The ramp personnel were contractors at all three facilities. Once the ramp supervisor has decided where they want to put the outbound trailers, lists are given to hostler drivers to spot the trailers at the appropriate car. Once spotted, a packer or crane is used to place the trailer on the car. A ramp man secures the trailer on the rail car by checking the kingpin lock on trailers, and the twist locks on the containers. Container chassis are left on the ramp next to the car the container was loaded onto, and removed by a hostler later.
Flags are a portable derail with a blue metal flag attached to a small pole.
The flag is even with the coupler of the rail car when the flag is in place on the rail. Loaded, the stretch of railcars is pulled out to a yard, or lashed up at the terminal to locomotives, and pulled out. The ramp is cleared, meaning the tracks running onto the ramp are free of rail cars. The intermodal rail cars are placed onto the ramp, and brakes are set. Even if the locomotives are not going anywhere else, they are disconnected from the rail cars and moved ahead at least one car length.