

If you’re currently shipping by truck, using rail instead can cut transportation costs and lower your transportation-related carbon footprint by 75%. One way to have a consistent, reliable, and environmentally friendly supply chain is shipping products to and from Mexico by rail. Establishing an efficient and cost-effective supply chain to and/or from Mexico can mean real money for your business, whether you’re participating in nearshoring, sourcing raw materials, or shipping your final product across the border. When you’re shipping freight across the border, it’s usually a little more complicated than shipping within the United States - but that doesn’t mean it’s no less important. These efficiencies are passed to your transportation costs, allowing you to ship heavier loads farther while spending less.Ĭapacity is rarely an issue for railroads, so rail can accommodate even your largest loads - and will be ready to handle more as you expand your business. You can rely on the expertise of seasoned logistics professionals.Ī single rail car can carry the same amount of product as three to four truckloads - and trains are three to four times more fuel efficient than trucks. Logistics companies with networks of transloading providers have already vetted those providers to provide safe, high-quality services to streamline your supply chain. If you aren’t 100% confident in your shipping know-how, don’t fret. These facilities are outfitted with warehousing capacity and transloading equipment to bridge the gap between production sites and getting products prepped to travel by train to U.S. Loup Logistics has 95 transload facilities in Mexico alone. Wherever you do business, it’s safe to say a transload facility isn’t far away – even if you are looking to expand into Mexico. They have 95 facilities in Mexico alone, so it’s safe to say wherever your business is, a transload facility isn’t far away. Some logistics companies, like Loup Logistics, have access to a network of transload facilities across North America and can connect you with transloaders, no matter where you’re shipping.

Depending on where you are shipping, you may also utilize transload facilities in a wide variety of locations. With a freight transloading solution in place, you have access to an expansive rail network, allowing you to ship more affordably and reach a vast number of major markets throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The transload facilities store and transfer your goods for you, saving you time and valuable transportation dollars. And when you transload, forget about renting or investing in transloading equipment and warehouses for storage at your site.

With transloading, it doesn’t matter: all shippers and receivers can benefit from rail because freight can be transloaded to trucks for first- or last-mile delivery. However, many shippers - or receivers - don’t have tracks at their door. Typically, shipping by rail is a more cost-effective shipping option. No need to invest in track, warehouses for storage or transloading equipment.How can transloading improve your supply chain?įor many, it makes perfect sense to shift their shipping solution from one mode to two with the help of transloading. If needed, products are transferred back to trucks for final delivery.The product type determines how it is transferred (e.g., pump, crane or forklift) and to which type of rail car (e.g., tank car, flat car or boxcar).The transload facility transfers products to a rail car.The truck transports the products to a transload facility.How does transloading work?ĭepending on whether your origin or destination has rail service, transloading can happen a few different ways, but here’s a basic example: Transloading gives shippers the best of both worlds: economical rail transport and flexible over-the-road trucking. Simply put, whatever you’re shipping, products are unloaded from trucks onto trains or vice versa. For example, a forklift may transfer palletized goods from a truck to a rail car, or a crane may lift heavy products, like steel beams, off a rail car and place them on a flatbed truck. When a provider transloads products, freight is transferred between trucks and trains. But the loading portion isn't nearly as important as what it allows shippers to do, which is ship their products by truck or train seamlessly to optimize the efficiency and costs of their supply chain. Transloading is the process of moving goods between transportation modes - literally unloading freight from one container, rail car, etc.
