Strategic Plans for Rail Freight Business Development

On behalf of a major truckload carrier, we worked with other consultants to develop market demand and existing supplier capacity assessments for a specialized type of intermodal rail freight transport, to determine the likelihood of success that our client would have in launching a service in this specialized market.  We also provided various strategies and scenarios as to how this firm can take advantage of the known market conditions to maximize its likelihood of success.  Using a proprietary database of freight commodity flows, we also identified corridors where we thought the firm could achieve a high market penetration soon after launch.  For an inland port authority, we utilized a similar methodology to determine the market potential of developing an intermodal container service leveraging the port’s strategic geographic location and ready access to multiple major rail carriers.  Using the same commodity flow database, we identified containerizable commodities, industrial sectors, and origin-destination lanes and markets where the port could have the best success in targeting new customers for this type of service.

Note: Alex Lu performed this work as an employee of another firm.