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once they became confident in the service.
TECH RULES
The ubiquity of IT tools has enhanced
intermodal’s value proposition. Some
large users have said they would like to
see better data integration between their
platforms and the rails’ so that information doesn’t have to be entered twice. On
balance, however, the expanded use of
technology has helped make users’ lives
easier, which is a good thing for providers.
It is commonplace today for users to
share data on their current truck business
with the railroads, which will, in turn,
overlay their intermodal schedules on
top of that to determine where rail service might be a better fit. C.H. Robinson
Worldwide Inc., the third-party logistics
service specialist, doesn’t rely on published schedules; instead, it uses proprietary technology to analyze and assess
intermodal opportunities, according to
Phil Shook, director of intermodal for
Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Robinson.
Robinson’s analysis focuses on analyzing “normalized” ramp-to-ramp transit
times to determine the highest likelihood
of schedule variance, said Shook. Big
intermediaries like Robinson have the
resources to manage the dray process
themselves.
Streamline offers an online visual graph
that lights up to show where intermodal
service is available, where ramps are located, and their proximity to key points of
interest. Streamline’s site also compares
intermodal door-to-door and over-the-road pricing, but only shows the potential
savings in each lane; access to the actual
rates is limited to customers.
Then there are the disrupters like
Chris Ricciardi, chief product officer of
Chicago-based Logistical Labs. Ricciardi
is directing a project that would consol-
idate all intermodal information in one
portal. Today, users have to visit multi-
ple sites to compare rates, services, and
schedules from various providers.
Ricciardi’s model is based on the prem-
ise that the one-stop online shop that
has worked so well in areas like travel
can be applied to the intermodal world.
“We want,” he said, “to be the Expedia of
intermodal.” ;
for many shippers and has opened
doors previously closed. Potential
users are “amazed at how easy it is,”
said Niness of Thoroughbred.
One objective of intermodal exec-
utives is to migrate intermediaries
away from transactional business
into long-term strategic relation-
ships. Streamline, for example, has
developed annualized rate programs
for repeat broker customers, and
pledges equipment and dray capaci-
ty in return for freight volume com-
mitments. Kirchhoefer said many
brokers working with Streamline
shifted to the relationship model
