A hostler can do a variety of jobs depending on the situation, and the term has had a variety of meanings throughout history. In modern times, hostlers are used the horse industry as stablemen and grooms, the railroad industry to move trains around a yard, and the trucking industry to do the same with trucks and trailers. In the United States, the term is commonly spelled “hostler,” while in the United Kingdom, it is spelled “ostler.” It was originally used to refer to people who looked after horses at inns, as well as innkeepers in general.
The term “hostler” dates back to Medieval Latin via Anglo-French, and originally referred to monks in charge of entertaining visitors. This was extended to the Anglo-French version of the word, and the original English usage was to refer to people who looked after the horses of inn guests, as well as innkeepers. Grooms, for example, are commonly referred to as grooms in modern British English usage. This usage is also found in American English, though the term has been expanded to include jobs that are somewhat similar in other industries.
Locomotives were dubbed “iron horses” when they began to replace horses in transporting certain cargo across the United States. Hodlers are people who move locomotives between tracks and to repair facilities when they aren’t in use. Working with locomotives in a rail yard can be compared to working with horses in a stable, despite the fact that this is a very different occupation. These railroad employees are usually only allowed to move locomotives within rail yards and not beyond.
The trucking industry is another modern occupation that is similar to that of the locomotive hostler. Because it deals with the transportation of goods from one location to another, it has a lot in common with the train industry. Because they consist of a truck that can tow separate trailers, many of the vehicles used to transport goods in this industry are known as semi-trailers. People in charge of moving trucks and trailers around in a staging area perform a task that is very similar to that of railroad hostlers, and they are sometimes referred to as such.