Piggyback

The term "piggyback", in the trucking industry, comes from the past days when railroads required each trailer to be backed up, one at a time, "circus -style" onto the railcars. (There were no cranes to lift off the trailers. And circus-style originates from the circus and how they conducted their operations.) "Piggyback" basically means a truck trailer on a train. The terms "rail pig" and "intermodal" share the same meaning. There were bridge plates between each train car that allowed the trucks to cross. Jim Pacella, President of Cushing Trans, remembers when the yard jockeys (spotters) would drive in reverse on the rails, almost a city block in length, to get the load on the traincar. Some yard jockeys were so good at the job that they had their gas pedals pressed to the floor while backing up on the railcars, making no errors! This was an amazing feat as the job required significant skill.

Optimization Engine

Cushing's 150 years experience in the transportation industry is steadily passed on from generation to generation. Mix todays technology with Cushing's pioneer intelligence and we get a unique recipe that successfully serves our customers!