From its onset, Freightliner was focused on the haulage of international traffic, thus came to centre its activities around Britain's sea ports, often building new multimodal freight depots adjacent to such locations to better capture this business.

Numerous domestic depots previously operated by Freightliner were closed during the 1990s in preparation for the privatisation of British Rail that same decade.

But it was Dr Richard Beeching who, in his report Reshaping Britain's Railways, advanced the concept of containerised freight in the UK.

[6] Soon adopting the Freightliner name, the first single-shipper train was operated on 20 August 1968, hauling specially-designed 30-foot (9.1 m) containers carrying parts for Ford Escort cars that were destined for assembly in plants on the European mainland.

[8] Beeching's original concept envisioned Freightliner servicing a domestic freight market, which by 1968 had resulted in British Railways developing 17 purpose-built depots.

[6] By the end of the 1960s, Freightliner operated 28 terminals and 56 routes, however, the company's shift in focus from the original domestic freight market to the international market serviced via ports continued for the next 30 years, with many of the original domestic depots which did not service port traffic either never opening or eventually closing (i.e.: Kings Cross, Sheffield, Swansea, Swindon), whilst investment in seaport depots - specifically Southampton, Harwich, and the Port of Felixstowe where Beeching's plan had never envisaged a depot - continued at an increasing pace.

[9] Increasing Irish traffic resulted in a depot being opened at the Port of Holyhead, as well as Freightliner having dedicated operations in both Belfast and Dublin.

[6] Freightliner immediately made a major pitch to the BR Board to allow 8 ft 6 in contains to be carried on the East Coast Main Line (ECML), which involved lowering the track in Stoke area[clarify], as well as in Peascliffe and Penmanshiel tunnels (in Lincolnshire and the Scottish Borders, respectively).

The alterations were successfully completed at Stoke and Peascliffe, but Penmanshiel Tunnel collapsed in March 1979 while work was underway, killing two workers and severing the ECML between Edinburgh and Berwick.

[11] Rejected as not sufficiently profitable by English Welsh & Scottish Railway,[6] on 25 May 1996, Freightliner was purchased in a management buyout backed by 3i and Electra Private Equity for a sum of £5.4 million.

In March 2004, Freightliner launched Logico, providing short-term or one-off spaces on intermodal trains, it is typically active at major British freight hubs such as the South Wales International Terminal and the Port of Felixstowe.

[17] During 2007, Freightliner commenced operations in Poland;[6] its primary activity in the Polish market has been the haulage of aggregates and coal traffic.

[18] On 13 June 2008, Freightliner Group was purchased by Railinvest Holding Company Limited,[19] a subsidiary of Arcapita Bank of Bahrain.

At the time of the acquisition, Freightliner's portfolio comprised approximately 250 standard gauge locomotives along with 5,500 wagons, and had a headcount in excess of 2,500 employees worldwide.

47830 (D1645), which is operated by Freightliner, was named Beeching's Legacy to mark 50 years since the first container train ran under British Rail.

These ran from ports including Felixstowe, Southampton and Tilbury to terminals such as Birmingham, Trafford Park in Manchester, Stourton (Leeds), Coatbridge (Central Scotland), Ashton Gate (Bristol), and Wentlooge (Newport, South Wales).

[31] Reportedly, Heavy Haul operations were hit particularly hard during the Great Recession that started in 2008, but, the firm was actively acquiring additional wagons and staff in order to accommodate new growth on top of the recovery of demand from many of its established customers by 2015.

Within its first three years, the division had extended its scope into wagon maintenance, and was reportedly consistently achieving a 95% availability rate on the company's 657 coal wagons; it also had engineering teams and mobile workshops stationed in Birmingham, London, Bristol, York, Scotland and Crewe that undertook scheduled maintenance along with unexpected call-outs.

[36][37] One month later, Freightliner announced positive results from an alternative fuel trial it was conducted for its diesel-powered fleet, allegedly halving the carbon emissions incurred.

In June 2009, Freightliner Australia commenced operating containerised cotton services from Wee Waa to Port Botany.

[47][48] Under the deal, Xstrata owned the rolling stock with Freightliner Australia providing the engineering, logistics, maintenance and operational support.

[53] This subsidiary, has focused on the cross-border intermodal traffic that runs between the northern European ports of Rotterdam, Bremerhaven and Hamburg to various cities across Germany, Poland, Italy and elsewhere in continental Europe.

These were rebuilt by Brush Traction at Loughborough from Class 47s and fitted with a refurbished EMD engine and a reconditioned alternator, improving reliability and performance.

[54] During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Freightliner placed multiple orders for new-build Class 66s, cumulating in 111 locomotives being delivered to the company.

[14] In order to better haul heavier trains, Freightliner directed that several of its Class 66s be regeared, which resulted in a reduced maximum speed in exchange for a higher tractive effort.

Once in service, the type proved to be quite reliable, with Freightliner reportedly recording a regular availability rate of 98% along with an average of 70,000 miles between failures, more than double that of the Class 57 fleet.