We recently published an article called How to Know Which of Your Lanes Are a Perfect Fit for Intermodal. It walked through the criteria that make a lane ideal for intermodal: distance, volume consistency, transit flexibility, ramp proximity, and freight characteristics.
But here's the thing. If we only wrote about when intermodal works, we'd be doing you a disservice.
Intermodal is roughly 95% of what we do at InTek Logistics. We've built our business around it since 2007. And precisely because we've spent nearly two decades in this space, we know exactly where intermodal thrives - and where it falls short.
This article is about the latter situations.
Not every lane belongs on rail. Not every shipment fits in a container. And not every shipper's operational reality can accommodate the trade-offs intermodal requires.
Knowing when to say "no" to intermodal is just as important as knowing when to say "yes." Shippers who force intermodal onto lanes where it doesn't fit end up with service failures, frustrated customers, and a sour taste that keeps them away from intermodal even on lanes where it would work beautifully.
So let's be direct about where intermodal is the wrong choice - and what you should use instead on those occasions.
Before we get into specifics, let's establish the fundamental trade-off.
Intermodal offers:
In exchange, intermodal asks for:
When the benefits outweigh the trade-offs, intermodal wins. When they don't, it doesn't.
The rest of this article is about recognizing when the trade-offs tip against intermodal before you learn it the hard way.
When it doesn't fit: Your freight has a hard delivery deadline with no flexibility, or you're already behind and need to recover time.
Why intermodal struggles: Intermodal moves on a schedule. Trains depart at fixed times. Terminal operations have cut-off windows. Drayage on both ends adds time. There's no "drive through the night to make up lost time" option once a container is on rail.
If your customer calls on Tuesday needing product by Thursday morning 800 miles away, intermodal probably can't help you. A truckload carrier can dispatch immediately and drive straight through.
What to use instead:
The nuance: Some shippers confuse "time-sensitive" with "I haven't planned ahead." If you know a shipment needs to arrive by a certain date and you have 5-7 days of lead time, intermodal may still work. The issue is when you need speed you didn't plan for.
When it doesn't fit: Origin and destination are relatively close, typically under 500 miles.
Why intermodal struggles: The economics don't work. Intermodal's cost advantage comes from the rail linehaul, meaning the long middle portion of the move. But every intermodal shipment also requires origin drayage (truck to the ramp) and destination drayage (ramp to final delivery).
On short lanes, drayage costs eat up too much of the total move. You're paying for two truck moves plus a short rail segment. That often costs more than just running a truck direct.
There's also the transit time issue. A 400-mile lane might take one day by truck. By intermodal, you're looking at origin dray, waiting for a train, rail transit, and destination dray, which converts to potentially 3-4 days for a move that should be simple.
What to use instead:
The nuance: The 500-mile threshold isn't absolute. A 450-mile lane between two major ramps might work. A 600-mile lane where one end is 150 miles from the nearest ramp probably doesn't. Geography matters as much as distance.
The railroads often make these decisions easy. They understand the economics of shorter trucking linehauls and often don't even offer an intermodal solution between certain ramps.
One additional nuance: In circumstances where there is high, consistent weekly volume, there is potential to work with an intermodal marketing company (IMC) to make a shorter route work via intermodal. But this is a special case, not the norm.
When it doesn't fit: Either your origin, destination, or both are far from intermodal terminals.
Why intermodal struggles: Remember, intermodal is a three-part service: origin dray, rail linehaul, and destination dray. If the dray distances are long, you're paying a lot of truck cost just to access the rail network.
A shipper in rural Nebraska shipping to a customer in central Maine faces a problem. There's no nearby origin ramp. There's no nearby destination ramp. The dray on both ends might be 200+ miles each. At that point, you've added 400 miles of trucking to whatever the rail portion covers.
What to use instead:
The nuance: This is where lane analysis matters. We've seen shippers assume a lane doesn't work because the final destination is remote, when a small adjustment (shipping to a DC closer to a ramp, for example) changes the math entirely.
When it doesn't fit: You can't forecast when you'll need capacity, or your volumes swing wildly week to week.
Why intermodal struggles: Intermodal works best with planning. Contracted capacity, consistent volumes, and predictable shipping patterns let IMCs position equipment, schedule drayage, and secure competitive rail rates.
Sporadic shippers face challenges. Equipment may not be available when you suddenly need it. Rates may be higher without volume commitments. And the operational rhythm that makes intermodal efficient knowing when shipments are coming, having equipment ready, and meeting cut-times breaks down when freight is unpredictable.
What to use instead:
The nuance: "Unpredictable" doesn't mean "occasional." A shipper who moves 10-15 loads a week on the same lanes is a good intermodal candidate even if exact counts vary. A shipper who might move 50 loads one month and zero the next is harder to serve well.
When it doesn't fit: Your product is highly susceptible to damage from handling, vibration, or the forces involved in rail transit.
Why intermodal struggles: Containers get lifted, set down, coupled to trains, and subjected to the motion of rail transit. That's more handling than a truck that loads at origin and drives direct to destination.
The movement of cargo within a container on rail is also different than over-the-road. Rail has what's known as harmonic vibration (a fancy way of saying product inside a rail container can move both horizontally and vertically during transit).
Much of this can be overcome with proper blocking and bracing, but it's something you should be aware of if your floor operators do not support loading one way for truckload and another for intermodal.
Certain categories are particularly risky:
What to use instead:
The nuance: Many damage issues blamed on intermodal are actually packaging and loading issues. Freight that's properly blocked, braced, and packaged for intermodal forces often has no problem. But if your current packaging isn't designed for intermodal and you can't change it, that's a real constraint.
When it doesn't fit: Your customer requires delivery within a 1-2 hour window, or penalties for missing appointments are severe.
Why intermodal struggles: Intermodal delivers in windows, not precise times. A destination dray carrier will deliver "morning" or "afternoon" on the scheduled day. But guaranteeing arrival at exactly 10:00 AM? That's harder.
Rail schedules, terminal operations, and the coordination of drayage all introduce variability. Most intermodal providers quote ETAs in terms of days, not hours. If your customer's dock operates on tight appointment slots with significant penalties for misses, that variability creates risk.
What to use instead:
The nuance: Some shippers work around this by building buffer time into their planning. If the appointment is Friday at 10 AM, they schedule intermodal delivery for Thursday and hold the container overnight. That works if you have the flexibility. It doesn't work if every shipment is a just-in-time delivery.
Another consideration with tight delivery windows: finding the right IMC for your business. Not all IMCs handle their dray the same way, which can further exacerbate the issue.
When it doesn't fit: You're shipping frozen goods, produce, or other freight requiring precise temperature control throughout transit.
Why intermodal struggles: Intermodal refrigerated capacity exists, but it's more limited than dry van. Equipment availability can be tighter. And the extended transit times of intermodal work against perishable products with short shelf lives.
Frozen goods that can handle 4-5 days of transit might work. Fresh produce with a 7-day shelf life loses too much time in intermodal transit to make sense.
What to use instead:
The nuance: We're not saying intermodal doesn't work for any temp-controlled freight. Frozen products on longer lanes with adequate transit flexibility can work. But if temperature control is critical and timing is tight, truckload gives you more control.
When it doesn't fit: Your freight exceeds standard container dimensions or weight limits.
Why intermodal struggles: Standard domestic containers have defined dimensions and weight capacities. Freight that's too tall, too wide, too long, or too heavy simply doesn't fit.
Intermodal container weight limits are typically around 42,500 lbs for the freight itself, which is less than a standard truckload.
What to use instead:
The nuance: Some freight that shippers assume is "too heavy" for intermodal actually fits. We've seen shippers default to truck on lanes where their weights are well within intermodal limits. It'sorth checking before assuming.
There's also another option for heavy freight. Non-asset IMCs have ISO repositioning box programs that utilize ocean carrier containers for domestic moves. These programs give shippers access to some amazing rates for product that weighs out before it cubes out.
When it doesn't fit: Your origin or destination has severe access constraints, limited dock capacity, or operational complexity that makes container delivery difficult.
The nuance: This is often solvable with the right planning and communication.
When it doesn't fit: You've run the numbers and truckload actually costs less than intermodal on a particular lane.
Why this happens: It's rarer than it used to be, but it happens. Imbalanced intermodal lanes where equipment needs to be repositioned can carry higher rates. Lanes with expensive drayage markets on both ends can tip the math. And during periods of truckload overcapacity, spot rates can temporarily dip below intermodal.
What to use instead:
The nuance: This is where freight market cycles matter. In loose truckload markets, intermodal can often be more expensive. But when capacity eventually tightens (as it always does), the math shifts back toward intermodal decisively.
Shippers who build intermodal into their network during the soft market will be better positioned than those scrambling to convert when truckload capacity tightens.
At this point, you might wonder why an intermodal-focused company is telling you all the reasons not to use intermodal.
Here's why. We've been in this business long enough to know what happens when shippers force intermodal onto lanes where it doesn't fit.
They have a bad experience. Service fails. Their customer gets upset. And they walk away from intermodal entirely, including the lanes where it would have worked perfectly.
That's a loss for everyone. The shipper misses out on savings and capacity diversification. We lose a potential long-term partner. And intermodal's reputation takes another hit from a failure that could have been avoided with honest guidance upfront.
We'd rather tell you "this lane isn't right for intermodal" and earn your trust than oversell you on a lane that's going to fail and lose the relationship entirely. It's like a department store Santa Claus telling customers that the competition has a better deal on a particular toy (Christmas wasn't too long ago after all).
The shippers who stay with intermodal long-term are the ones whose IMC was honest with them from the start about where intermodal fits and where it doesn't.
When evaluating whether a lane is right for intermodal, run through these questions:
1. Distance: Is it over 500 miles? Ideally over 700?
2. Transit flexibility: Can you accept 1-2 additional days versus truck?
3. Ramp access: Are both origin and destination within reasonable dray distance (under 100 miles) of intermodal terminals?
4. Volume consistency: Do you have reasonably predictable, recurring volume?
5. Delivery precision: Can you work with delivery windows rather than exact appointments?
6. Freight characteristics: Is your freight standard dimensions, within weight limits, and not overly damage-sensitive?
If a lane passes all six filters, it's probably a good intermodal candidate. If it fails multiple filters, truckload or another mode is likely the better choice.
Please fill out the following if you'd like InTek Intermodal to run our Intermodal Optimizer to identify potential intermodal freight lanes in your supply chain:
| Situation | Best Alternative |
|---|---|
| Time-sensitive/expedited | Truckload, team drivers, expedited carriers |
| Short haul (under 500 mi) | Truckload, LTL, regional carriers |
| Poor ramp access | Truckload direct |
| Unpredictable volumes | Truckload spot market, broker relationships |
| Damage-sensitive freight | Truckload, white-glove carriers |
| Tight delivery windows | Truckload with appointments, drop trailer |
| Temperature-controlled | Refrigerated truckload |
| Oversized/overweight | Flatbed, heavy haul, specialty equipment |
| Complex first/last mile | Truckload, LTL, transload operations |
| Truckload is cheaper | Truckload |
Intermodal is a powerful tool. On the right lanes, it delivers cost savings, emissions reduction, and capacity diversification that truckload can't match.
But it's not the right tool for every job.
The shippers who get the most value from intermodal are the ones who deploy it strategically - on lanes where it fits, with realistic expectations, and with the planning discipline it requires.
The shippers who struggle are the ones who try to force it where it doesn't belong, or who choose providers that oversell intermodal's capabilities just to win business.
If you've read our companion article on lanes that are a perfect fit for intermodal, you now have both sides of the picture. You know what makes a lane ideal. And you know the warning signs that suggest a different mode is the better choice.
That's the foundation of a smart freight strategy: knowing when to use intermodal, when to use truckload, and when the answer isn't obvious and requires deeper analysis.
If you're not sure whether your freight fits intermodal or truckload, we can help.
At InTek Logistics, we'll give you a straight answer - including telling you when intermodal isn't the right choice for a particular lane. We'd rather earn your trust with honesty than win a lane that's going to fail. Plus, we can always help you with that truckload option, too, as we're plenty connected with over-the-road freight as well.
Contact us for a lane analysis or visit our homepage to learn more.