Riding the Rail

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 11/1/1998

As highway congestion increases, more and more shippers are looking at rail and intermodal services as a competitively priced, efficient alternative. To help draw new customers and better serve existing ones, rail and intermodal companies are adding new services, increasing the amount of equipment, offering new software, and providing new and updated reference materials. Below is a sampling of some of the newest equipment and services available today.

Heil Trailer International has introduced Heil "DryTainer," a dry-bulk intermodal container. This corrosion-resistant, 100-percent aluminum container eliminates the need for liners, bags, and wrapping materials. The container is airtight, providing protection for humidity-sensitive products.

According to the manufacturer, the DryTainer is the optimal solution for those who need bulk shipments in less-than-railcar quantities. In addition, rail shippers can ship doublestack containers of dry-bulk commodities. Heil also boasts that compared to using standard shipping bags, a DryTainer will yield savings of approximately $600 to $800 per container loading.

For loading and unloading, the DryTainer features five 20-inch manways; five-inch butterfly discharge valves with a four-inch discharge line; three-inch air-inlet piping with top air standard; front and/or rear product fill lines in four-inch, five-inch, or six-inch sizes; optional aeration systems for powder products; and gravity-discharge and pneumatic/gravity-combination discharge systems.