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Agriculture remains one of the most freight-intensive sectors in the U.S. economy, and to move this key cargo, intermodal has seen its role continue to grow. Particularly on long-haul inland lanes, intermodal is now a go-to for ag shippers transporting higher-value and containerized agricultural products - especially those tied to export markets. In 2024, the United States exported roughly $175–$180 billion in agricultural goods, making it a strategically important trade category.
On a recent episode of The Intermodal Logistics Podcast, we sat down with Peter Friedmann, Executive Director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC), to explore exactly how intermodal and agriculture fit together. The conversation covered container repositioning, cargo theft, transloading, the unique density challenges of agricultural freight, and why the intermodal supply chain has become essential to U.S. ag exporters and importers alike.
Here is a breakdown of the key takeaways.
The Number That Surprises Most People: 40% of Ag Exports Move by Container
When most people think of agricultural exports moving by rail, they picture unit trains loaded with hopper cars full of bulk grain. That image is real, but incomplete.
According to Friedmann, roughly 40% of all U.S. agricultural exports move by container, making intermodal much more than a niche option for agriculture - rather a primary mode for a significant portion of the sector’s export volume.
This significant container volume is why the AgTC works closely with Class 1 railroads and why those railroads now attend the annual meeting at a senior level. For years, the railroads treated agricultural freight as bulk and intermodal freight as consumer goods. That mental model no longer reflects the market.
The agricultural products moving in containers today include:
- Soybeans specifically processed for human consumption
- Whey protein and other high-value food ingredients
- Hay and forage compressed into cubes for export to Asia
- Fresh and refrigerated products in reefer containers
- A broad range of processed food and beverage goods
The Tariff Overlay: Why Trade Uncertainty Is an Intermodal Problem, Too
The conversation with Friedmann took place against a backdrop that every agricultural shipper is navigating right now. Trade policy uncertainty in 2025 has reshuffled export flows in ways that directly affect container availability, routing decisions, and the economics of intermodal for agricultural freight.
Mexico surpassed China and Canada in 2024 to become the top market for U.S. agricultural exports, reaching a record $30.3 billion. That relationship is now under pressure. U.S. tariffs imposed in early 2025 led to retaliatory measures from Mexico, contributing to a modest decline in agri-food exports from Mexico to the U.S. in the first half of 2025 compared to 2024. For U.S. agricultural exporters, the concern runs in the other direction: Mexican buyers facing higher costs for U.S. goods are increasingly turning to suppliers in South America.
Why does this matter for intermodal? Because trade flow disruption compounds the container availability problem Friedmann described. When import volumes shift, the supply of empty containers at inland agricultural origins shifts with them. The agricultural shipper in Minnesota or Kansas who needed those empties from Chicago is now competing in a less predictable container pool.
The import-export imbalance at the Port of Long Beach makes this clear. Loaded imports continue to significantly exceed exports, while empty container movements remain elevated as carriers reposition equipment back to Asia. For agricultural exporters trying to secure empties, the challenge is structural, driven not just by trade flows but by carrier incentives to prioritize faster repositioning over export loading.
The practical implication: agricultural shippers who have not yet built a deliberate intermodal strategy with a reliable container sourcing component are more exposed to routing disruption than they were a year ago. The window to lock in programs while pricing and capacity are favorable is real (and shrinking).
The Container Repositioning Problem
When consumer goods arrive at West Coast ports from Asia, they are unloaded and often moved by rail or truck to distribution centers in Chicago, Memphis, Kansas City, or similar hub cities. Once the containers are emptied, the natural tendency for ocean carriers and railroads is to move those boxes back to the coast as fast as possible, empty, to reload for the next outbound voyage.
This is where the intermodal supply chain faces its most persistent friction for agricultural shippers.
The problem is that agriculture does not grow in downtown Chicago. It grows in places like Junction City, Kansas, or the open fields of Minnesota, or rural corners of Tennessee, Texas, California, and the Pacific Northwest. Agricultural shippers need those empty containers repositioned to where the product is, often 40 to 150 miles away from the nearest major rail corridor.
Ocean carriers have little financial incentive to reposition empty containers for agricultural exporters when they can hustle those boxes back to the coast and reload with high-margin import freight. Getting railroads and ocean carriers to stop in Minneapolis, or route a container through a rural elevator in the Midwest, runs counter to their operating incentives.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA) took direct aim at this problem by requiring ocean carriers to report to the Federal Maritime Commission on how many empty containers are being transported - creating a transparency mechanism where none existed before. Whether that reporting translates into meaningful repositioning improvements for rural agricultural shippers remains an ongoing question.
Hapag-Lloyd is one carrier Friedmann specifically called out for doing the work to reposition empty containers into agricultural origin areas. The economics are thin (pennies per box in some cases), but the position is that pennies are better than nothing, and it creates loyalty with a shipper segment that provides consistent outbound volume.
This is the same opportunity InTek has increasingly seen from the domestic side. Our domestic container repositioning program moves 40-foot containers to origin points (agricultural or otherwise) so shippers can load outbound freight without the carrier search and access problems Friedmann described. When it works, it saves on freight costs and reduces carriers "shipping air." We have seen a measurable increase in shippers approaching us for this solution, and the podcast conversation confirmed why the demand is building.
Transloading as a Bridge
Transloading near ports is a developing solution to the container availability problem. Agricultural freight, particularly bulk commodities like soybeans, can move by rail in hopper cars the way railroads prefer, then be transloaded into containers at or near the port for ocean shipment.
This approach lets the railroad do what it does efficiently on the line haul, while giving the agricultural exporter the containerized format the overseas buyer requires. Investment in transload capacity at major export gateways has been increasing, and several port communities on both coasts are actively building out this infrastructure.
Transloading also addresses the density problem. Agricultural products tend to be heavy relative to their volume. A 53-foot domestic intermodal container is optimized for lighter consumer goods. Agricultural freight often hits weight limits before it fills the container cube, making the 40-foot format (and in some cases the 20-foot format) a better operational fit.
The 20-Foot Container Debate
According to Friedmann, agricultural exporters would frequently prefer 20-foot containers due to the density and heaviness of ag loads. A 20-foot box often matches the product’s weight-to-cube reality better than a 40-foot or 53-foot unit. This is a point worth highlighting for anyone working in domestic intermodal.
The challenge is that 20-foot containers create complications on the domestic network. Supply is limited compared to 40-foot and 53-foot units. Railroad handling and car design are optimized for the longer formats. Policies and charges around 20-foot equipment create an added operational burden that undermines their appeal, even when shippers want them.
This is a gap between what agricultural shippers need and what the intermodal infrastructure currently delivers efficiently.
Cargo Theft in Agricultural Intermodal: A Different Kind of Risk
Cargo theft gets significant attention when it involves high-value consumer electronics or footwear. But with cargo thefts continually rapid rise, agricultural freight is not immune. According to CargoNet, food and beverage products were the most targeted category in 2024, accounting for a meaningful share of all thefts. That places agricultural shipments squarely in the crosshairs.
On the podcast, Friedmann walked through why those numbers hit agricultural exporters harder than the headline figures suggest. For consumer goods, a theft is costly but often manageable. A carton of shoes can sometimes be repackaged and sold through other channels. For agricultural exports, the rules are entirely different.
International buyers, particularly in Asia, require USDA-approved seals on every container. These seals do not just lock the door. They verify the integrity of the entire load from origin to vessel loading. If that seal is broken, the container is rejected. The overseas customer will not accept a load where the seal shows any sign of tampering, regardless of whether the actual product was touched - as they (rightly) worry about a break in the chain of custody making the commodity unsafe for consumption.
The result is that a thief who opens an agricultural container looking for something valuable and finding only compressed hay cubes - without taking a single item - has destroyed the value of the entire load. With the seal broken, the export is worthless.
But it isn't just broken seals affecting agriculture cargo. CargoNet’s 2024 data specifically flagged increased targeting of high-value ag products including protein powder, nuts, and produce. That is exactly the category of freight Friedmann described as most vulnerable. Whey protein, specialty food ingredients, and animal feed with premium export specifications are now attracting the same level of organized criminal attention that electronics and footwear have seen for years.
The cargo theft problem in agricultural intermodal is not just about sophisticated, targeted theft. It is also about opportunistic entry that causes catastrophic value destruction even when nothing is actually taken. One broken seal on a container of soybeans bound for Japan represents a total loss, not a partial one.
This dynamic makes container security technology (door-open sensors, seal verification, real-time tracking, bottom-well placement) not a nice-to-have for agricultural shippers but a commercial necessity.
Does Your Agricultural Freight Actually Fit Intermodal? A Practical Filter
The agricultural shippers most likely to benefit from intermodal are not always the ones currently using it. Before assuming intermodal is either a fit or not, it helps to run freight through a straightforward feasibility check.
Distance. Intermodal performs best on moves of 700 miles or more. Below that threshold, the economics and transit time advantages narrow quickly. Agricultural freight moving from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast, from the Pacific Northwest to the Southeast, or from the interior to major port gateways typically clears this bar.
Ramp proximity. Intermodal works when origin and destination are within practical dray distance of an intermodal ramp, generally 50 to 75 miles. Agricultural shippers in remote growing regions may need to evaluate a transload-to-ramp approach rather than a direct intermodal program.
Weight and density. Agricultural freight is often heavy relative to volume. A 53-foot domestic container carries a weight limit that many dense ag commodities hit before filling the cube. Confirm that the container format available on your lane can accommodate the load. This is where the 40-foot international format often outperforms the 53-foot domestic unit for agricultural applications.
Transit flexibility. Intermodal adds one to two days compared to over-the-road truckload on most lanes. If the freight is perishable with a tight delivery window or subject to strict retail compliance scheduling, that difference matters. If it isn't, the transit tradeoff is typically worth the cost savings.
Volume consistency. Intermodal programs perform best with consistent, repeatable lane volume. Shippers moving freight sporadically on a given origin-destination pair will find it harder to secure reliable service and pricing than those committing to a defined weekly program.
If the freight clears most of these filters, intermodal is worth a serious evaluation. If it clears only some, a hybrid approach (intermodal on core lanes, truckload on exceptions) is often the right starting point.
The Agriculture Opportunity for Intermodal Providers
The agricultural sector represents a meaningful and growing opportunity for intermodal providers willing to understand its specific requirements. A few things stand out from the conversation with Friedmann.
Container repositioning to origin is not optional. It is the service. Agricultural shippers cannot make intermodal work if empty containers are unavailable or if getting them to the farm or processing facility requires navigating a carrier bureaucracy that treats repositioning as a burden. IMCs and asset-based providers who build reliable repositioning programs into their agricultural offering will be well-positioned to capture this freight.
The 40-foot container is the right domestic format for most ag freight. Shippers are already gravitating toward this, and the domestic repo program model fits naturally. The 20-foot preference is real but constrained by infrastructure. Not a fight worth pushing aggressively today.
Cargo security is a selling point, not just a compliance requirement. Agricultural exporters are keenly aware of what a broken seal means. IMCs who can offer container sealing verification, real-time exception alerts, and documented chain-of-custody will stand out in this market segment.
Transloading is a meaningful complement to intermodal service for agricultural shippers, particularly for bulk commodities that need to convert from hopper or bulk handling to containerized format before export. Intermodal providers with transload capabilities or strong transload partnerships have a service advantage.
How InTek Approaches Agricultural Intermodal
InTek has been doing intermodal since 2007 and the agricultural sector has become an increasingly active part of its service portfolio. A few things separate how we approach it.
Our domestic container repositioning program. The repositioning problem Friedmann described is exactly what this program addresses. We source and position 40-foot containers to agricultural origin points, including locations that are off the primary corridor, so shippers have reliable container access without having to chase empties through multiple carriers. The freight moves on a clean, single-provider basis from origin to destination ramp.
InTek is also seeing more frequent interest in using 40’ ISO containers for heavier products that weigh out before they cube out, particularly in the interior U.S.
These shipments can take advantage of ocean container economics for inland domestic moves that never leave the U.S. Beverages and lumber are good examples where 40’ ISO repositioning programs make practical and economic sense.
We own the service across all three legs. Origin dray, rail linehaul, and destination dray. Shippers who have worked with providers that broker disconnected pieces know what happens when something goes wrong and no one owns the problem. That is not how we operate. InTek offers one point of contact accountable for the outcome.
InTek holds direct contracts with all Class 1 railroads. That matters for agricultural freight because lane options, equipment access, and service reliability vary significantly by railroad. Having direct relationships across all class 1 carriers means we are not limited to a single network when building routing solutions for agricultural lanes.
We are transparent about when intermodal is not the right fit. Not every agricultural lane works. Some are too short. Some have ramp gaps. Some have transit requirements that intermodal cannot reliably meet. We say so upfront rather than putting freight into a program that will underperform and damage the relationship. That honesty is part of what has kept shippers with us.
How Agricultural Shippers Can Get Started with Intermodal
For those interested in evaluating intermodal for agricultural freight, here is a list of practical first steps.
Identify your longest, most consistent lanes. Pull the lanes where you are moving 700 or more miles with regular frequency. These are the candidates most likely to support an intermodal program.
Check ramp proximity. Use the InTek website or contact our team to map your origin and destination points against intermodal ramp locations. This quickly filters which lanes are operationally viable before any rate conversation.
Run a landed cost comparison. Base rate alone does not tell the story. Include dray, any accessorial exposure, and transit-related costs on both the intermodal and truckload side. We can help model this for your specific lanes.
Start with a pilot. Define one or two lanes, set measurable success criteria upfront (cost, transit consistency, service reliability), and run a defined pilot period. A 90-day structured pilot gives you real data without a long-term commitment before you have proven the program works.
Contact InTek. Our team works with agricultural shippers across North America. We can evaluate your lanes, model the economics, and help you understand where intermodal fits and where it does not.
Agriculture and intermodal have always been connected. What is changing is the depth and visibility of that connection. With well over $150 billion in U.S. agricultural exports moving annually, and a growing share of higher-value and specialty products moving in containers, the infrastructure challenges around repositioning, density, and cargo security are real, but they are addressable.
The tariff environment and the import-export imbalance at major ports have added a new layer of complexity. Agricultural shippers who build deliberate intermodal programs now, while pricing is favorable and capacity is available, will be better positioned when those dynamics shift.
At InTek, we have been watching this shift firsthand as more agricultural shippers contact us about domestic intermodal solutions. The conversation with Peter Friedmann reinforced what we are seeing in the market and gave us a clearer picture of the advocacy, policy, and operational landscape surrounding agricultural intermodal.
If you're ready to explore whether intermodal can benefit your freight program, request a lane analysis. We'll evaluate your freight, identify opportunities, and give you a straight answer about where intermodal fits your network.
Who Is the Agriculture Transportation Coalition?
The Agriculture Transportation Coalition, AgTC, was founded in 1987. Peter Friedmann, who came from Capitol Hill with a background writing ocean shipping legislation, saw a gap: U.S. agricultural exporters had no strong advocacy organization fighting for their transportation interests.
Ocean carriers had antitrust immunity and organized accordingly. Agricultural exporters, by contrast, have something those groups do not. A member of Congress in almost every state who cares deeply about their farmers and their ability to get product to market.
Today AgTC represents agricultural exporters and importers across every state, including commodity groups in cotton, fresh fruit, berries, soybeans, hay, forage, protein products, and forest products. Their work is focused around bringing agricultural shippers, ocean carriers, Class 1 railroads, and port authorities under one roof.
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