The Benefits of Transporting Goods by Train

When your company is shipping goods, you have a big decision to make. Which method of transportation will you use? Transporting goods by train offers many advantages, well worth consideration.

This is especially true if you are sending your goods a long way. Railway transport is especially popular and common in countries with long transit times, including the United States.

Knowing the benefits of transportation goods by train can help you make your decision.

Here’s a quick run-down train transport advantages to consider:

1. Fewer Size And Weight Limitations
2. Cost-Effective Over Distances
3. Transport In All Conditions
4. Environmentally Friendly
5. Covid Safe
6. Efficient Tracking & Speedy Delivery

Fewer Size and Weight Limitations

Truck transport is often limited by cargo size and weight restrictions, especially when traveling through multiple states where regulations may differ. Transporting goods by train removes those restrictions. Especially when shipping heavy or bulky goods, transporting by train ensures that everything you send gets to its destination in one trip, making delivery faster, more reliable, and more satisfactory to your own customers. Essentially, freight trains can carry any cargo. Better yet, trains can carry all of this in one trip.

Cost-Effective Over Distances

Shipping items via truck is more cost-effective over short distances, nothing beats railway transport for longer distances. Trains use far less fuel than other forms of transportation, which ensures efficient shipping, especially for long-haul travel. They can carry more, as noted above, which puts that fuel to good use. And, if you need to add more goods, you add another train car, making use of what’s already in place. That’s more economical than having to hire another truck and another driver.

Transport in All Conditions

Anything moving by truck is subject to weather, traffic, and road conditions. If a highway is shut down, a bad storm moves in, or vehicles snarl in a busy location, your goods are delayed. Railway transport is more dependable, as it is less impacted by weather conditions and traffic is not an issue at all. While truckload transport is subject to accidents and breakdowns, railway transport is typically much safer, which means lower rates of incidents that can slow your delivery down.

Environmentally Friendly

One train transporting goods does the work of many trucks doing the same. The environmental benefits are clear. The Association of American Railroads says that freight railroads can, on average, move one ton of freight more than 470 miles per gallon of fuel and that moving freight by rail versus truck lowers greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent.

If your business is concerned about the environment and wants to choose green methods of transport, trains are the ideal solution.

We mentioned earlier that rail transport uses much fewer fossil fuels to transport larger packages to clients. We think it’s important to expand on this further with a discussion on carbon dioxide emissions. If you’re concerned about carbon footprint, rail transport remains your best option. Why? The carbon emission for standard rail services is considerably less than the alternatives. 

Companies can reduce their carbon emissions by almost 20 percent if they switch from air or truck transport to rail. Making the switch is, therefore, a much more environmentally conscious decision. Because of the larger space, trains can transport cargo for multiple companies. As such, more clients are served and less overall CO2 is released into the air as a result. 

COVID-Safe

It’s no secret that COVID-19 affects the way many firms calculate and assess their transport strategies. There’s been a lot of supply chain disruption because of the pandemic. However, there are still many advantages to using rail transport. For example, air freight used to be the fastest option, but now struggles to have as much capacity as it used to. Rates are now higher for air freight and just aren’t considered reliable as before. Ocean freight is also facing issues specific to the pandemic. With packed warehouses slowing down efficiency during the pandemic, routes have become much slower lately. 

This is why rail transport is becoming the most viable option for hauling larger loads. Companies that used to rely on ocean freight are now looking more towards rail services to get their packages where they need to be. As such, rail freight transport has the advantage of faster operation during the current pandemic. It remains both safer and more efficient despite the supply chain issues that are affecting many companies today. 

Efficient Tracking & Speedy Delivery

There’s a prevailing fear that putting your cargo on a train isn’t the safest option. Numerous people view trains as an antiquated form of transport. Those who worry about the safety of rail freight transport no longer need to worry, as rail transport safety has dramatically increased recently. It’s now considered one of the safest options out there.

GPS tracking is now common practice for many rail transport, meaning companies will always know where their packages are at. Carriers can also report to their clients about the state of the package during transit. This level of comprehensive tracking has helped companies be more trusting of rail car transport over the years. The safety technology and tracking options are continuing to improve, meaning its reliability will only increase.

While transporting goods by train is not recommended for very time-sensitive deliveries, it’s still reliable and moves quickly. The average transit time can turn out close to what it is by road, especially over longer hauls, which means you get all the other benefits listed above, along with efficient delivery.

Leverage the Advantages of Using Rail Transport Today

For cross-country and international cargo transport, there are simply so many advantages of using rail transport. Use this guide to help you understand the advantages of rail transport today. 

Need reliable rail transport logistic services? Contact us today, and we’ll provide the best possible solution for you!