For years, inland point intermodal (aka interior point intermodal - both abbreviated as IPI) has been the default inland routing choice for import freight moving beyond the port. It’s simple, familiar, and often bundled directly into ocean contracts.
But today’s freight environment is defined by port congestion, inland rail variability, rising accessorial costs, and demand volatility where simplicity is no longer enough.
More shippers are discovering that transloading at or near the port delivers better control, faster inland movement, and lower total landed cost than IPI. The difference isn’t subtle. It’s structural.
This article breaks down why transloading often outperforms IPI, when IPI still makes sense, and how shippers can use transloading to build faster, more resilient inland supply chains.
IPI refers to the process of moving an international ocean container intact and undisturbed from the port of entry to an inland rail ramp, where it is then drayed to its final destination.
On paper, IPI offers:
Historically, this model worked well when ports were fluid, rail networks had excess capacity, and inland demand was predictable.
However, the operating assumptions behind IPI no longer align with today’s reality.
According to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), extended dwell times, equipment shortages, and inland congestion have materially increased total landed costs for importers relying on intact container moves inland.
IPI requires shippers to make several commitments far earlier than most realize:
When those assumptions break down, as they frequently do, IPI quickly becomes slower, more expensive, and harder to manage.
Transloading involves unloading international containers at or near the port and transferring the freight into 53’ domestic equipment for inland transportation via truckload or domestic intermodal rail.
Instead of moving the ocean container inland, the shipper:
Port and terminal operators increasingly describe congestion not as a one‑off disruption, but as a structural challenge driven by high volumes, chassis and truck capacity constraints, and long container dwell times that ripple into higher costs and unreliable schedules for shippers.
Case studies around the LA/LB complex highlight how shifting containers quickly to inland transload hubs shortens port dwell and supports the ports’ broader goals of higher throughput and fewer trucks queuing at terminals.
Transloading near the port allows shippers to:
For shippers moving freight 700+ miles inland, this structural advantage matters.
The most overlooked advantage of transloading is when control shifts back to the shipper.
With IPI, control is largely ceded to:
With transloading, control returns immediately upon vessel discharge.
Shippers can:
This demand-driven flexibility is increasingly critical as inventory strategies evolve away from rigid, forecast-based models.
Transloading enables:
Industry case studies show that port‑proximate transloading and regional warehousing improve resilience by positioning inventory closer to key markets, cutting lead times, and supporting faster redeployment when demand or routes change. Providers also highlight transloading as a core resilience tool, allowing shippers to bypass bottlenecks, pivot between modes, and maintain service levels through disruptions while optimizing inventory and storage across multiple nodes.
IPI transit times are often longer and far less predictable than advertised. Why?
By contrast, transloading creates a faster first mile, which almost always results in faster total transit.
When freight is transloaded:
The Journal of Commerce has repeatedly documented that transloaded cargo often reaches inland destinations days ahead of intact IPI moves during congestion cycles. The latest came during the annual JOC Inland Conference where Brian Kempisty, founder of Port X Logistics, spoke on the merits of transloading vs IPI. The Intermodal Logistics Podcast had Brian on to discuss more specifics.
IPI is often sold as “cheaper,” but that claim rarely survives a full landed-cost analysis. Common IPI cost drivers include:
These costs are volatile, difficult to forecast, and frequently appear after the fact.
Transloading reduces exposure to these costs by:
Shippers gain cost certainty, not just theoretical savings. Freight companies have highlighted how accessorial volatility, not linehaul, has become the largest source of import cost overruns.
Domestic intermodal rail is optimized for:
Domestic intermodal is built on service that more closely aligns with truckload as its direct competition. International IPI moves often clash with these operating realities.
By converting freight into domestic equipment at the port, shippers:
Industry data from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) distinguishes domestic and international intermodal as separate segments, while industry studies note that IPI services are typically less frequent and slower than domestic‑box services, which can create more volatility in transit times.
IPI creates a single point of failure:
When disruption occurs, recovery options are limited.
Transloading introduces:
This optionality is increasingly valuable as labor issues, weather events, and infrastructure constraints continue to affect freight networks.
Major rail industry groups, including the Association of American Railroads (AAR), highlight the role of intermodal investments and rail–truck integration in creating more flexible and resilient freight networks, even if they do not single out transloading by name.
IPI can still be appropriate when:
In other words, transloading isn’t a universal answer, but it is often the better strategic choice.
Transloading typically wins when shippers:
For many importers, that describes their network today.
At InTek Logistics, we help shippers:
Our role isn’t to push a mode it’s to optimize outcomes.
IPI is convenient, but rigid.
Transloading restores control sooner, improves speed, reduces risk, and delivers true cost transparency. In a freight environment where variability is the norm, flexibility beats simplicity every time.
For shippers looking to move faster, manage risk, and stay competitive, transloading isn’t just an alternative, it’s a strategic advantage.
Thinking about moving away from IPI? Let InTek Logistics model your IPI vs. transload landed cost and show you where control, speed, and savings can improve.
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