Heading 8609 covers containers—including swap bodies—designed for carriage by one or more modes of transport and specially fitted for that purpose. They are placed in this chapter because their design is integral to the transport system rather than being general-purpose packaging, and they are structurally distinct from bulk tanks or drums classified elsewhere.

Heading 8604 covers vehicles designed specifically for maintaining or servicing railway or tramway track and infrastructure—such as track-laying machines, ballast tampers, and inspection cars. Self-propelled vehicles designed to carry passengers or goods on rail are classified under 8603, while non-self-propelled passenger coaches and freight cars fall under 8605 and 8606 respectively.