When it comes to choosing which transportation to use in their logistics processes, companies should consider many variables, especially when the need to mix different means of transportation such as sea, land, and air, arises. Understanding the different existing modalities, their differences, advantages, and disadvantages, may help decide which is best for a specific company.
Choosing between intermodal and multimodal transportation depends on the most efficient combination of factors such as the products being shipped, places of origin and destination, distance, type of transportation needed (truck, train, plane, ship), delivery deadlines, costs, safety, control, and tracking.
Refers to shipments carried out by a different freight company in each stage of the route, from origin to product delivery. Clients have a different contract or bill of lading for each supplier independently.
Refers to shipments considered as a sole movement between the origin and the destination which, although involving diverse carriers, consists of only one contract or bill of lading using a company in charge of transporting the merchandise along all the stages or stretches of the route.
This modality includes two options: companies who have all transportation means at an international level, and agents or multimodal transportation operators (MTOs) who outsource to carriers and whose function is to negotiate, monitor, and coordinate loading, unloading, and delays. Even though these MTOs manage a contract with each supplier, the client signs only one bill of lading (FIATA Bill of Landing, or FBL) with the agent, regardless the number of means of transport involved.
Before choosing a modality, companies should assess some issues such as the number of contracts it wishes to handle, global costs, impact on inventories, delivery times, administrative coordination, and environmental impact.
Whether they prefer intermodal or multimodal transportation, companies with logistics services and/or operations need a Transport Management System (TMS) that helps them to choose suppliers according to costs, times, and other issues to consider. TMSs allow companies to carry out route scenarios and track better. Most of these platforms have coordination capacities with, and between, carriers and make managing contracts easier.
Some specialized logistics companies, such as Solistica, offer multimodal solutions like land and rail distribution in Mexico, the United States, and Canada; access to the main shipping lines; Full Container Load and Less than Container Load transportation; air freight; customs management; and storage in proposal, looking to meet the specific logistics needs of each company.