If you are someone with a business that requires deliveries to be made around the country, one of the most common issues you'll be dealing with is how to best get your products to retailers and customers. You might have heard of intermodal transportation but aren't quite sure how well it could work for your business. Here are some reasons you might consider intermodal trucking and transportation services.

You Want to Save Money

There probably isn't one business owner who isn't interested in saving money when possible. If you use traditional trucking services or just one mode of transportation to carry your products to customers and retailers, you might not realize how much money you could be wasting--simply because you might not have priced other transportation methods. For instance, there are times when shipping products by rail can be much cheaper than carrying them by truck. A good intermodal truck or transportation company will be able to help you find points where you can cut costs by switching to rail or ship transport for part of the journey. They can then facilitate the movement of your products back to trucks for the rest of the trip so that deliveries can be made.

You Want to Better Estimate Delivery Times

Another reason to seriously consider intermodal trucking companies is that you can often better track your products along the way. While many trucks are outfitted with GPS services so you have an approximate idea of where products are at any given moment, they can be stopped by road conditions or other issues that can change delivery time. Trains, ships and air flights are often on rigid schedules that must be adhered to. Therefore, you can better estimate delivery times, which may be appreciated by your customers.

You Want Fewer Delays

In some cases, regular freight hauling that relies on one type of transport can cause delays of different shipments. Traffic holdups and driver fatigue can mean periods of time when the products aren't being transported because they're sitting on the road or in a parking lot. When you use intermodal service, some of those delays simply vanish. Being able to deliver your products with more than one mode of transportation allows you to utilize the best parts of each mode to your advantage. A good intermodal trucking or transportation company will work with you to come up with a travel plan that efficiently makes use of all the possibilities and gets your products to their destination more quickly.

With the information laid out here, you can better see how intermodal trucking or transportation services can help you and your company. Consulting a few businesses who offer these services, such as First Star Logistics, can help you decide if intermodal transportation is something you want to try.