What is a rail intermodal?
Rail intermodal — the transportation of shipping containers and truck trailers by rail — allows railroads to provide their customers cost-effective, environmentally friendly service for almost anything that can be loaded into a truck or a container.
How much does it cost to ship a container by rail?
The cost to combine rail and truck using a bulk transfer terminal is approximately $95.54 per net ton. By comparison, rail direct is $70.27 per net ton, and over-the-road truck is $214.96 per net ton.
What is the purpose of intermodal container?
An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – from ship to rail to truck – without unloading and reloading their cargo.
What are the containers on trains called?
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using standard shipping containers (also known as ‘ISO containers’ or ‘isotainers’) that can be loaded with cargo, sealed and placed onto container ships, railroad cars, and trucks.
What does intermodal mean in logistics?
Intermodal shipping refers to moving freight by two or more modes of transportation. By loading cargo into intermodal containers, shipments can move seamlessly between trucks, trains and cargo ships.
How are intermodal containers loaded?
Road: A specialized intermodal driver — called a drayman or drayage carrier — picks up an empty container from the origin rail ramp and brings it to the shipper. Once the drayman is loaded at the shipper, they return the container to the rail ramp.
Where do intermodal containers go?
That’s because intermodal containers can go just about anywhere: they can travel across North America on trains or on trucks. They can be loaded onto cargo ships for travel overseas. Or, they can move between those three modes, often without unloading or reloading the cargo.
What does an intermodal container look like?
An intermodal container is a large metal box, in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, designed and used to transport goods from one port to another by road, rail, sea, or air, also called freight shipping.
How are containers secured on trains?
When the containers are the same size, they are often secured by a bulkhead built into the well car. Shipping containers can also be secured using inter-box connectors (IBCs) or “twistlocks.” Containers must then by unlocked from each other before unloading.
How many containers can a train pull?
An intermodal railcar having wells between its trucks (wheel assemblies) that hold freight containers are referred to as “three-packs” or “five-packs” depending on the number of wells. The containers can be double-stacked, which means up to 10 containers can be carried on one railcar.
What is an intermodal container?
Intermodal container. An intermodal container is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – from ship to rail to truck – without unloading and reloading their cargo.
How to get intermodal loads?
The process starts at the nearest intermodal ramp facility.
What is intramodal transportation?
Intermodal transportation is the use of two or more modes, or carriers, to transport goods (freight) from shipper to consignee. Special standardized containers are used for intermodal transport of cargo on trucks, freight trains, and ships. These containers are large rectangular boxes, capable of being secured to special trailers.
How does intermodal work?
Intermodal is the use of two modes of freight, such as truck and rail, to transport goods from shipper to consignee. The intermodal process usually begins with a container being moved by a truck to a rail, then back to a truck to complete the process.