Are containers ever shunted directly to a customer's siding? - Trains Magazine

Containers are delivered on railcars to private countainer yards (CY) and private container freight stations (CFS) for further handling.  These facilities provide customs clearance, bonded storage and deliver goods and/or loaded containers to trucks.  They also provide empty container storage and repair services to the ocean carriers.  Most are not owned by the local port authorities and are often at some distance from the port to avoid being subject to longshore labor agreements.

The economics of container ships are such that minimizing the number of port calls is extremely important.  Stowage is much simpler if the vessel empties out and loads at one port at each end of its voyage, or as close to that goal as possible.  

After all containerization is designed to provide; quick vessel load and discharge and simplified stowage, cargo Security (each container looks the same and any one could be loaded with televisions or it might have hay cubes, no way to tell from outside).  And provide efficient intermodal transfer to or from the customers door.

The limitation of container gross weight is imposed by the container itself (look at the Net, Tare, Gross decals on the box) and the limitation of container cranes to hoist the unit.  Since a standard 40 foot container grosses  67,200 lbs you can see that the overweight problem is really allowable highway weights.  In Oregon, where I live, truckers may use special rigs and purchase allowable overweight tickets to boost the gross vehicle weight beyond 80,000 pounds.  Vehicle weights are posted and enforced by state and provincial law and vary widely.

So yes you are right that the railroads probably do not deliver or pick up containers on railcars at the  end users facilities, but a whole host of services and facilities have sprung up to interface between ship, rail, motor carrier and the final customer.  

The story is too long for a post but it is fascinating.  While the equipment is fun it is even more fun to chart the history of rates.  Just how does each transport segment structure their rates?  Why do they do it that way?  How did they used to do it before containers?