SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD
PACIFIC MOTOR TRUCKING TRAILER
BUILT BY FRUEHAUF TRAILER CO.

This Pacific Motor Trucking Co. (PMT) 22′ long trailer was built by Fruehauf Trailer Co. in Los Angeles in 1946.   PMT was Southern Pacific Railroad’s (S.P.) trucking subsidiary company.   In 1934, PMT began purchasing this type of trailer to carry freight on highways.  The trailers were pulled by trucks to freight houses and other delivery locations.   When S.P. initiated Trailer On Flat Car (aka TOFC or “Piggy Back”) trains in August 1953 on the Coast Line route between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the company only had these small trailers to place on the TOFC flat cars.   Loading ramps were located along the route.  A TOFC ramp was in San Luis Obispo 100 yards north of the S.P. Freight House.  After two years of the TOFC service, larger trailers were acquired and these original small PMT trailers were relegated to local pick up and delivery to residences and businesses. The PMT motto was “RAILROAD SERVICE TO YOUR DOOR”.  The museum’s goal is to incorporate this trailer into a TOFC exhibit with a flat car on the display track.

Photo of similar trailer from approx. 1948 in California (Photo from the Steve Crise Collection)

Model showing future exhibit of 2 PMT trailers on a SP Flat Car