are possible on the same flatcar but it's still more common to see like trailers together.
So, I'm satisfied with InstantLoad as it is. There is nothing otherworldly about mixed trailers on trains in America but seeing a lone wellcar in a mostly-piggyback train is a bit odd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UanJ9Apo1A

Click to expand...

Freight trailers placed on TOFC flatcars is usually 'blocked' by destination. This is why you'll see a bunch of Yellow/Scheider/New Penn trailers all together and then a bunch of R&L together, followed by Conway.

From 2004 to 2009, I shipped freight not only domestically, but also worldwide. I dealt with various freight companies depending upon the cost of the shipment. We would not use specific carriers if they had to refer to a freight partner because that would nearly double the cost of the shipment. G.I. Trucking for example partners with Estes. GI handles freight west of Chicago while Estes handles freight mostly in the east. With that said, however, it's not uncommon to see a G.I. Trucking pony attached to an Estes Trucking trailer, or G.I. Trucking driver pulling an Estes trailer. Schneider is the parent company of Yellow (YRC) and New Penn. You'll see Yellow and Schneider mostly on the long haul with an occasional New Penn thrown in. NPME handles most freight on the east coast, competing with Estes and others, while Schneider and Yellow are both countrywide and western/southern regional.

With this in mind, you might want to pick your trailers if you can depending upon the region you are serving.