Intermodal , Drayage and Chassis
Special Report
risk of increasing bobtails if you diversify your carrier mix .”
There are ways to offset that inconsistency while using multiple carriers through the use of empty container pools and dedicated chassis programs . But most shippers have historically tended to take the path of least resistance and just pick one drayage carrier or hand off the allocation of drayage volume to third-party logistics ( 3PLs ) providers or shipping lines , many of which route that to a favored or in-house carrier .
Kidd advocates for some sort of split — generally between 50-50 and 70-30 between two carriers — that keeps options open and costs in a manageable band .
“ We have a number of shippers with five or more carriers on lanes , some of which are due to certain container types , like overweight , refrigerated , or hazardous , and some are just due to a high-volume lane that they keep highly competitive across their carriers ,” he said .
Benefit of multiple relationships
Kroul said the complexity of the shipper ’ s needs at destination also determines the extent to which it is willing to diversify , or to stick with one carrier .
“ It depends on the time of year , the specific gateway , whether it ’ s a port or inland move , the equipment needed and the delivery need ,” he said . “ Do they need transload , a
But buyers beware , said Michael Kroul , CEO of drayage broker KTI , who bemoaned a relative lack of investment in drayage technology over the past decade as other areas landed big funding rounds from venture capital firms .
“ Most of the managed transportation options are really just fronts for brokerages and the terms they want you to sign make it hard for carriers and brokers to work with them ,” Kroul said . “ There are very few 3PLs and carriers that can handle all of the shipper needs in all markets .”
Using managed transportation is just one option for shippers , who can also access capacity from specialist drayage brokers , the brokerage divisions of asset-based dray carriers and the dray divisions of multimodal brokers .
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aggregate capacity in multiple locations throughout North America at competitive rates as well as accessorial management . That decision-making process also needs to take into account a 3PL ’ s technology and the experience of its operation teams .
“ Additional capacity is always needed as geopolitical forces and shipper booking patterns change ,” Brashier said . “ Do you want to onboard the capacity to manage those headwinds in the moment or have them in place to execute when needed ?”
‘ Quick pivots ’
A managed transportation team associated with a 3PL can often make “ quick pivots to the changes that can happen , in many cases overnight , in ocean container logistics ,” Brashier added , which is an advantage .
With a huge number of permutations available , shippers need to consider the right mix of those options set against their own operational needs , such as the number of gateways they use , whether they require transload services and what data they require of their partners .
Key dimensions to consider , according to drayage sources , include whether to primarily use national carriers that can serve multiple port gateways or local carriers with potentially stronger local port relationships , and whether to use brokers as a primary source that provides natural diversification or as a supplementary source to back up assetbased carriers .
email : eric . johnson @ spglobal . com www . joc . com February 3 , 2025 | Journal of Commerce 13