As peak season for the intermodal industry arrives, the North American rail network has shown signs of slowing. As the rail industry becomes stressed by seasonal volume increases, customers should expect increased transit delays for the duration of peak season. These extended transit times will also strain intermodal capacity. Below is a list of intermodal service “hot spots”.
- San Bernardino, CA
- Denver, Co
- Houston, TX
- St. Paul, MN
- St. Louis, MO
- Columbus, OH
- Toledo, OH
- Cleveland, OH
- Cincinnati, OH
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Harrisburg, PA
- Albany, NY
- Ayer, MA
To help improve intermodal network velocity, capacity and service, there are several actions customers can take:
- Booking shipments in advance to provide as much notice as possible
- Smoothing both delivery and pickup appointments throughout the week
- Unloading containers as soon as possible after delivery, including increasing night and weekend staffing as needed
- Maximizing appointment flexibility, including:
- Minimizing delay between load de-ramp (dwell at ramps) and appointment time
- Providing larger appointment windows rather than set appointment times
- Reducing dwell time at destination between appointment reset request and next available appointment
Customer service is extremely important and it’s our commitment to keep you informed of imperative service information. We will continue to update you concerning these disruptions and will provide further details as they become available. Your patience and assistance is appreciated as we works with our rail partners to improve intermodal velocity, capacity, and service.
