TORONTO — It was 50 years ago this month that a new concept in long-distance freight was rolled out in Canada with the first Canadian Pacific Railway intermodal shipment, the Canadian Press reported.
From its start on the night of Dec. 1, 1952, as a single piggyback service – carrying truck trailers on rail flatcars between Toronto and Montreal – it has grown into a continental practice that is the largest segment of CPR’s business.
Intermodal, with a single train hauling the equivalent of 300 trucks, “weds the superiority of trains in moving large volumes of freight over long distances with the flexibility of local truck delivery and pickup,” CPR said in noting the anniversary.
“It capitalizes on the benefits of safe and environmentally friendly rail transportation to replace long-haul trucking. This frees up trucks, drivers and highway capacity that can be better used for other purposes. By reducing long-haul trucking, it also reduces taxpayer-funded highway maintenance costs.”