Rail Freight and Logistics
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Complete rail logistics and freight services that reliably handle even your toughest shipments.
What is Rail Logistics?
If you need to ship over 120,000 pounds of material at once to one place, railcar shipping could be a good choice. It’s usually cheaper and better for the environment than truck shipping.
Who can ship by railcar?
Railcars run only on railroad tracks, so frequent shippers often have tracks at their facilities. If you do, you’re already set up for rail shipping.
If you don’t have tracks, you can still ship by trucking your cargo to a nearby transloading facility. There, your goods are moved from trucks to railcars. Although this adds cost, time, and extra handling, the cheaper rail freight can often make up for these expenses.
Rail logistics shipping rates
Railcar freight rates are usually cheaper than truck rates. Although the cost per railcar seems high because it carries many goods, it actually replaces 3 to 4 trucks, making the cost per item lower. Your rail quote depends on shipment size, type of goods, railcar, route, and lane.
What are the advantages of rail freight logistics?
Rail is a smart choice for planned long trips. Switching from truck to rail can improve your supply chain by ensuring space, reducing emissions, and easing driver shortages. Rail helps tackle these common logistics challenges.
Safety
According to the Association of American Railroads, more investments in rail infrastructure are increasing the safety and efficiency of rail transportation. Rail offers a higher safety level because of less human involvement and the absence of highway congestion.
Technology
New technology innovations in rail transportation are at the peak of development. Automation, modern railway systems, big data, IoT and artificial intelligence are all new tools impacting rail transportation. For example, the automated system PTC is already used by 83.2% of the required Class I route miles nationwide.
Greener transportation
The most obvious advantage of rail transport over trucking is being less harmful to the environment. The rail can handle a much higher volume of freight and longer distances compared to other transportation methods. In general, railcar shipments cause fewer carbon emissions into the environment per ton-mile.
Fuel savings
Although the transit time will be longer, shipping via railcar can be cheaper than OTR. The rail can help reduce costs, especially on your long-hauls and cross-country runs. A good part of this savings is due to less fuel being used per ton-mile of cargo being hauled.
Freight visibility
Rail companies offer much more sophisticated and advanced technology for tracking than most motor carriers. Railcars are automatically tracked throughout their movements and these sightings are published by the railroads for the use of the parties involved in the shipment.
How can LockedIn Logistics help you with railcar shipments?
Get a Free Freight Quote | Save on transportation costs with the perks of LockedIn Logistics.
Over the course of their history, railroads have been on the cutting edge of technological innovation. Essentially, such a developed and complex system involves its own communication network. Learning and unraveling all the processes within the industry can be a hurdle for a shipper.