Multimodal door-to-door
Multimodal means one move by more than one mode: sea, air, road or rail. We plan the legs together, book each with the right carrier and coordinate the handovers, so cargo goes from your door to the consignee's door under one plan.
What it is
Many moves cannot be done in one mode. A factory is inland, the port is on the coast, the buyer is inland again. Each part needs a different kind of carrier, and each handover is a place where cargo can wait, be miscounted or lose its paperwork.
We write the route as one plan with a named step for each leg and each handover, and we book the carriers. We act as the coordinator, not the carrier. Carriers issue their own transport documents.
When to use it
- The cargo crosses water and land.
- Cost and timing call for a mix of modes, such as sea for the long leg and road for the last stretch.
- You need pickup from a factory door and delivery to a buyer's door.
- A route has a bottleneck and an alternative mode is worth pricing.
What we handle
- Route planning across the modes
- Booking each leg with the right carrier
- Documents that match each leg
- Handovers between carriers and trucks
- Delivery to the consignee's address
How it runs
- Quote: you send the two addresses and the cargo, and we propose route options with the modes named.
- Plan: you choose a route, and we write the legs, the handover points and the documents for each.
- Booking: we book each leg with its carrier and confirm the dates against each other.
- Pickup: the first truck collects from your door, and the cargo is counted and documented.
- Legs and delivery: each carrier takes the cargo in turn, we check each handover, and the last carrier delivers to the consignee.
What to send us for a quote
| Detail | Why we ask |
|---|---|
| Cargo description | To choose modes and flag special handling |
| Weight | Each mode has its own limits |
| Volume | To size containers, trucks or air space |
| Pickup and delivery addresses | To place the first and last legs |
| Ready date | To plan the legs backwards from it |
Good to know
- The slowest handover often decides the delivery date. Plan around it rather than around the fastest leg.
- Each carrier issues its own document. A through bill of lading, one document for the whole route, is possible only with a carrier or partner that issues it.
- Insurance should cover every leg, not only the sea leg. We can arrange cover with insurers. See cargo insurance.
Questions
Do you pick the route for me?
We propose options and name the modes. You choose.
Is one document enough for the whole move?
Not always. Each carrier normally issues its own document. We check that all of them agree.