Car spotting is a service in rail transport operations.
A 1920 book on railroad freight defines the term as follows:
"Spotting service is the service beyond a reasonably convenient point of interchange between road haul or connecting carriers and 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."
References
Car spotting (service) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA