What DOF Ground does on the rail
DOF Ground is not a railroad. We arrange rail freight with rail partners, then handle the truck portions that get the freight to and from the ramp or the transload. That includes intermodal containers and carload freight for shippers who move enough volume to justify a railcar.
If your building is on a rail spur, a car can be spotted there. If it is not, we truck the freight to a transload, transfer it into the railcar, and reverse that at the destination. Intermodal is the other path: the product stays in a container that moves from a truck to a train and back to a truck. A live intermodal rate is in Pioneer AI.
How shippers use it
- Intermodal containers. Door to door, with rail on the long haul. You can share a container when you do not have enough freight to fill one.
- Single cars and groups of cars. For bulk or heavy volume moving between facilities that can take a railcar.
- Higher volume. When one commodity moves steadily from one origin to one destination, we can ask the railroad about a dedicated train.
- Oversized pieces. Machinery and project cargo that belong on a flatcar are planned with the same care as a heavy-haul truck move.
Rail is usually the lower-cost way to cover long miles. It follows a train schedule, so freight that must arrive the next morning should move by truck.
Intermodal vs. carload
Intermodal keeps the freight in a container. Carload puts it in a railcar, which fits bulk and facilities that are on a spur.
No spur required
Transload moves freight between truck and railcar. You do not have to build track to use rail.
Quote the truck-rail move
Door-to-door intermodal can be priced live in Pioneer AI.