Car spotting is a service in rail transport operations.
A 1920 book on railroad freight defines the term as follows:Edgar Watkins (1920) "Shippers and Carriers of Interstate and Intrastate Freight", p. 429
Spotting service is the service beyond a reasonably convenient point of interchange between road haul or connecting carriers, industrial plant tracks and includes: (a) One placement of a loaded car which the road haul or connecting carrier has transported, or (b) The taking out of a loaded car from a particular location in the plant for transportation by road haul or connecting carrier, (c) The handling of the empty car in the reverse direction.
See also Car spotting (positioning)
References