# Choose rail or truck for each load, with the cost and the days side by side.

> Roadmark compares truck against rail on cost and days for every load, tracks each dray and rail leg by EDI, and watches ramp cutoffs.

URL: https://roadmark.ai/intermodal
Language: en

Domestic and international intermodal is a dray, a rail move and a dray again, and the ramp cutoff decides whether this week's load makes the train. Roadmark compares truck against rail on every lane and lets the Planning agent make the call, with its reasons attached.

## One load, five hand-offs, and a cutoff that decides the week.

Load 48285 for Prairie Foods, Mississauga ON to Chicago IL, moves by dray, rail and dray again. Each leg shows who has it, and the railroad's status messages arrive by EDI and show up here in plain words.

## Miss the cutoff, and it waits for tomorrow's train.

Today's loads, grouped by ramp and cutoff time, with a chip that says whether the dray already on the road will make it. A load that's going to miss gets rebooked before the cutoff, not after.

## Tender the far-end dray the way you'd tender any load.

When the destination is past your own fleet, Roadmark tenders the ramp-to-door dray to a partner drayage carrier through the carrier portal, priced and ready to accept.

## One customer invoice, with the rail and both drays reconciled behind it.

Prairie Foods sees one invoice for load 48285. Behind it, Roadmark matches the rail carrier's bill and both drayage invoices to what was quoted, and holds anything that doesn't match for a person.

## Questions before choosing rail.

- **How does Roadmark decide between truck and rail?** It compares cost and transit days for both modes against the consignee's receiving days, and the planning agent recommends whichever wins, with its reasons attached, such as extra rail days costing nothing when the dock is closed anyway.
- **What happens if a dray misses the ramp cutoff?** Today's loads are grouped by ramp and cutoff, with a flag on any dray that's going to miss. A load likely to miss gets rebooked on tomorrow's train before the cutoff passes, not after.
- **How is the far-end dray tendered to a partner carrier?** When delivery is past your own fleet, Roadmark tenders the ramp-to-door dray to a partner drayage carrier through the carrier portal, priced and ready for them to accept and sign the rate confirmation.
- **How is one intermodal move billed to the customer?** The customer gets a single invoice, while Roadmark matches the rail carrier's bill and both drayage invoices behind it to what was quoted, holding anything that doesn't match for a person to review.
- **Can I track each leg of an intermodal move?** Yes. Each load shows who has it, leg by leg, and the railroad's own status messages arrive by EDI and show up here in plain words. For international containers, availability and the last free day at the ramp come in automatically too.

## Related pages

- [Drayage](https://roadmark.ai/drayage): Free time, per diem, chassis and port appointments
- [Rail and transload](https://roadmark.ai/rail): Car orders and car hire
- [Demurrage and per diem calculator](https://roadmark.ai/tools/demurrage): Last free day, charged days and the total for a container at the terminal or out on per diem, with tiered rates.
- [Demurrage vs per diem vs detention in drayage](https://roadmark.ai/blog/demurrage-per-diem-detention): Who charges demurrage, per diem and detention on a container, when each clock starts and stops, and a worked import example with every charge computed.
- [Tracking](https://roadmark.ai/tracking): The few loads that need you, with reasons
- [Terminal49 integration: container availability and holds](https://roadmark.ai/integrations/terminal49): Roadmark reads container availability, holds, last free day, fees, appointments and rail events from Terminal49 onto each drayage and intermodal load.

Companies, people and shipment figures in product examples are fictional. They illustrate workflows and are not customer testimonials or measured results.