Rail and Boats Join to Move Cargo to Puerto Rico Door-to-Door

Pacer will move the freight over its double-stack rail network and will turn  the 53-foot containers over to Trailer Bridge at Jacksonville. The marine freight service will use the carrier's Triplestack Box Carriers which it claims to be the world's first vessels to be builtexclusively for carrying 53-foot containers on its triple-deck, roll-on, roll-off ships.

Pacer explains that this new service represents an expansion of its recently introduced PacerDirect door-to-door service. PacerDirect Puerto Rico aims to provide service for freight with a West Coast origin. It will provide customers with a single point of contact to manage all intermodal and vessel details and will contain an all-inclusive rate quote and one invoice that consolidates all land and ocean costs. The service is aimed at freight intermediaries, including intermodal marketing companies, freight  brokers and trucking companies.

“With this arrangement,” says Mike Uremovich, chairman and CEO of Pacer International, “we will be able to offer integrated moves to Puerto Rico not only for shipments of U.S. origin, but also for imported ocean freight that Pacer has transloaded into domestic containers at its own West Coast cross-docking operations.”

Since its business has largely been confined to the Eastern U.S., Trailer Bridge is expected to benefit significantly from the jointly provided service. "Pacer handles approximately 20% of all U.S. domestic container moves," notes John D. McCown, Trailer Bridge's chairman and CEO "So we are collaborating with a leader in the intermodal field, broadening our own market significantly. While this service has just commenced, we are confident that this agreement will enhance our container volume and reach.”