10 TIPS
Shipping by rail is a cost-effective and carbon-friendly way to move large volumes over long distances. However, managing rail shipments requires careful planning, coordination, and attention to detail. Here’s how to manage rail shipments effectively. Shipping by Rail
8 USE TECHNOLOGY TO OPTIMIZE RAIL. By analyzing large pools of data, technology helps companies predict potential delays and costly scenarios before they even happen. Predictive risk identi cation helps shippers keep track of ever-changing conditions and understand potential future shipment issues, giving more time to communicate with customers and execute contingency plans. 9 MITIGATE YARD CAPACITY RISKS. Work with your yard personnel to gain a complete understanding of your rail yard operations constraints. Consider planned maintenance schedules, yard track capacities, and outbound/inbound switch processes. Use this along with order/demand planning to visualize and monitor daily/ weekly railcar demand, predicted railcar supply, and asset utilization.
1 DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE RAIL SHIPPING PLAN. Include equipment needs, customer needs and limitations, lead time requirements, service reliability, yard capacity and throughput, origin and destination switch schedules, contingency capabilities, along with other planning factors. Understanding the factors that potentially impact successful rail delivery will help you develop a plan that mitigates risks and maximizes success.
2 USE A TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. A TMS with strong rail management features automates manual processes and standardizes daily work ows and procedures. A good rail management system can notify you of common issues such as bill of lading transmission failures, in-transit exceptions, and potential accrual or invoice related issues. 3 CULTIVATE AND INVEST IN RELATIONSHIPS. Develop relationships with your carrier sales reps, local crews, executives, and anyone else you closely work with to ship rail. While this can be a challenge with turnover and promotions, it is important to invest time in these relationships to fully understand carrier capabilities, learn their shipping preferences, stay aware of service changes, and address issues as they arise.
4 UNDERSTAND YOUR RAIL EXPERTISE GAPS. Rail knowledge is a limited commodity in the industry, but you don’t necessarily have to search for the rail unicorn to hire. Bring in an outside perspective to do an assessment of rail knowledge needed. Training, software, third-party services, and consulting are all available to help bridge the gaps to set rail shippers up for success. 5 DEVELOP BENCH STRENGTH. From targeted mentorship programs to robust documentation programs, there are ways to pass along knowledge to the next line of rail experts. With rail knowledge becoming a limited commodity, this should be a focus of any rail shipping plan. 6 BUILD FLEXIBILITY INTO THE PLAN. Rail shipments can be subject to unexpected delays from
weather and changing service reliability. Building exibility includes maintaining extra inventory, staging loaded railcars at strategic points in the route, or having alternative transportation options in case of disruptions. 7 MAXIMIZE PRODUCT SHIPPED PER CAR. Ef ciently loading rail cars lowers costs and reduces environmental impact. Make sure you have the right visibility into dashboards to track loading ef ciency and ensure current processes and procedures all align to this goal.
10 MEASURE, MONITOR, AND ADJUST YOUR SHIPPING PLANS.
No matter how carefully you develop and execute a shipping plan, it still needs to be monitored, managed, and adjusted. Through dashboards, notifications, and KPIs, you can successfully execute rail shipping with minimized risks.
SOURCE: BRIAN CUPP, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, INTELLITRANS
12 Inbound Logistics • July 2024
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