The well car — also called a stack car — has a depressed center section (the well) that sits between the trucks, allowing ISO intermodal containers to ride lower than on a standard flatcar. This extra vertical clearance permits double-stacking two 9'6" tall containers within standard railroad clearance envelopes. Double-stack well cars dramatically improve train density, reducing per-container transportation cost by as much as 40 percent compared to single-stack service. They are the backbone of transcontinental intermodal service.
Independent car with one well; used in mixed traffic or where articulated sets are not practical.
Five-platform articulated car sharing trucks between units, carrying up to 10 forty-foot containers in double-stack configuration; the dominant equipment for coast-to-coast intermodal.
Three-unit articulated car suitable for shorter intermodal trains or service not requiring full 5-unit sets.
Wider well designed specifically for 53-foot domestic containers used in North American intermodal distribution.
Well cars are the primary equipment for transcontinental double-stack intermodal service connecting ports, inland terminals, and distribution centers for major retailers and shippers moving containerized import and export freight.