Intermodal

Intermodal freight moves in a container or trailer by more than one mode of transport — typically truck, rail and ship — without the goods themselves being handled when the mode changes. In North America it usually means a long rail leg with a short truck move at each end, in 20 or 40 ft international containers or 53 ft domestic ones.

How it works

The Intermodal Association of North America defines intermodal as the movement of cargo in shipping containers or trailers by more than one mode of transportation. The box is the unit: it is lifted from ship to rail car, rail car to chassis, and the freight inside is not touched until it arrives.

• Container on flatcar (COFC): containers riding on railcars without a chassis underneath.
• Double-stack: containers stacked two high on the railcar.
• International boxes are 20 or 40 ft; domestic US intermodal uses 53 ft containers — Union Pacific's EMP service alone offers nearly 40,000 of them.
• The Association of American Railroads says about half of US rail intermodal volume involves imports and exports, through more than 180 intermodal terminals.

Worked example: intermodal or truck

An intermodal price has three parts — the drayage to the origin ramp, the rail linehaul, and the drayage from the destination ramp. Suppose a 2,000-mile lane: USD 350 drayage at each end and USD 1,900 rail, against a truck at DAT's March 2026 contract van average of USD 2.72 a mile.

The mistake people make

Comparing the rail rate to the truck rate. The fair comparison includes both drays, the chassis, any per diem, and the extra days in transit — on a short lane, those can cost more than the rail saves.