If intermodal is going to absorb the freight that's shifting away from truckload, drayage has to hold up its end of the bargain. That short-haul connection between rail ramp and shipper facility is where intermodal moves either come together or fall apart - and right now, the drayage market is navigating more pressure than it has in years.
On our milestone 100th episode of The Intermodal Logistics Podcast, host Kevin Baxter and InTek Logistics CEO Rick LaGore welcome Jason Hilsenbeck - founder and president of both Drayage.com and LoadMatch - for a closer look at what the numbers are actually showing in short-haul trucking capacity.
As a quick primer, Jason refers to Loadmatch as a container load board, while Drayage.com is the "phone book" of draymen. He tells us he founded both in 1999 (after beginnings as binders), and both endure as key industry tools.
The conversation covers where the drayage market is thriving and where it's struggling, informed by click-traffic data from Jason's sites that serve as a real-time barometer of capacity demand. He tells us how some markets are handling the surge in intermodal volume without much strain, while others are showing clear signs of stress.
Jason also takes us through the ups, downs, and ups again of driver supply. He notes federal enforcement actions around non-domiciled CDLs and English Language Proficiency, as well as more stringent training requirements, pushed a meaningful number of drivers out of the market. Interestingly though, he explains that elevated earning opportunities have already begun pulling replacement capacity back in, and a recovery is underway.
The episode also gets into a topic that doesn't get as much attention in freight coverage: who owns intermodal containers. He tells us the marketplace is shifting, with private ownership growing and railroad-controlled fleets playing a less dominant role than they once did - a structural change with real implications for how intermodal capacity gets allocated and priced.
His home-base of Chicago gets its own chapter, and Jason takes us through what makes the city a unique and vital part of North American intermodal - all the Class I railroads, overlapping ramp networks, chassis challenges, and dynamics that ripple across the entire domestic intermodal system. Speaking of Chicago, Jason also leads the Intermodal Association of Chicago, taking a few moments to discuss the networking value it offers and its annual "trucker prom."
And we get Jason's early thoughts on the Union Pacific - Norfolk Southern merger, and what he sees as potential issues affecting Chicago and the broader intermodal market.
Finding Loadmatch and Drayage.com are pretty easy, just go to www.loadmatch.com and www.drayage.com. For more on the IAC, visit www.intermodalofchicago.org.
As for our podcast, whether you're just joining us for episode 100 or you've been with us since our audio-only, InTek Freight & Logistics: The Podcast days, thanks for being a part of it!
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