Intermodal
Topic 25757 | Page 1
Tremendous amount of it here around the Tidewater area of VA. From what I have gathered from news sources and talking to a few drivers, there is a bunch of waiting around due to backups at the entrance areas to the docks. Hours of it. Lots of beat up trucks, beat up chassis, and not much money for the amount of time spent at work, ie in the truck. These drivers are all local and thus home every night. I’ll stick to OTR.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
I don't see much on TT about Intermodal , and frankly, I don't know much about it. When I get back to driving, is there any advantage of intermodal over dry van? Does a driver have to live in proximity to a rail yard to do intermodal? In general, I'd just like to know more about the pros and cons.
JB Hunt advertises 70K a year for intermodal. Home every night. Take it for what it's worth
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.
I did 2 weeks intermodal in Chicago during training.. It was home every night, but my trainer didnt bother cause his grandkids were in bed by the time he got home and still sleeping when he left.
It is a lot of drop and hook and at Prime it was paid by the mile, but mostly lease ops, although we do ha e a few company positions. My trainer made no money and borrowed from his mother to pay the cell bill. However his friend in Harrisburg made a killing.
The trailers get lost on the train and yard. They tell you it is in the yard, but really hours from getting off the train. We had to get satellite shots on more than one occasion to tell us where they were. Long story but i took an intermodal this weekend from Chicago to GA and the trailer took 12 hours getting out of the yard.
The trailers get beat up more, and weigh more. plus they have slats at the top where they get gripped to be picked up and they break. I like our regular reefers better.
You get to go to a handful of the same customers which gives security. But you have to drive through city traffic and tiny drop yards.
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
Thanks Rainy! I'm just trying to learn more about different options while I'm sidetracked. I realized that I never learned much about intermodal. I was at the Schneider intermodal OC in Chicago several times and it seemed like a madhouse.
BTW, is that new picture really you or did you cut that out of a fashion magazine?????
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
I did intermodal for about 3 weeks when I had some stuff going on at home. I was lucky and the company I worked for leased their trucks from Idealease and were practically brand new. The 40/45 foot containers were just like pulling a 53 dry van , with the exception of being REALLY noisy when empty. The 20 foot containers are a lot more challenging to back up if you are used to a 53 foot trailer. They react in half the time. There were lots of heavy loads, because when they get shipped on the boat, they get billed by the cubic foot, and they make every inch count. We were permitted up to 100k gross weight.
I didn't have a TWIC ID, so I couldn't go into the ports, but I have heard people get stuck there running out of their 14 because of delays.
I guess it's like anything else, some people love it, the rest hate it.
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.TWIC:
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
Today I seen 3 trains go by with trailers, I'd say 70% were JB Hunt, 20% Schneider,and the rest different lol was interesting actually
Today I seen 3 trains go by with trailers, I'd say 70% were JB Hunt, 20% Schneider,and the rest different lol was interesting actually
Those are the ones I primarily see when I'm out west. They are usually double stacked with 80% JB and Schneider. The rest are hub group and whatever typical containers associated with the different boat lines.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
BTW, is that new picture really you or did you cut that out of a fashion magazine?????
Hmmm thanks i think. Either it looks too good to look like me . or i normally look bad so it isnt me. lol
A couple of things to add...
- as Rainy indicated the equipment is subject to a higher degree of abuse. I’ve helped drivers with bent doors or damaged locking bars many times...on one occasion it took two of us to get a JBH drivers container doors to shut and lock.
- Schneider runs 53’ containers on chassis. PTI is really important due to additional points of failure where the box connects to the chassis. DOT regularity sets up camp on the access roads to the intermodal ramps because they know the equipment is many times in need of repair.
Find an intermodal yard near your home. Park and watch the drivers entering and leaving. I’m sure you could talk with some of them to get first hand knowledge.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
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I don't see much on TT about Intermodal , and frankly, I don't know much about it. When I get back to driving, is there any advantage of intermodal over dry van? Does a driver have to live in proximity to a rail yard to do intermodal? In general, I'd just like to know more about the pros and cons.
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.