Truckload and logistics provider Schneider Transportation Management has expanded its intermodal freight network, offering service at CSX Corp.'s Indianapolis rail ramp, the company said today.
The new intermodal ramp service provides shippers in the central/southern Indiana, Louisville, Ky., and Cincinnati markets with a more cost-competitive transportation option to eastern markets.
With the addition of the new site, Green Bay, Wisc.-based Schneider now offers intermodal service to more than 40 rail ramps throughout North America.
The company chose Indianapolis as its latest addition because the city has been growing in importance as an important logistics hub, not only for the local market, but also for service within a day's transit of markets in Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, and Ohio, according to Jim Filter, senior vice president and general manager of Schneider's Intermodal division.
"Schneider is constantly evaluating its network and the tradeoffs between number of ramp locations and dray density. We reached a point where there is now a cost advantage to operating a ramp in Indianapolis rather than draying to Chicago or Ohio," Filter said in an email.
Eastbound freight from Indianapolis will travel to North Bergen, N.J., and Worcester, Mass. Each lane operates six days per week and offers eastbound two- to three-day transit times, competitive with truckload transit time. Inbound freight will travel from New Jersey to Indianapolis."This is a new option for shippers to reliably move loads at transit times competitive to truckload," Filter said in a release. "We're also confident this will provide cost-competitive intermodal service to the region, as eastbound freight will not have to be drayed to Chicago."
The move is Schneider's latest expansion since announcing in April that it had broadened its middle-mile delivery services to include its van truckload and intermodal-owned assets.
