Intermodal rail and road transport
rail for the main haul, truck to the door
Intermodal rail and road transport delivers a container to the warehouse with rail covering the main haul and a truck the last tens or hundreds of kilometres. The container is moved from flatcar to truck as a unit; the cargo is never rehandled.
It works for rail imports from China, for containers moving inland from the ports of Vladivostok and Vostochny, and for domestic traffic within Russia. We quote straight to the door so you see what the whole route costs.
Specification
Specification · Intermodal rail + truck. Standard terms · door rate and unloading window are set in the order to the contract
Service
- Scheme
- rail + truck in one container
- Route
- origin station → consignee's warehouse
- Options
- customs, insurance, storage
Terms
- Timing
- rail transit + 1–3 days by road
- Documents
- rail and road paperwork included
- Currency
- USD / RUB
Logistics
- Main haul
- rail dispatch and tracking
- Hand-off
- terminal transfer
- Final leg
- truck to warehouse, empty return
Price
- Base
- through rate to the door
- Extras
- truck waiting time, storage — on request
Service flow
- 01
Route planning
We compare rail + truck with direct trucking, choose the station or terminal closest to the consignee's warehouse and quote a door-delivery rate.
1–2 days - 02
Rail leg
We ship the container by rail, issue the waybill and track its location daily.
per route - 03
Terminal transfer
At the destination terminal the container is lifted off the flatcar, inspected, cleared through customs if needed and placed on a container truck.
1 day - 04
Road delivery
We truck the container to the warehouse in the agreed unloading window; for heavy 20-footers we choose a chassis that respects axle-load limits.
1–3 days - 05
Empty return and paperwork
We return the empty to the depot named by the owner and hand over closing documents as one set.
1–2 days
Problems
The container has reached the station and sits there: the rail carrier's job is done, but nobody booked a truck.
One contract and one dispatcher for the whole chain: the truck is booked for the train's estimated arrival.
Unloading at the warehouse drags on, and truck waiting time and container detention keep growing.
We agree the unloading window in advance and plan container free time for the full cycle — from the station to empty return.
Bills from the railway, the terminal and the trucker arrive separately — the full route cost only becomes clear at the end.
We fix the door-delivery rate in the specification and close the shipment with a single set of documents.
Documents
Documents for a rail + truck scheme. The unloading time records at the warehouse matter: truck waiting time and container detention are calculated from them.
Incoterms
- DAP
- consignee's warehouse — the natural term for door delivery
- CPT
- to destination station; road leg on the buyer
- FCA
- origin station or terminal
Documents
- Rail waybill
- SMGS for international traffic, domestic note in ETRAN within Russia
- Road consignment note
- Russian road consignment note, including electronic via GIS EPD
- CMR
- if the road leg is international
- Power of attorney
- to collect the container at the station or terminal
- Unloading record
- truck arrival and departure times at the warehouse — the basis for waiting-time charges
FAQ
It is carriage of goods in a single loading unit — usually a container — by several modes of transport without handling the goods themselves. The container moves from flatcar to truck as a whole, so the risk of damage and loss is lower than when cargo is rehandled.
The long main haul by rail is cheaper and more predictable than road, and the truck only covers the short final leg to the door. The total rate is usually lower without giving up warehouse delivery.
Typically from about 1,000–1,500 km, but the break-even point depends on the route, container weight and the distance from the station to the warehouse. We price both options for your lane and show the difference in rate and transit time.
No. The whole chain — rail, terminal transfer and trucking — runs under one contract with us. You deal with one dispatcher and receive one set of documents.
We take on the terminal hand-off: we collect the container from the railway, check its condition and seals, handle the paperwork and load it onto the truck. There is no gap in responsibility between legs.
It is the rail transit time plus roughly a day at the terminal and 1–3 days by road depending on the distance to the warehouse. We confirm the exact time once the destination station and unloading window are chosen.