Many clients consider this subject on a daily and monthly basis. If you are a shipper or manufacturer who uses intermodal (rail shipments) to move your freight, you most likely already have a list of factors to consider when choosing the finest intermodal logistics provider. Please bear with me and continue reading anyhow; I may add one or two items you haven’t considered previously.
What exactly is an IMC?
First, consider what an “IMC” (Intermodal Marketing Company) is today against what it was in the past. Many years ago, when intermodal transportation on railroads was just starting, train carriers immediately learned that it was extremely difficult to “retail” their service directly to potential consumers. The railways were accustomed to dealing with a maritime public, with rail tracks running directly into their facilities! Customers conveyed grain, paper, lumber, steel, and autos, to name a few goods that worked well for the railways. There was untapped potential for new shippers and manufacturers to transfer their freight by train, but they didn’t have to be near the railroad. Many train customers, in fact, live several kilometers from the nearest railroad tracks.
IMCs (Intermodal Marketing Companies) began to spring up across the country, offering railroad marketing and sales. Railroads eagerly accepted IMC assistance in marketing and selling their intermodal service! Originally the roles and responsibilities of an Intermodal Marketing Company were fairly limited. Over time, those tasks have evolved to the point where they are responsible not only for sales, pricing, and marketing but also, in many cases, for securing the container to convey the load and the draymen to pick up the load at the origin and destination. The Intermodal Marketing Company also performs a critical role today that it did not supply in the past: customer service.
The Most Important Differentiator
One feature that actually distinguishes one Intermodal Marketing Company from another is customer service. Some intermodal marketing firms have nearly abolished the customer service function, focusing largely on low prices to get freight for intermodal shipping. Whether you’re renewing intermodal contracts, doing spot quotations, or just starting to move freight by train, I strongly advise you to consider customer service as a needed role. Let me paint you a picture. There are only a few “Class I” railroads in the United States and Canada, with only two in the West, two in the East, and one in the Midwest. This means that all of your intermodal freight will be transported by one of these five railways, and you will most likely experience either good service from the rail carriers or problems with the railroads. These include washouts, derailments, hurricanes, mudslides, and other natural disasters.
The factor that distinguishes the finest Intermodal Marketing Company from the “less than best” Intermodal Marketing Company is how well they communicate the concerns to you, the client, and how this may affect your travel on a train. Many IMCs just give an online tracing tool, leaving it up to the customer to determine whether or not any delays will affect their cargo. Other IMCs will send automatic faxes or emails to shippers with general information about the problems. The “best” IMCs will produce the communication you value. They will provide online tracking along with a human touch and contact when you prefer it, informing you of any concerns that may influence your pick-up or delivery and suggesting alternatives when solutions are required. They put your cargo and best interests first in every communication and connection.
Asset-Based or Non-Asset-Based Accounting?
Another factor to consider when choosing an IMC is whether you want to be an intermodal asset owner or a non-asset owner. While this is a feature that distinguishes the IMCs, it should not be your primary deciding factor in selecting an IMC. Numerous great IMCs carry a significant amount of volume on trains that lack intermodal equipment. As an asset-based Intermodal Marketing Company, you will have little price leverage. Many asset-based carriers make the sales pitch that their company is superior to company “XYZ” because they own assets and can thus guarantee the equipment for all shipments. The disadvantage is that asset-based IMCs are more concerned with “turn times” or “trips per month” on their assets than with providing outstanding customer service to you. In most circumstances, the IMC without assets has access to just as many intermodal containers (if not more), but only if they are exclusively focused on your needs and serving the best interests of your shipment rather than their equipment. This is undoubtedly a differentiating factor for IMCs, but I believe it should be weighed very lightly when selecting the “best” intermodal marketing company for your needs.
All Aboard the Green Train Environmental issues are harming our environment, which should be no surprise to anyone reading this site. Your organization likely began a “go green” campaign, such as recycling office paper or joining the EPA’s Smartway Partnership. Moving your freight by train will significantly reduce carbon emissions into our atmosphere. This is an important factor to consider when looking for the finest intermodal provider. Are they a Smartway member, and do they have active plans in place to benefit the environment today and in the future?
How Do You Rate?
Another factor that illustrates the tale of an IMC is its present client base. With whom do they currently do business? Several IMCs claim that 10% of their customers account for 80-85% of their volume and revenue. This tells me how much they enjoy doing business with huge corporations. Other IMCs prefer to do business with small to medium-sized customers, so their volume and revenue distribution is distributed throughout a much wider customer database. IMCs that cater to smaller clients have a natural talent for making the tiniest consumer feel just as important as the largest. Which do you prefer to deal with? Who do you believe values your company more?
Continuous Enhancement
The dreaded word “change” is the final deciding factor in choosing the greatest intermodal marketing firm. Many IMCs are content with the status quo, while others constantly seek ways to embrace change, whether in procedures or technologies. They are doing this to improve how they do things for the benefit of their clients (you)! I will admit that change for the sake of change is undesirable, but change for the goal of better customer service distinguishes a complacent multimodal provider from one aiming to be the best.
I hope the list above helps jog your memory the next time you need to relocate an intermodal shipment. You may have noticed that I did not include much regarding price in my blog. Believe me, if you put it at the bottom of your decision criteria, you can choose the best intermodal supplier for your company’s needs without focusing on price.
