Long-haul delivery always entails copious challenges and difficulties. It’s necessary not only to figure out the exact ship-time but also to secure your cargo from possible damages and losses. Moreover, it’s important to make up an optimal route to avoid traffic jams and overpayments. As a rule, long-distance shipment implies the use of various modes of transportation. The intermodal services are rather popular these days while they allow delivering cargoes quickly and effectively. 

At the same time, intermodal transportation is characterized by a number of difficulties. You should take them into account when planning logistics. Problems you may face are the following:

• Non-standard sizes of cargo.

It seems so common to transport huge or out-of-gauge freights so there hardly can be difficulties. Yet, intermodal shipping implies the use of several types of transport. It means your items are to be delivered by truck, train, or even airplane. It’s clear each of them has peculiar requirements for cargo dimensions and weights. It’s necessary to agree on the details of the transportation. Sometimes even small errors lead to serious problems such as huge overpayments and significant delays. For inexperienced business owners, it’s impossible to cope with this task on their own. No wonder, it’s better to hire competent intermodal brokers who have the needed skills and knowledge;

• Improper planning. 

No matter whether you are the owner of a huge corporation or just run a tiny online store, sufficient logistics management is a must. More and more freight forwarders start using automated software to make the process of planning as convenient as possible. Yet, there are so many important details to be considered that the assistance of professional brokers is a must;       

• Lack of flexibility in the transport chain.

Nowadays there are lots of companies that offer freight forwarding services. They can be both nationwide transport firms or international ones. Moreover, the greater part of forwarders uses versatile vehicles. On the website excellogist.com, for instance, you can get acquainted with all the available options. It helps you to decide whether this or that forwarder meets your needs or desires or not.

At the same, although there are lots of available options, they are not able to fully satisfy the rapidly growing market. More and more businesses go online. It means they need to deliver the goods to their clients in the best possible way. Yet, the capacities of shippers are rather limited. Often, to meet the goals of your business, you are to overpay;        

• Inadequate infrastructure.

The possibilities of strikes, traffic jams, and motor vehicle collisions can not be excluded. Although the modern infrastructure is constantly evolving, it’s still possible to observe trucks crowding the ports or hot competition of the rails. Moreover, sometimes even the best brokers fail to agree on a timetable. It leads to delays and financial losses.

So, intermodal transportation is swiftly developing. The implementation of innovative technologies and automated software helps to solve a wide range of problems. You are to choose among copious reliable and effective freight forwarders who are ready to deliver your cargo as fast and conveniently as possible.