InTek Freight & Logistics Blog

Intermodal Transportation Services Defined & Total Market Size

Written by Rick LaGore | Jun 6, 2019

Definition of Intermodal

Intermodal is an alternative method to ship 53' truckload freight utilizing two different modes of transport.

Dray carriers are used for the origin pick-up and destination delivery for the freight movements between the rail ramps and the shipper on the front end of a shipment and its customer on the back end of the freight move.

The railroad is utilized for the long-haul portion of the freight lane.

Types of Intermodal

There are two types of intermodal: COFC and TOFC. 

COFC is a more efficient and therefore a more cost-effective method for intermodal shipping.

Container on Flatcar

Trailer on Flatcar

 Intermodal Market Size by Container Ownership

There are both private 53' box and public intermodal container owners. 

Private box owners are  bi-modals IMC's, while public boxes are move through non-asset or asset lite IMC's. 

 

Other intermodal articles of interest:

The national trade organization IMC's are members of: Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) 

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