Intermodal traffic was an integral part of Conrail's financial success story during the 1990s. During the decade they were either the number one or number two intermodal rail hauler in the nation. Conrail's intermodal success story of the '90s can be traced back to 1981 and the Staggers Act.

The Staggers Act, which Conrail helped into law, deregulated the rail industry and its business relationship with trucking. Free of regulatory red tape, Conrail's intermodal business slowly began improving. To better meet the growing needs of intermodal customers, and reap higher profits, Conrail launched its Intermodal/Multi-Level service network in 1992. In 1994 they further refined their business plan, creating four Freight Service Groups, designed to further unite customer and shipper.

Of the four Groups, the aptly named Intermodal Service Group was dedicated to transporting consumer goods and products via containers and trailers. It remained Conrail's fastest growing operation, and was extremely time-sensitive. Intermodal schedules were coordinated between Conrail, their customers, and among connecting railroads. It had really become a national rail/truck network.

During its last several years, Conrail signed contracts with UPS, the United States Postal Service, and American President Lines, all of which became Conrail's core intermodal customers. Conrail also signed significant contracts with J.B. Hunt, Schneider, and Maersk. Then there were the Less-Than-Truck-Load (LTL) firms such as Yellow, Overnight, and Roadway that found their way onto Conrail's intermodal trains. Add the amazing array of container shippers, other railroad-owned trailers, Triple Crown, and Conrail's own Trailvan and Mercury equipment, and you get a brief glimpse of Conrail's modern intermodal service.

Intermodal Train Symbols

Conrail intermodal symbols were straight forward. There three symbols covered all operations. The most used symbol was 'TV,' as in TV-1. Like every Conrail train, eastbounds were given even numbers, while westbound trains were given odd numbers. For instance, TV-1 ran from Morrisville, NJ to Chicago, then interchanges with BNSF. There were exceptions to the symbols, such as TVLT (an LTL train from Chicago, IL to South Kearny, NJ) and TVLA (North Bergen, NJ to Los Angeles, CA).

The highest priority trains on Conrail had the symbol MAIL, as in MAIL-3. These carried mail and parcels for UPS, USPS, and any mail-contractor. An interesting MAIL operation involved UPS, which shipped their reefer Martrac trailers west via Conrail loaded with parcels, then returned the trailers from the west coast loaded with produce. So the lettuce you ate for lunch yesterday might have been delivered by one of Conrail's hotshot intermodals!

The final intermodal symbol was RR, for the joint NS-Conrail 'Triple Crown' (a.k.a. RoadRailer) operation. By 1999 there were 12 such scheduled trains running on Conrail. This was up from only 4 in 1993. Conrail was never a great advocate of this operation.

Conrail's Trailers & Containers

There were two basic, exclusively Conrail intermodal services: Trailvan and Mercury. Trailvan was their general merchandise trailers, while the Mercury program handled USPS mail. As mentioned above, Conrail was also involved with the Triple Crown program. Conrail was also involved with EMP, a joint venture with Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, hence the yellow-blue-black logo.