Some more classic pictures

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On paper, this looked like a good idea. Load the cars onto the trailer at the one centrally located factory. Ship the trailers to the closest rail yard to the final destinations, then drive away the trucks to the dealers. The fewer times the cars needed to be loaded and unloaded, the more efficient the delivery and the less chance there was for damage.

In practice, there was the problem of getting the empty trailers back to the factory from multiple locations across the country. Trucks would be needed at the factory for loading as well as at all the various destinations. To ship the empty trailers back by rail, they had to wait till they had the trailers back to load the flatcars. Then there could be a delay waiting for space on a train going back to the factory, while the factory waited for empty trailers. So, the fastest and best way to return the empty trailers would most likely be over the road. But, trucks would be needed to haul the trailers back there. That meant an empty load going to the factory, and no trailer at all for those drivers going back to their starting points. Chrysler and I believe, Rambler, tried this method of shipping for about three years ('59-'61).
 
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