spotting cars

Shifting railroad cars to place on siding, spur track, or industrial track where they can be loaded or unloaded conveniently by shipper or consignee. A voluntary service of uniform practice in railroading, and included in a line-haul rate, which rate is us ually made to or from an area within which the carrier holds itself out as agreeing to deliver freight in its freight depot or at team tracks or on sidings or private spur-tracks. This service consists, in delivering a car on a team track, of spotting the car at a point where merchandise of the class contained in the car is usually and most conveniently unloaded. United States v American Sheet & Tin Plate Co. 301 US 402, 81 L Ed 1186, 57 S Ct 804.