Piggyback and Containers: A History of Rail Intermodal on America’s Steel Highway by David J. DeBoer presents the complete intermodal story, from the earliest days of trailers on flatcars to today’s contemporary containerized nationwide rail system.

In this book you’ll learn about the development of Gene Ryan’s Rail Trailer Company, General Motors flirtation with a depressed center-car design, the establishment of Trailer Train, and Southern Pacific’s truck-trailer train experiment between Los Angeles and San Francisco (handling only company owned Pacific Motor Trucking Trailers).

Also covered is the separation of Pennsylvania Railroad’s influence over Trailer Train, and the combination of rail-highway units familiarly called Rail Van and RoadRailer.

Featured are the various hitch arrangements, the once popular trailer-leasing program, the expansion of United Parcel from a department store delivery service to the nation’s largest freight carrier and their influence on rail-piggyback.