Intermodal shipping: Schneider completes trailer to container conversion endeavor
Jeff Berman, Group News Editor -- Logistics Management, 12/17/2009
GREEN BAY, Wisc.- Transportation and logistics service provider Schneider National announced this week that its Intermodal division has finished its three-year conversion project, which was comprised of replacing its mixed trailer/conversion fleet to an all-container fleet. Company officials said that shippers moving freight throughout the U.S. will see significant operational efficiencies and cost savings through this multi-million investment into container conversion.
Schneider has been providing container intermodal service to shippers for more than 10 years, and in 2006 the company made the decision that containers would become the focus of its intermodal strategy.
"An important characteristic of any customer-focused organization is to provide a service that your customers want at a price point that creates a value to them," a Schneider spokesperson told LM. "Originally, trailers were a superior way of meeting this demand, as they provided a means to give customers both over-the-road and intermodal shipping options with the same box. Importantly, the cost of providing a trailer intermodal option was comparable to a container one. By mid-decade, those economics were beginning to change, and a two box (one for over-the-road, one for intermodal) had become the best way to provide low-cost, superior service choices for customers."
A major driver for this conversion, according to Schneider, is the belief that a standard part of continuous improvement philosophy is that simple, repeatable processes are often the best way to drive costs down and service up. And by going to one box that could provide intermodal service across its entire network, the spokesperson said Schneider is making shipping "easy for our customers-they know our orange box will go anywhere we go for intermodal." From an operations standpoint, Schneider explained a single box allows it to create density in its system, which drives down costs and improves service.
Schneider has been providing intermodal service to customers since 1991, including a container option. Containers were not the company's primary option until 2006, and they became the exclusive offering in 2008. The full transition to containers was not complete until this year in order to enable customer to transition in a manner that met their needs and our commitments to them, the spokesperson said.
"The benefits of moving freight via intermodal containers are so significant that there's no doubt containers will become the intermodal standard in the very near future," said Bill Matheson, president, Schneider Intermodal Services, in a statement. "Shippers want to stack containers and move more freight - in an energy-efficient manner - at one time. They also want a simplified process for trailer/container management, both for their shipping department and the truck drivers moving their freight. Our new containerization approach delivers on both fronts."
Schneider's trailer-to-container conversion included more than 12,000 units. And in 2008, approximately 11.5 million trailers and containers moved over the rails. In February 2008, Schneider consolidated its network of primary rail providers. As part of this initiative, Schneider Intermodal announced it would use two primary rail partners-BNSF Railway and CSX Interposal, with BNSF providing service in the Western part of the U.S. and CSX in the East. It also said that these agreements will improve its interposal offerings and provide shippers with things like preferential loading, capacity, and operational interfaces to increase accessibility and efficiency of rail moves.
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