There is good news for shippers worldwide brought to them by advancements in technology and growth in the shipment industries. The intermodal transportation mechanisms have provided vast avenues for the shippers to maximize their profits and business value by greatly reducing operational costs. The past has shown people across the first world countries that crossing masses of water bodies was a dream that was too far-fetched.
Roads created the first-ever access and incentive for the transportation service industry by providing a speedier approach to certain hotspots or access points for resources, raw materials, equipment, etc. This substantially impacted the supply chain for multiple centuries, creating railways and other modes of more accessible freight mobility. In this context, shippers must understand the cost-saving and profitable advantages they can seek from a technological boon- intermodal transportation- and how to apply them to their operations to stay competitive.
● Technological Robustness
As shippers understand some of the most attractive and innate benefits of this form of transportation, contemplating the choice of a multitude of partnership companies is a natural phenomenon. The right transportation company can assist their clients in providing guidance and lending their expertise in drayage. It is also very important to seek a partner that does not compromise any business relationship’s personalized and custom elements. A reputable and reliable intermodal trucking company can provide cutting-edge and innovative features to maximize productivity and reduce costs to build strong client relationships, equipping your operations with a variety of features for optimized and maximized success.
They help you have a comprehensive view of all the elements and aspects of every transporting component, enabling split screens and split-second calculations without extra charges. They provide extensive information in an organized manner, with a tracing interface with accurate and price ETAs and notifications. From tracing shipments, viewing emails, and handling documentation, to requesting quotes and accessing information through APIs, they optimize operations and make them more structured. You can also streamline your billing procedures and provide attractive discounts, avoiding fuel surcharges and other accessory charges that are backed up through invoices and documents that are automated to your liking.
● Coordination & Optimised Efforts
If you are a transportation business with many agents to handle and organize, you can easily coordinate them through intermodal transportation. Linking them to specifically designed and curated portals can provide them with a one-stop location for all the required information. From client orders to dispatch information to driver locations and constant delivery updates, these agents can verify the information and coordinate resources as allocated. Increasing collaboration can also provide optimal scope for growth and more partnerships, helping you build robust global networks with the least investment.
● A Solution For Every Problem
The right logistics solutions can tailor your requirements and integrate them into the most efficient form of intermodal transportation networks. From common logistics and mobility issues to specific problems in the business, these experts and professionals adhere to every requirement with great attention to detail. They dedicate their expertise to building the best software to achieve your business goals.
For instance, when customers refuse a container, yard pulls are a constant problem. It costs time and is an expensive affair in terms of schedules. Or sometimes, you may find difficulties auditing and accounting for special invoices, like chassis containers and other third-party tracking and auditing. The right intermodal transportation can provide easily adaptable and resiliently managed anticipation.
It also covers financial losses through the right organization of invoices. Extra storage tracking costs may also need to be allotted, where the software can immediately highlight deadlines and aptly coordinate charges. Documentation can also be a pain to track, but the right solutions can provide high-quality documentation and verifiability.
● Multitude Of Intermodal Transportation Categories
Intermodal trucking is one word, but underneath this word lies an ocean of features, types, and configurations to choose from. The two primary types of intermodal transportation- are COFC and TOFC. Apart from these two, other containers include dry freights, insulated containers, open tops, flat racks, refrigerated, and tanks, each tailored for different goods varied by perishability, size, shape, structure, and weight. The COFC (Container on Flat Car) is the most-used type due to its cost-effectiveness and functionality. It can be stacked and carries about four containers. The Trailer on Flat Car (TOFC), on the other hand, loads the OTR trailer completely.
● Cost-Efficiency And Profitability
The greatest misconception injected into the industry is that OTR (over-the-road) transportation has the most cost-effectiveness and speed efficiencies in logistics and mobility. It was believed for a long time that domestic freight transportation would always dominate until it was proven wrong by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), stating the quadruple efficiencies that OTRs like trucking.
Every rational person can inarguably declare that all modes of transportation have their pros and cons attached to them. Combining the pros and strengthening efficiencies is the essence of intermodal transportation. Splitting fuel and gas with other freight owners can provide wonderful cost benefits for all the parties involved.
● Sustainable In The Long-Run
All businesses are characterized as citizens of the society, adhering to social responsibility and environmental behaviors that would lead to moral and value growth in the world. With the growing global warming and UV radiation, increasing hot summers, and rapid climate changes, it is becoming increasingly important to care for the environment and contribute less to pollution by equipping reliable and eco-friendly means.
This fact becomes more contextual in the logistics industry, as stated by the Energy Information Agency (EIA), which reported that diesel costs are increasing rapidly annually. The AAR also reported that freight railroads cover over 480 miles per gallon, creating a more advanced choice against traditional trucks and loads. Mileage is extremely important to calculate before moving on to operations, where companies and solutions must focus on reducing carbon footprints and optimizing supply chains.
● Security And Reliability
With limited technologies and vast timelines, there is nothing more concerning than the security aspects of the transaction. Intermodal transportation is created beyond these limitations and ensures that the rail schedules depart and arrive on schedule. Due to the increasing tracking efficiency and verifiability, leading yourself to the destination without any damages or hiccups is extremely easy.
Partnering with the right intermodal transportation solution can streamline the capacities. Another great advantage that this has under its backpack is the rise in e-commerce standards and customer expectations- leading to fewer highway congestion that could ruin schedules. With the right software, you can keep pollution at bay while gaining massive opportunities to prevent delays in freights.
Conclusion
And that marks the end of all the benefits you can avail yourself of from partnering with the right intermodal tracking solution can bring to the table. Shippers are found to load goods that travel for more than 750 miles; using intermodal transportation and software can add value to supply chains and keep the profits coming. Equipping about two to three shipping modes, this type of freight transportation can use fewer distances by using multiple modes of transport to reach the destination most effectively and efficiently. Intermodal transportation and logistics software can help organize bills and documents and save precious time and money. They must know which shipment can exhibit the most endurance for longer transit times and the profitability assessments. Fetching the right data and organized information is the essence of intermodal transportation and software solutions.