TOFC
Transportation & Travel abbreviation · Rail and Transit
| Stands for | Trailer on flatcar |
|---|---|
| Categories | Transportation & Travel |
TOFC stands for Trailer on flatcar, a rail and transit abbreviation.
Intermodal freight service in which highway truck trailers are loaded onto railroad flatcars for long-distance rail transport, then pulled by trucks for final delivery. The practice is known as "piggyback."
Example: The shipper used TOFC from Chicago to Los Angeles, saving fuel compared with trucking the whole way.
Usage notes
The related COFC (container on flatcar) carries shipping containers instead, often double-stacked. Intermodal traffic has become one of the largest business lines for North American railroads. Piggyback service dates back to the 1950s.
Related abbreviations
More rail and transit abbreviations
- STM – Société de transport de Montréal
- TfL – Transport for London
- TGV – Train a grande vitesse (high-speed train)
- THSR – Taiwan High Speed Rail
- TOC – Train operating company
- TOD – Transit-oriented development
- TTC – Toronto Transit Commission
- U-Bahn – Untergrundbahn (underground railway)
- UP – Union Pacific Railroad
- VTA – Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
- WL – Waiting list
- WMATA – Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority