In freight and logistics, full truckload (FTL) is often seen as the default option. It’s fast, direct, and familiar—until tight markets make it unreliable or too expensive.
When capacity shrinks, prices rise and service windows narrow. If you rely only on FTL, your freight becomes vulnerable to delays, rate spikes, and missed delivery targets.
That’s when it pays to think differently.
Not every shipment needs a full truck. When volumes are light, distances are long, or demand fluctuates, forcing everything into truckload adds unnecessary cost and complexity. Space gets wasted. Timelines slip. And what should be a smooth logistics process becomes harder to manage.
A smarter strategy is to match the mode to the need—and one often-overlooked option is a drayage + rail combination.
Here’s how it works: instead of booking a full truck to run long haul, you move the freight locally by drayage to a nearby rail ramp. From there, the shipment travels by rail to a ramp near the destination, followed by another short drayage run to final delivery. It’s a simple shift, but it can unlock capacity, reduce costs, and avoid the volatility of long-haul trucking.
This approach keeps freight moving even when truckload options are tight—and it often improves consistency across lanes.
In a market like today’s, where freight and logistics leaders are expected to do more with less, flexibility is the real advantage. When truckload works, use it. When it doesn’t, don’t force it. There are smarter ways to move freight.
And the teams who think ahead—mode by mode, move by move—are the ones who stay in control.