The Intermodal Logistics Podcast

Drayage is an unsung hero of the intermodal journey. While rail takes containers for the long haul, dray trucks are vital in making shipments work - carrying cargo to the rail ramp at origin and to its final destination.On this edition of The Intermodal Logistics Podcast, we welcome leaders of three carriers for a roundtable discussing what they do and the challenges they face in the current freight environment. Ben Niswonger, President of Shamrock Intermodal; Abraham Sanchez, VP of Intermodal Transport, Inc., and Lorin Rotstein, Agent Owner of Performance Intermodal join us for this in depth roundtable discussion putting drayage in the spotlight.They go over issues like safety, hours of service requirements, driver scarcity, traffic, ramp and port staffing & speed, chassis condition, insurance costs and much more. All of it takes you behind the curtain of drayage operations as intermodal grows and the over the road environment deals with federal enforcement (including English Language Proficiency rules) and new liability concerns in the wake of the Montgomery ruling.Learn more about these carriers at shamrockintermodal.com, intermodaltransportinc.com, and performanceintermodal.com.As for the podcast, please do comment, like, follow, rate and/or review - however you get our episodes. We appreciate your support! Have a question? Contact us at [email protected]. And visit our website, www.inteklogistics.com to learn more.

Intermodal has evolved over the years, and as it's gained market share, the question of how to make those gains last is a common one. Who better to take us through its evolution and market standing at IANA's Intermodal EXPO 2026 than The Intermodalist himself, Larry Gross.Larry joins us live in Long Beach to discuss how the industry - and the conference itself - has changed since he first began attending decades ago, as it's shifted from how to make intermodal happen to how to optimize it (with a few more attendees these days). We then discuss the state of the market today, with intermodal's market share improvements over the past year and how those have occurred.Importantly then, Larry talks about what needs to be done to keep those gains coming and to make them last, with service being a key component in addition to the pricing spread.Find more from Larry on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/intermodalist.This the last of our six episodes recorded live at EXPO 2026. Thanks to IANA for inviting us out for the second straight year and to all our guests for speaking with us - we had a blast and hope you did, too! Be sure to follow this feed to find the rest of those shows - and to get our regular episodes first. Please do comment to keep the conversation going, and rate and review us - we appreciate your support! Have a question? Contact us at [email protected]. And visit our website, www.inteklogistics.com to learn more.

Being ready for today's volume while planning for the future is making the Port of Long Beach stand out in the supply chain space.POLB CEO Dr. Noel Hacegaba joined The Intermodal Logistics Podcast live from IANA EXPO - on his home turf - fresh off the port winning the inaugural Intermodal Innovation Award, which recognizes organizations whose leadership and vision are advancing the future of intermodal freight transportation.Noel discusses what the port has done (and is doing) to earn the recognition, from its On-Dock Rail Support Facility to speed intermodal movement and reduce dwell to its embrace of digital tools to maximize visibility. He highlights POLB's Port of the Future initiative, which includes those projects and more innovation and infrastructure allowing it to double its cargo throughput by 2050.And it's not just the future, as Dr. Hacegaba points out the port is coming off a record 2025 and on track for a new volume record this year, even as cargo has shifted from China to Southeast Asia and tariff uncertainty lingers. He discusses how POLB has handled the elevated volume without the issue of ships at anchor that occurred in 2021. Noel also tells us how his role has changed after being promoted from COO to CEO at the start of the year, now 16 years into his time at Long Beach.Find out more about the Port of Long Beach at www.polb.com. This is episode five of six from EXPO 2026. Be sure to follow this feed to get all of our Intermodal EXPO - and regular - episodes first, and comment to keep the conversation going. Ratings and reviews are also always welcome - we appreciate your support! Have a question? Contact us at [email protected]. And visit our website, www.inteklogistics.com to learn more.

To know how best to serve customers, it helps to know what they want - and don't. The Intermodal Association of North American (IANA) commissioned a survey of shippers to find out both what's drawn some to intermodal, and what's kept others away. IANA President & CEO Anne Reinke joins us live from EXPO 2026 in Long Beach to discuss both the survey results, and the reaction to them from intermodal stakeholders at a presentation at the event.Anne goes over the marketing origins of the survey, why the timing surrounding a surge in intermodal activity has been fortuitous, and some key priorities shippers agree are important to their service. Podcast co-host InTek Logistics CEO Rick LaGore, who also had a key part in the survey workshop, talks about how the results were received in the room.Anne and Rick then go over what intermodal stakeholders should do after hearing the survey results, including ensuring when intermodal is a fit and the importance of teamwork. Plus, they discuss the concrete next step of an IANA working group to take more action.To learn more about IANA, visit www.intermodal.org.This is episode four of six from EXPO 2026, so be sure to subscribe or follow this feed to get all of our Intermodal EXPO episodes first, and comment to keep the conversation going. Ratings and reviews are also always welcome - we appreciate your support! Have a question? Contact us at [email protected]. And visit our website, www.inteklogistics.com to learn more.

Intermodal is on the upswing in the U.S. this year, but an even bigger North American volume jump is happening in Mexico. Live from IANA's Intermodal EXPO in Long Beach, AMTI President (and Grupo México VP of Intermodal) Luis Hernández  joins The Intermodal Logistics Podcast to discuss how Mexican intermodal is making a real dent in the freight landscape.Luis tells us how much market share it's gained, how truckload conversion is a big part of it, and what the obstacles to further growth are. Plus, he takes us through the cargo types and locations that are seeing the most activity, how nearshoring has become nearsourcing, and he tells us about the Mexico City opportunity that's still out there.Since we were speaking at EXPO, Luis also explains why AMTI (the Mexican intermodal association) expanded its presence at the event as well.Find more about AMTI at www.amti.org.mx and Grupo México at www.gmexico.com/en.This is episode three of six from EXPO 2026, so be sure to subscribe or follow this feed to get all of our Intermodal EXPO episodes first, and comment to keep the conversation going. Ratings and reviews are also always welcome - we appreciate your support! Have a question? Contact us at [email protected]. And visit our website, www.inteklogistics.com to learn more.

The team from the University of Arkansas is top hog at the 2026 Academic Challenge case competition at IANA's Intermodal EXPO, and its members take a few minutes to share their experiences of the challenge and the event with The Intermodal Logistics Podcast, live from Long Beach, California.Abbie Hutto, Drew Pierce, Stone Sawyer and Natalie Olinger (and their trophy), join Kevin Baxter and Shelli Austin (also a judge) to discuss how they approached the competition, which saw them top a 12-team field of IANA scholarship schools. They also explain what the challenge - which tests students' ability to best solve a real-world scenario in a condensed timeframe - entailed and how they approached taking it on.Plus Abbie, Drew, Stone and Natalie talk about their experiences traveling to the annual IANA gathering, their major takeaways, and why they're interested in supply chain careers looking to the future.Learn more about the 2026 Academic Challenge at https://intermodal.org/article/university-of-arkansas-takes-home-intermodal-case-study-trophy and find the University of Arkansas supply chain program at https://walton.uark.edu/departments/supplychain.This is episode two of six from EXPO 2026, so be sure to subscribe or follow this feed to get all of our Intermodal EXPO episodes first, and comment to keep the conversation going. Ratings and reviews are also always welcome - we appreciate your support! Have a question? Contact us at [email protected]. And visit our website, www.inteklogistics.com to learn more.

Fresh off a presentation from Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena at IANA's 2026 Intermodal EXPO, UP's Kari Kirchhoefer joins The Intermodal Logistics Podcast at the event to share what the proposed merger with Norfolk Southern could mean for shippers and providers - and the importance of reaching out directly to stakeholders throughout the process.  Kari, Senior VP of Premium for Union Pacific, is the guest on the first of our six episodes recorded on-site at the annual gathering in Long Beach, California. She tells us how the railroad's planning over the past several years is paying off with strong intermodal service (as rated by JOC's scorecard), even as truckload conversions surge volume.Speaking of the conversion environment, Kari discusses the best way to approach onboarding new or returning shippers to intermodal - and what could help a business decide to make the move from over the road.And as a bonus, she shares what she's learned as a woman who's climbed the career ladder in logistics and advice for those just starting out.Learn more about intermodal with Union Pacific at www.up.com/shipping/intermodal and find out more about the proposed UP-NS Transcontinental Railroad at www.up-nstranscontinental.com. Be sure to subscribe or follow this feed to get all of our Intermodal EXPO episodes first, and comment to keep the conversation going. Ratings and reviews are also always welcome - we appreciate your support! Have a question? Contact us at [email protected]. And visit our website, www.inteklogistics.com to learn more.

Trains travel thousands of miles across North America, and for many lengthy stretches, they move on tracks out of sight to all but a select few. RailState is changing that with their camera-equipped sensors setup along a growing percentage of railroad tracks. VP of Sales and Marketing Dan Devoe joins us on The Intermodal Logistics Podcast to discuss what RailState is, what it does, and the network intelligence it gathers.Dan tells us how the company's founders initially saw an information gap for shippers negotiating contracts and began by observing trains themselves from a hill, then scaled by creating the trackside optical sensors that currently cover key routes in the U.S., all of Canada, and border crossing areas of Mexico.With visibility at a premium, the sensors capture individual containers, train speed, car types, density and more, and Dan says the information is used by governments, shippers, commodities traders and even the railroads themselves.He also takes us through some information RailState has captured in recent months, including volume shifts, derailment recoveries, new business partnerships and even cargo theft. For more on RailState, visit www.railstate.com.As for the podcast, please do comment, like, subscribe, follow, rate and/or review - however you get our episodes. We appreciate your support! Have a question? Contact us at [email protected]. And visit our website, www.inteklogistics.com to learn more.

Thanks largely to shippers recognizing its value proposition due to truckload tightness, intermodal volume has surged in recent months. And it's with increased attention on the mode that IANA's Intermodal EXPO 2026 is set to take place. IANA President & CEO Anne Reinke joins The Intermodal Logistics Podcast to discuss how EXPO brings the intermodal ecosystem together, while tackling major logistics issues of the day during what she calls "intermodal's moment."Anne tells us how the event is evolving in her second year in charge responding to member sentiment and reviews of the 2025 event - with a notable change leading off the program: Union Pacific and BNSF CEOs Jim Vena and Katie Farmer taking the stage offering direct railroad connections to the crowd. She discusses how this year's programming is designed to keep attendees together at the convention center rather than splintering into off-site meetings - allowing business to get done while also cultivating the community.Anne and InTek Logistics President (and IANA board member) Shelli Austin go further on the idea of intermodal's moment - touching on the importance of IMCs to the shipper experience and getting those potential new shippers to understand what intermodal providers do. At EXPO, that very topic will be a focus of discussion, with results of an IANA shipper survey presented. And Anne points out those beneficial cargo owners are getting their own special programming this year to help them learn more about what makes intermodal tick.Shelli and Anne also touch on the Academic Challenge and the Future Leaders of Intermodal Program (FLIP), both designed to cultivate the next generation of intermodal expertise.Intermodal EXPO 2026 runs September 14-16 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, CA. Find more information and register at www.intermodal.org/EXPO.And for the second consecutive year, our podcast will be there - so look forward to episodes coming straight from the EXPO floor! For now, please do comment, like, subscribe, follow, rate and/or review The Intermodal Logistics Podcast - however you get our episodes. We appreciate your support! Have a question? Contact us at [email protected]. And visit our website, www.inteklogistics.com to learn more.

Just three months ago, the Supreme Court handed down a ruling in a case that changed the broker liability equation. On a new episode of The Intermodal Logistics Podcast, Marc Blubaugh, Partner and Co-Lead of the Transportation & Logistics Practice at Benesch Law, returns to discuss exactly what the 9-0 ruling in favor of Montgomery v. C.H. Robinson means - and what it might not mean.Marc takes us through the facts of the case, and how justices focused particularly on a key phrase when deciding on the applicability of the safety exception in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (F4A). He explains how the ruling now sets a consistent precedent - even if it's not the precedent many in the freight community were seeking - that logistics pros should heed as they consider carrier selection. But he also reminds that each potential liability case is different, so it doesn't automatically mean freight brokers will be on the wrong side of a deluge of verdicts. Case in point, many have spotlighted a recent $604 million judgement against C.H. Robinson in a different proceeding - but he cautions not to read too much into that particular decision relating to the Supreme Court's decision.Marc suggests, rather than brokers completely throwing out their carrier list and starting over, working with insurance companies to develop clear standards for carriers to be chosen - and importantly - training all in the organization who'd handle this responsibility. Speaking of responsibility and standards, he stresses the role of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in vetting carriers and making it easier for brokers to know which ones to trust.And finally, Marc shares another FMCSA-related action that could have major freight shipping implications. Find more from Marc at www.beneschlaw.com.As for the podcast, please do comment, like, subscribe, follow, rate and/or review - however you get our episodes. We appreciate your support! Have a question? Contact us at [email protected]. And visit our website, www.inteklogistics.com to learn more.