“It takes the pain out of the supply chain,” Don Aiken says. What the senior vice president of intermodal at NFI is referring to is intermodal freight hauling and, in particular, temperature-controlled intermodal services, a market that has been expanding.
“Over the last five years, the number of temperature-controlled containers being fielded by large carriers in the U.S. has been growing to meet demand for more capacity,” Aiken relates. “While dry intermodal freight is growing at about 0.5% of GDP, as shippers move more prepared foods and expand their organic product lines, temperature-controlled intermodal freight volume is rising by 2.5 times GDP.”
NFI, headquartered in Cherry Hill, NJ, provides dedicated transportation, warehousing, intermodal, and brokerage and transportation management services. Founded in 1932, the privately held company has a fleet of over 2,200 tractors and 8,800 trailers.
In its NFI RoadRail operation, the fully integrated supply chain solutions provider is investing heavily in a fleet of temperature-controlled intermodal containers. “The temperature-controlled intermodal container is the right piece of equipment to serve the growing demand by shippers in this market,” Aiken states.
Today, NFI RoadRail has 200 temperature-controlled containers in service, all 53-ft. units manufactured by Hyundai and CIMC to meet Assn. of American Railroads specifications for double stacking on rail cars and triple stacking in terminal operations. To ensure continuous operation over long distances, the containers are equipped with Thermo King refrigeration units and front-mounted 120-gal. fuel tanks.
“For shippers,” Aiken says, “temperature-controlled intermodal service offers capacity consistency because we have a steady supply of containers available at rail ramps and access to a large North American pool of chassis. We also back that up with a company-owned fleet of lightweight, day cab power units that are positioned at major rail hubs to provide final mile service.
Aiken also notes that intermodal operations can address an issue for carriers. “Intermodal fleets,” he says, “have an advantage in recruiting and retaining drivers over long haul and regional trucking operations because shorter hauls mean drivers are home every night.”
NFI RoadRail temperature-controlled intermodal containers are capable of maintaining products, even those frozen down to -20 deg. F. Each container is monitored by NFI for inside and outside ambient temperature, fuel level, and positioning. That capability, Aiken relates, is especially important under the newly enacted Food Safety Modernization Act, which will begin impacting temperature-controlled carriers that haul food in the U.S. in June 2017.
“While no one yet has enough clarity into what compliance will mean,” Aiken adds, “we do know we’ll be expected to comply with a host of new regulations that include driver training and equipment sanitizing, as well as recordkeeping of temperature and location data.”
