Intermodal Transport Success requires strategy

Intermodal transport success, as with any other type of shipping, requires a plan. However, many shippers underestimate or fail at implementing simple tactics that make shipping by rail a huge success.

Here are certain key elements that your Intermodal transport success depends on when shipping by rail.

Best Practices of Shipping Through Intermodal Transport

Intermodal Transport Success Requires Strategic Planning

While on the surface, this seems like the simplest part of transport, appearances are often deceiving. Rail rates are not just based on weight, but the types of commodities you’re shipping and the types of equipment required on service locations.

Often freight moves through multiple locations in a city. Each of those can have a different rating structure due to the regional or the shortline building resides.

Rail Freight Tracking

If there’s one thing that’s certain in shipping, it’s that things often don’t go as planned. Hence, alignment with a company that doesn’t take service for granted is essential. A company like Freight-Specialist always treats your freight like it’s their own.

To ensure good shipping times and tracking, the rail industry adopted and delivered top-tier technology. This technology and its algorithms deliver real-time transport data to address potential delays. Delays on a rail network are larger and unlike anything else in modern logistics. Therefore, shippers should avoid simple mistakes by asking their freight brokers any questions before shipping by rail. Albeit, even with today’s technology, errors do occur in often overlooked areas of the shipping process.

Waybilling

Waybilling is key when it comes to documentation. Admittedly, it seems simple enough, but it ensures that transit occurs at the correct rates. It contains all the relevant instructions and details from the origin to the destination. It even contains the routes and railroads that the freight will move between points A and B. Bad waybilling can contribute to delays, increased costs, and huge inefficiencies.

Management of Demurrage and Accessorials

Actively monitoring delays at the shipper or consignee greatly reduces costly demurrage charges. Just like shipping through intermodal transport is no different than any other type of freight shipment. Rail shipping like over the road transport is subject to DOT rules. Therefore, understanding that intermodal rail trailers weigh considerably more, a shipper needs to keep cargo weight present. An incorrectly loaded trailer leads to huge accessorial fees. Subsequently, leading to hundreds if not thousands of dollars in unexpected cost.

Settlements and Audits

Rail service doesn’t begin and end with the numbers on paper or during EDI transmission. Overbilling due to incorrect rates or accessorial mismanagement on any line item can cost shippers thousands. The best freight shipping partners can identify and rectify issues to minimize any damages.

Analysis and Reporting

As data is collected for reporting and analysis, transport services can begin to identify issues. Only when these issues are cataloged can they be rooted out. Repeat issues and consistent problems can be identified and fixed only if correct data analysis and reporting are done.

Harnessing this data can be a game-changer for the identification opportunities in transit.

Freight Specialist Provides the Best Cost Saving Operations in Intermodal Transport

Call Freight Specialist today to get the best rates and the best services in Intermodal transport by rail.